Our kitten died last night. He was in the street in front of our house when I got home. Now I understand what people mean when they say they didn’t believe their eyes. I could not believe what I saw, that it was him and that he was dead. I carried him into the backyard and set him down carefully by the apple tree. Then I went inside and told Alpha, then I told Gamma. Then I changed my clothes, and we went outside and put him into a shoebox. Gamma held a flashlight while I dug a hole. She put a note into the box with him, and we buried him.

Gamma is the saddest. She gave him both his names, Mr. Evil and his real name, Lio. They were close pals and she took care of him and defended him when he was naughty, and he liked to sleep on her bed. We’ll all miss him.