I sighed as the city bus pulled away, leaving me breathless from my futile plight to make it on time. I looked at my watch, two hours until the next bus came. It was already five and the sun was beginning to set, ending another cold winter day. I began walking aimlessly around the city, passing families, friends, couples.

It all made me sick, something was somehow wrong with me to the point that I couldn’t even catch a simple bus. I didn’t have friends to confide in or even laugh with. My family didn’t seem to care about me one way or another, just that I didn’t waste their time and money. The bitter cold and the tightness in my chest was the perfect recipe for misery.

As I walked alone, tears slowly welled up in my eyes as I wondered what I could have possibly done that made my life such a failure. I turned onto street after street as the time passed. Soon enough it was dark and the city lights mocked me with their dazzle.

I found a bench in a park not far from the bus stop and sat down. I leaned back and looked up at the sky. As I gazed up at the vast expanse, I felt a connection. Even though it seemed so cluttered, everything up there was horrifyingly far away from everything else. In a way, it comforted me, seeing something else so lonely, but at the same time it made me feel so sad to think that the only thing I found solitude in was the dark night sky. Just then a small cat jumped onto the bench and rubbed its soft head against my hand. I smiled and scratched its head as it purred.

“Hey there little guy,” I whispered. “Are you lost?” It meowed sweetly as I moved my hand to its jaw. “Or perhaps you are all alone too,” It climbed onto my lap and kneaded its tiny paws against my leg. “With no one out there thinking of how you are.” It curled up on my lap and nestled up against me. I pulled off my scarf and draped it over him. “There you go, nice and warm?” It purred loudly in response.

I smiled and looked back up at the sky, only this time I focused on the moon. “The moon isn’t as lonely as the stars,” I think. The cat stood up and readjusted itself before laying back down. “The moon and the Earth always have each other, even if they are kind of far apart, every night the moon watched over the Earth as it sleeps.” I smiled at the cat.

“You know,” I whispered again. “Maybe if you can be so happy with me, then my life may not be so bad.” It rolled over and let me pet its soft stomach. “If someone as sweet and innocent as a kitten can love me,” I thought aloud, “Then maybe, just maybe, I’ll be okay.”

After some time the cat stood up and strolled off.

Finally the time came for me to go to the bus stop, but the cat came running up to me and weaved its way around my feet. I smiled “Come on, if you are quiet and still the driver won’t see you.”

I picked it up and zipped my jacket up over it before holding it in place as casually as I could. Then, together we got on the bus to go home.