Fear/Pity

Saw a black cat outside his door. Did he own the cat? Not sure. Every day since his body was found in the woods near his apartment, the cat crouches outside the door where the fella' living there would give it water, milk, or table scraps. The property owner wasted no time in hammering the "For Rent" sign on the front lawn and removing the bowls that had been set out for the cat. Before his obituary posted, the sign was in the yard.




Not from here, he just lived here. Most folks come from somewhere far away in this boomtown. The region has benefited from the largess of some huge global corporations. Many were brought here despite their wishes in an economy which requires keeping the job you have. Very few jobs offering actual retirement plans these days are to be found. Not sure what brought this fella' to town, possibly the university. Always a lot of frustrations and broken hearts in a town where a major university is located. Grad. programs attract the folks with the most to lose in failure to receive the degree. A whole life's planning could be flushed down the toilet.



The property owner must have been relieved that the troubled renter ended it all in the woods and not in the apartment, like some. No need to clean up or disclose such events, limiting the pool of potential renters who get "creeped out" by ghosts and such. Not sure if I'm not sympathetic to the "creeped out" sensation. No one wants to be in such a state as to want to do mortal harm to oneself and the possible presence of a wandering spirit could promote unrest in the future inhabitants of the apartment. Folks like Albert Camus have written about the ethical ramifications of such an action. I agree with his thoughtful assessment in Myth of Sisyphus, The Rebel, or The Plague. Death needs no help in doing its dirty work. Humans who aid and abet death are guilty of complicity in an evil act. Sound thoughts from one of the world's treasures, his life cut short in an automobile accident. He survived the Nazis and their Vichy co-conspirators while in North Africa during World War II only to die on the peaceful roadways in France years later. Had the poor hopeless fella ever read Camus or the passages in the Bible where Haman hung himself or Judas? These were desperate men reacting to their existential duties in the grand scheme: Mutual arising (Zen and the art of Occidental/Oriental fusion).



Nevertheless, kitty misses him. It's certain his family back home miss him too. Why? The storm and stress of life claims another relatively young victim. Compassion and love are required for folks who feel the need to die in this manner. Life is worth living and worthy of defense from the inevitable. Fear, pity, and longing were too much to bear for yet another soul. Adieu.