Rest in Peace Panda Liu July 2008 - 14 April 2009
In July 2008, Thomas and I brought home a little pair of kittens. They were a tiny couple...white and black all over. One was dirty-faced, the other had big eyes, a clean bright face and two black patches on his head. They were named Peanut (because he looked like he had peanut butter smeared on his face permanently) and Panda.
They were rescued from a mad house where a lady kept and neglected dozens of cats. Many died before help came. A trio of brothers and sisters. Soon after, the sister was adopted, and the brothers came home with us.
It was a struggle to keep the little angels in the home. Objections were raised from Thomas' parents saying "One is enough". But they changed their minds and grew to love the little white furry angels.
Panda was the bold cat. He jumped everywhere, ran around, ate a lot and slept in people's shoes. He loved to hoard the food bowl and would push Peanut's head away so that he lorded over it. Needless to say, he grew much fatter than his brother.
They loved to chase lizards, and Panda would climb on to the kitchen counter and in to the dish rack to hunt for those lizards hiding in the corner. It was only 2 days ago that I smacked him for his naughty behaviour. Panda and Peanut ate together, slept together, played together, and got into messy situations...getting stuck in boxes, getting locked out of the house. But they never left each other behind, scratching the box to free the one stuck inside, reaching out through the gate to try and pull the other one back in, mewing in plea for us to open the door.
Panda loved the outdoors. He would explore the corridor and all its plants and junk kept around. He would sit in the grass, run in to drains and bushes. Everyday, Thomas' dad would bring him down to play in the grass. Peanut preferred to stay home.
Yesterday was 14 April 2009, Thomas' dad and Panda went down as per usual, Thomas' dad would keep an eye out for the little creature. The roads were made of red bricks, as that was the inside of the HDB estate. The road paths were winded into the blocks and it was a good thing that Thomas' block had the road with a dead end. It was less likely to have cars zooming around.
Construction for a temporary office/dormitory was going on for the lift building project, and the workers would go off from work in the evening. Most days, there wasn't much activity, it was becoming routine.
Panda wandered across the road to the other side as he occasionally does, smelling the grass. Two lorries with the construction workers sped out from the dead end road and rounded the curved road at a speed that shouldn't be kept at such a location. Anyone could have been crossing the road, anyone could have been walking along the road. It wasn't even a tar road, it was red bricks, the kind that doesn't get used much. Panda saw the lorries and panicked. Cats are fast, but his speed did not match the lorries. The second lorry knocked him down.
Thomas said Panda did not die immediately. He was bleeding and in pain. The impact caused his eye to pop out. His face was brutally smashed. He lay there in silence, he could not cry out. He breathed his last breaths, shuddered and there was no more. The lorry did not stop. The driver went off without knowing or maybe caring about what he did.
I took a cab from my house. It was peak hour traffic from Jurong to Ang Mo Kio. The cremation truck got their before I did. Thomas made them wait for me. Panda was taken by Thomas' dad to the block and placed on some newspapers and in a black trash bag. His body was covered by more newspapers. I did not dare look. There was blood on the low parapet. I did not cry, I did not know what to do. Thomas brought me to Panda's body and took the newspaper covering aside. My little white dear was lying there, no breath in his body. His eyes were closed, there was a splash of blood on this hind paw. His body was still clean and white. I could not say the same for the other side. I could see dried blood on the newspaper beneath him. Thomas did not allow me to see his other side. He said it was too ugly. Yes, I prefer to remember him the way he should be, so I had to stop myself from seeing what was done to him. Panda's eyes were closed, Thomas says the other side had no eye.
By then I couldn't stop crying. The mobile pet cremation truck had to take him away. We could not witness his cremation. Such an event had to be booked days in advance. There was no point in that, except to cause more grief and pain. Thomas was heartbroken and so was I. Everyone was biased and secretly loved Panda more. He was the cute fat cuddly one.
Thomas was angry with the driver. But I knew that anger was pointless. I am sad that Thomas had to witness Panda's dying moments. He has to live with the image forever.
Peanut has no brother now, nobody to tumble around and play with, no leader to follow in the corridor, no captain explorer, no dinner companion. The house seems big and empty without the mischievous one, the fat cat to run around and fall from the high heights of the fridge. The one who would peer over the edge from the top when I open the fridge door. The white ball of fur for me to carry around, who would hide his face in the crook of my hand. I have lost a dear.
Rest in peace
Panda Liu
July 2008 - 14 April 2009
