My Scottish Fold Martha is already 16. What has she not yet experienced, and now a war! A real war in Mariupol. It was 56 days of hell in our apartment. Practically alone.
My cat is my heroine. When the invasion began, she, like all of us, did not yet fully understand what had happened. Apparently, her cat's heart did not believe it until the end. Like us, she had no idea what to expect.
Endless and powerful stress was waiting for her. Especially in the evenings. A constant glow and roar. Strong, creepy, murderous. Horror. But, I'm sure, she was most annoyed by our panic and running around. We were disturbing her sacred peace and comfort.
Just imagine: she has just settled down to sleep next to me, and here we (me, my husband and my son) are already quickly running away somewhere.
We knew we were running to hide. Martha did not understand the seriousness of the danger and the proximity of death. We saw the houses burning, she didn't. We saw pockets of fire spreading from each explosion. She didn't. She just slept and was woken up.
Martha did not run, like us, to hide first in the corridor, and then in the basement. She just watched. In a cat's way. I think my cat was feeling stressed in her own way especially. But she definitely felt it. I saw it in her eyes.
After March 10, when a new era of our family's survival began, she became completely embarrassed. On this day, in front of our eyes, an enemy strike destroyed four apartments in the building opposite. And when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, we ran to the basement in order to hide there. But without Martha...
Did she then guess that she could die? From shelling. Or hunger. Or loneliness.
Visiting Martha three times a day became my new ritual. I had to feed her, kiss her and put warm things near her because it was cold. I kept whispering to her that I will never leave her and that everything will be fine. I tried to calm Martha down and calm myself around her.
And she persevered. She got out of that hell with us. The evacuation was very stressful and lasted 29 hours from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. All this time my dear cat was lying on my lap. She didn't sleep at all. Because it was very scary. To all of us. We were intimidated by the uncertainty, grad explosions near our buses and snipers along the roadside.
But we got out! We were saved. We endured it all. In the report about those who "escaped from hell" there is my Martha in the photo. My 16-year-old fearless, wise and thoughtful cat. My heroine!
This material was prepared with financial support from the International Renaissance Foundation.
