My route to and from school takes me past this abandoned house, which, in New Orleans, is not unusual. A few weeks ago I spotted a cat underneath the neighboring house, and though I didn’t get a great look at it, it seemed to be matted and dirty. Since that first sighting, I hadn’t seen it again… until today.

At first I figured that it was just a matter of timing; my daily schedule is hardly ever the same. But when I thought back to the first time I saw it and then to today, I realized that both times I noticed a car pulling out of the abandoned house’s driveway. In both instances the mystery cat poked out from under the neighbor’s house, and today, she even came out completely. The poor thing has bushy wild hair and is indeed quite dirty. I bent down to pet it, but it got spooked, so I just stood still and slowly it came up to me.

While this cat may be just one of many feral cats in the city, a part of me wonders if it used to belong to the now abandoned house. Perhaps whenever it hears a car in the driveway it pokes out expectantly, hoping, perhaps, that its long lost master has returned. While I probably won’t ever know what happened at that abandoned house, I can’t help but speculating about this dirty kitty and its sad fate.