He made his way uphill against the blowing snow; his dense, thick, grey fur coat keeping him from freezing. He was a handsome wolf- large but lean, beautiful, piercing grey eyes, a long snout and smooth fur. There was pride in his every stride. Upon the hill, just short of the peak, lay his den- hidden by the deep snow. There, lying in wait was his mate- another beautiful, grey she-wolf, of a smaller build than him, surrounded by their two young girls. The small cubs, just about three months old, pranced around her in their extra-furry coats; ocassionally peeking over the edge of their den through their big, gleaming eyes, searching for their father. It was nearing sundown when they caught sight of him. Excited, they ran towards their mother and pulled her by the ear towards the entrance as though saying, "Look! There he is!". On seeing him make his way up the rocks, her eyes smiled. The three of them waited eagerly. A few moments later, he was inside with them. He was relieved to be out of the cold. He shook off the snow from his fur, ruffling it up and making it stand on end. He looked even more majestic now. His mate circled him before stopping by his side. She gently brushed her face against his. She then sat down and waited for him to too. The cubs took this as their cue and darted towards them, jumping on him and rolling around between them. He playfully caught one of them and flung her into the air and then gently caught her back in his teeth. The other one waited for her turn. They wore themselves out- fighting, playing, biting and running. Finally, they settled down, cuddled up against each other and fell fast asleep, snug in their mother's warm fur. She put her paw around them tenderly. She looked up at their father. He yawned slowly and blinked several times; tired from his long day. She nuzzled him and rested her head on his paw. He too snuggled up against her warm body and drifted off into a well deserved sleep.

shadows

Natgeo

Lion Picture – Animal Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day
I love all pictures of lions. Especially a whole pride of them. It's a dream of mine to visit the plains of Africa and to have the chance to capture these social cats.
One of my favourite ever animal clips is a short one from many years ago on Animal Planet which shows a pride of lions yawning- one after the other. I can only imagine the thrill that the cameraman must have felt on having caught that on tape! I would wait eagerly for that short clip when I was a kid. I was heartbroken when they stopped playing it...

Through the seemingly endless passage she walked; groping its walls in the pitch darkness. The sound of her feet shuffling along the ground echoed in the distance. She squinted, trying hard to find a beam of light. She wondered if it was still day. Starved, she collapsed in a heap; fast losing all hope. She felt the damp ground around her, as though searching for some clues. How did she manage to get herself into this mess? The lump in her throat made her feel sick. She couldn't bear the silence. She let out a faint whimper and a tear forced its way out of a tired eye. Slowly and steadily, it made its way down her muddy cheek. Feebly, she lifted her hand to flick it away. And just as it touched the ground, it gleamed. It shone a marvelous blue. A blue more beautiful than she had ever beheld. Taken aback by the light, she stood up as quickly as her feet would let her. But then, the light began to fade. "Stay", she whispered in an almost inaudible voice, "please". But its glow was dying. She knelt down beside it and reached out to it. It started to roll toward her hand. She lay out her palm on the ground, wondering if it would roll into it. It stopped at her fingers. The small tear rose out of its globular form. It rose and stepped into her palm. It was stinging cold. It gleamed again; now, even more vibrantly. As she stood up, gazing at this wonder in her palm, she felt happy. A feeling she had long forgotten. She wasn't alone anymore. 

where am i?
i think i'm lost
somewhere amidst this
pile of books
but lost i must be
if somewhere i must go.
tomorrow is blurry
misty, foggy and scary
so today i shall go
and just study.

Chicken Soup

My Aunt gifted my Mum a Chicken Soup book for 'the cat and dog lover's soul'. Here's a lovely poem I found in it :

Do not weep for me when I am gone
For I have friends in the great beyond.
All the little ones I used to feed
Will come to me in my time of need.
They will purr and bark in great delight,
And I will hold and hug them tight.
Oh what a great day that would be
When my furry friends all welcome me.

-Richard Severo

Although it's not yet time to ponder over death, this seems like a good way to look at it. 

Not cats

My latest muse

Hobbes.

Hobbes has an incredibly sane personality for a cat. It often seems like her sole principle in life is to live and let live. She's content in her own, simple existence. It's just her and this incredibly fascinating world that just happens to be inhabited by a bunch of others; Who are inconsequential. She's a lot like her mother, Chelku. Curious about everything, very agile, unimposing, affectionate, intelligent and beautiful. She's the kind of cat who will keep you company without making her presence obvious. She loves to be pet; her weak spot is just under the ear, running down the back of her neck. A good itch there gets a satisfied, low, droning purr from her. She's also surprisingly unfazed by water, unlike all my other cats. I've seen her sitting nonchalantly in the basin as water was dripping onto her back from the leaking tap. 

Each cat is just so different. They all have unique personalities, much more complex than ours. Trying to understand my cats is something I never tire of. There's something quirky, special, unexpected, amazing about them all. It's so easy to dismiss the fact that there's more to them than what meets the eye. It's the unknown 'x' about them, that missing piece in the puzzle that intrigues me no end. I don't think I'll ever get bored of a cat. There's always something new to discover- and it's just as surprising every time.

When you're unwell, the first thing someone would tell you is to get some rest. Little do they realize how complicated it is to fall asleep, especially with a cold. Steadily recovering from my stubborn cold, I face this problem every night. Take a couple of nights ago for instance. After a long, tiring day, I decided to turn in. I got into my blanket and so did Mili, where she curled up at my chest. Soon after, I was hit suddenly by an organ-rattling bout of cough. Poor Mili got up and shifted lower to sleep between my legs. After the cough passed, my right nostril blocked up. So I turned over onto my left side, displacing Mili again. Undeterred, she waited for me to settle down and then lowered herself between my legs once more. And then, the right opening up, my left one got blocked. Exasperated, I laid down flat on my back. Mili now sat up beside me, eyeing me for any hopeful signs of immobility. Not risking having to get up again, she made herself comfortable on the blanket at my waist. At this point, my nose completely blocked up and I couldn't breathe. Annoyed, I inhaled deeply; but that only made it worse and lead to more sneezing and wheezing. In addition to that, my head felt like a ton of bricks and my eyes burned in their sockets. I gripped my neck from behind with my cold hands searching for some warmth- and viola! i could breathe! So, by propping my head up like that, breathing wasn't a problem- falling asleep was. I thought I'd get a glass of water since I wasn't getting anywhere trying to sleep. So I got up, effectively pulling the blanket from under Mili. Slowly she raised herself- stretching her legs, she arched her back as high as it would go before seating herself down again on the now ruffled up blanket. She looked at me with disapproving, yet sympathetic eyes. Her tail was twitching. The unfortunate bit was knowing she'd have to get up again when I returned. Half-expecting it, she rose readily when I took hold of the blanket. Both of us, too tired then to crib over comfort, dozed off soon after. I awoke with her still by my side. I admire that cat's patience.