People Shouldn't Lie

Every so often I read a story that just tears at my being; and where I feel compelled to share.  Today is just the day to share this tale.

   The boys note to his local paper recounted the loss of his beloved pet.  It began with him describing their relationship

   “My kitty’s name is Toothless. When I got him I had just seen ‘How to Train a Dragon’ at the movies.  My kitty looked just like the dragon Toothless, with big green eyes and the hair around his head.  Toothless, my cat, has long, fluffy hair and sleeps on my bed and loved to play with my brother and me.  Toothless would let us carry him around all the time. He was our best friend.”

  This unfortunate story starts when Toothless disappeared from home one night. The boy and his younger brother spent the next day visiting every neighbor on the block, asking about the cat. None of the neighbors remembered seeing Toothless, so the boys' father started calling shelters.
   Soon, their father found that Toothless was being kept at one of the shelters nearby. The woman who gave the family the good news said they would have to wait until the next day to pick up Toothless due to paperwork and fees that had to be arranged. Hearing that Toothless was safe and homeward bound, the boy wrote,

   "We were so happy and we weren't scarred or worried anymore."
   It is at this point that the boy's letter to the paper takes a heart wrenching turn, as the boy explains,

   "My dad went back the next day to get our kitty, and they told him they didn't have any long-haired black cats. They only had a white fluffy cat. My dad waited a long time for the lady to come back and talk to him. The same lady that told my dad to come back the next day said she was sorry. She had forgotten to leave a note to tell the people my dad would be there for Toothless and they had just killed my cat that morning. She had just forgotten to write a note to save a member of my family. They killed him and I don't know why."
 It was later found out that the animal-hating next door neighbors had trapped Toothless and brought the cat to the shelter. They even took their disingenuous actions a step further by lying to the boys the next day when they came to ask about their missing cat.


Now the boy is left to confront the truth that adults lie and make mistakes, and sometimes those indiscretions can be almost unforgivable. As the boy  put in his surprisingly mature response to his loss,

   "Grown-ups killed my kitty, my best friend, when they weren't supposed to."
   After receiving the note from the boy the local paper confirmed the story with the shelter involved. The boy’s father says he doesn't blame the shelter for Toothless' death, but instead puts the responsibility on himself for not picking up the cat earlier.
 While the boy’s note won't bring his best friend back, it has allowed the boy to share his cat's spirit. Responding to the attention his story has received, the boy remarked,

   "I just wanted to tell people about Toothless - that I loved him. And that people shouldn't lie."