The Attic Window

Unexpected meeting turns solitude into a moment of warmth, filling it with newfound beauty

I sit and gaze through the small window in the attic — that mellow little square set against the dark wall. Right now, only the cloudless blue sky is visible through it, but in time, when the night settles outside, it will be scattered with a myriad of stars. The attic of this old, abandoned cabin is a place where the belongings once left by those who made this their home lie forgotten, and spiderwebs stretch across the corners… And here I am, sprawled in an old armchair, looking at the blue sky in that little frame and waiting for twilight to fall.
Silence… Only the trees creak in the wind, and, from the neighboring village, the occasional barking of yard dogs drifts over. And still — silence. It seems you can even make out the sound of restless specks of dust as they settle to the floor.
And then, in the midst of this stillness, a plaintive “meow” sounded from somewhere in the corner. I turned around. I listened carefully. Yes, that was right: clumsy footsteps, and from behind an old dresser emerged a surprised little cat’s face.
“What are you doing here?” I asked my unexpected guest. “Have you come, like me, to watch the stars?” The kitten didn't answer; it simply came up to me and began to rub against my leg.
“Pur-r-r,” I say to it.“Pur-r-r,” the kitten replies, and unexpectedly leaps onto my lap.
After kneading a little, it lay down in my arms, rested its head on its paws, and, burying its nose into my belly, began to purr.
Darkness falls. In the small window of this little attic of the old cabin, one by one, specks of starlight appear. The air fills with the freshness of evening and the ceaseless chirping of tireless cicadas. The small, warm ball of fur in my arms joins in their song, purring with all its might. The day’s lingering restlessness melts away, washed clean by the hush of the country night and the sincere warmth of this tiny creature, peacefully dozing in my lap — a creature that seemed like a gift from above, like a guardian angel, who has lifted me from loneliness and made this night all the more vivid and beautiful.

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