MIGHTY

Back in 2016, I desperately wanted a cat. I wanted a cat so badly because everyone in my family seemed to own a cat. My grandfather had one cat that stuck with him until he moved back to Da Nang. I lived with that cat for 6 years and I’m pretty sure he’s twice my age (in human years of course). My grandmother from my mother's side used to raise 2 cats who she usually brings with her to pray and eventually, she had 8 of them and she gave them all away. So I thought to myself, damn it would be nice to get a cat. The day when I went to get my first cat, everything went wrong. Me and my mom went 26 km to meet up with the previous owner and they didn’t show up. It started raining heavily and I started thinking this was bad luck as my father always said bringing a cat home was always bad luck as it’s a cultural thing in Vietnam, bringing a cat home meant you’re going to be poor. But I didn’t care I wanted a cat so badly and the rain couldn’t stop me. I went from the backseat of my mom’s car to the front seat, climbing through the armrest, and didn’t notice my mom’s phone underneath it and I broke the phone so we had no way to even contact the owner. We booked it to the nearest phone merchant stall, it’s like a secondhand phone store, to get a Nokia to make emergency calls only and my mom drove me all the way home to have tutor lessons while she drove back to the meetup to pick up the cat in the raging thunderstorm. We were supposed to meet up for the cat at 6 PM and my mom came home at 11:30 with a cage in her hand. Inside a cage was a tiny grey kitten, a British shorthair and I went insane. I was so happy that she went out of her way to drive all the way in the rain and waited and even though I broke her phone and screwed up everything she still went and picked up the cat.
My dad was not happy at all, he despises the cat, he hated so much that he’d lock him up in the cage for days until one day when my mom picked me up from an extra curriculum I had and told me he’s not picking me up cause he’s busy at home. I came home to see him crawling on the ground, playing with the cat, and the second he saw me he stood up and acted as if I saw nothing. I knew he loved the cat and he loves him. His name became Mighty because my dad wanted him to be big and strong and not so little anymore. As soon as he got the name, Mighty gained over 6 kilos maybe due to my dad overfeeding him.
Mighty had an impact on my life as no one did. “He’s just a cat” they said. But he was always there, just being annoying and clingy and cute. He was the only thing I came home to when I was alone and I spent a lot of time being alone. In 2021, I turned 18 and the first thing I did was to get a tattoo of my cat. My family did not know until one day Mighty decided to pull up my sleeve while I was sleeping and my mom found out. I was very proud of it saying that it was a part of who I am and I wanted to show everyone how important he is to me.
It’s been 3 months since I’ve last seen him and it’s been pretty hard as I’ve felt pretty lonely not being able to keep a pet around to keep me sane. But finally, I’ve got a chance to come home to him, come home to my family, and play with Mighty once again.
I miss you mate
Miss you lots