Lorrie and I

By David Che Kwok Wong

“When Lorrie looked at me in a bath of blood, he quickly went to the laundry and took a big clean towel wet with hot water. He carefully wrapped me up. He then gently bathed me in it. I looked Lorrie in his eyes and felt comforted. Lorrie carried me to his office and placed a silky blanket over me to keep me warm. He put me in a paper box lined with a towel. I felt no pain! The journey to the vet took 15 minutes. Lorrie kept singing to me and touching my head and shoulder. It seemed a very long journey as he drove steadily along on the road.”

Coco the feline knew his final hour is coming; it didn’t end his longing for the comfort and touches of his master!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398466593

David Che Kwok Wong

David Che Kwok Wong has a Master Degree of Education and a Master Degree of Development Management. He enjoys spending most of his time working among ordinary people. He loves listening and associating with people, a great privilege to be called their friend. He loves travelling and keeping his journal with him at all times.

Book preview

About the Author

David Che Kwok Wong has a Master Degree of Education and a Master Degree of Development Management. He enjoys spending most of his time working among ordinary people. He loves listening and associating with people, a great privilege to be called their friend. He loves travelling and keeping his journal with him at all times.

Dedication

Many individuals’ lives unseen and untold, I would like to dedicate this book to my friend Sandra and people known and unknown to me. They inspired me to write and put my energy telling their stories; indeed, they were part of the nuances of us great and small.

Copyright Information ©

David Che Kwok Wong 2023

The right of David Che Kwok Wong to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398466586 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398466593 (ePub e-book)

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Sam Suvichagorn for the amazing cover art.

Chapter 1

I came from a big animal shelter. The day Lorrie and his wife came looking for a cat; many of us were having a nap in the mid-summer day. When I saw Lorrie, I could not stop mewling at him. Many friends of mine had found their new homes. It had to be my turn today, I thought.

Lorrie looked at me and said to his wife, No need to search any more, this is the one.

The woman had a very sharp eye for cats. She was not convinced. She continued searching for a perfect one. However, Lorrie was firm.

He insisted, This is the one!

I was five months old. I did not know if Lorrie found me or if I had chosen Lorrie for my home.

For many years, Bessie had been a loving member of Lorrie’s family. She was like a grandmother to me. When Bessie was a tiny unwanted kitten, a little girl in a shopping centre begged Lorrie’s daughter to adopt her. Now, because of her age, she always had water dripping from her mouth. Unlike me, Bessie was never interested in catching any mice. She slept all day. Three months later, Lorrie found Bessie passed away under a big tree. He buried her there.

I was too young to be on my own, so Lorrie took me to his office. I stayed there for a month to get used to my new environment. My new home was a big place. Lorrie took time cleaning up the storeroom where Bessie used to live. It was a medium-sized wooden cottage. Lorrie had to cut the chicken-wire screening off the cottage where there were plenty of big gaps for me to escape. He wanted to keep me safe.

He warned me, Out there is a jungle. Listen cat, you won’t last long over there!

At the animal shelter, I used to live in a large cage with many cats where everyone had been carefully screened. They were extremely friendly and we were like a big family.

Our policy is to protect little animals domesticated or wild, said one of the keepers.

Lorrie provided me a straw basket with warm blankets, my comfortable bed. My food bowl was on the ground next to the water bowl. Lorrie did not know that when it was dark, too often I had to share my evening meal with cane toads. This place was one of their habitats. They had lumpy bodies. One day, Lorrie saw a large cane toad sitting in my water bowl filled with slimy saliva. He immediately built me a little wooden tower. He placed my water and meal there. No more sharing my meals!

Whenever Lorrie looked for me, he would sing out, Coco, Coco, where are you?

Lorrie was forever busy working. I always wanted to be with him. It was good whenever he took his break. He would call out to me. I became his friend.

Chapter 2

It was interesting how Lorrie got this farmhouse. One day, Lorrie, with his friend Ken, drove past this property. Ken had his restaurant at only a ten minutes’ drive from the property. They found a number of Real Estate signs ‘For Sale’ posted in the entrance along the highway. The property had long grass growing everywhere. It was a lonely place in the middle of nowhere. However, the property was just an hour’s drive from the city.

Ken hesitantly drove in and asked Lorrie, You’ve been in the accommodation business for a long time. This property was on the market for at least five years. What’s wrong with this place, why won’t it sell?

Ken led the way to the reception and he rang the bell. A weary, middle-aged woman opened the door.

Do you mind if we come in and have a look at your place? enquired Ken.

You have to meet my husband. Please come in, invited the woman.

There was an old man sitting on his couch holding his walking stick.

He smiled. This is a nice place. We bought it about twelve years ago. We have acres of beautiful land with very good soil. We planted fruit trees, farmed fish and enjoyed a good country life.

The man took a breath and continued, Things were good until we decided to turn our residence into a restaurant. It took two years of negotiation with the local government. With all the expensive renovation, it consumed all our money. On the opening day, I had a terrible stroke. I was lying in bed for a good six months. Life was never the same!

The man asked Lorrie to buy his property so that he and his family could move on. It