The Story of Ugly
Everyone in the apartment complex
I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was
the resident tomcat. Ugly loved
three things in this world: fighting,
eating garbage, and shall we say,
love.
The combination of these things
combined with a life spent outside had
their effect on Ugly. To start
with, he had only one eye, and where the
other should have been was a gaping
hole. He was also missing his ear on the
same side, his left foot appeared
to have been badly broken at one time, and
had healed at an unnatural angle,
making him look like he was always turning
the corner. His tail had long been
lost, leaving only the smallest stub,
which he would constantly jerk
and twitch. Ugly would have been a dark gray
tabby striped except for the sores
covering his head, neck, even his
shoulders with thick, yellowing
scabs. Every time someone saw Ugly there
was the same reaction. "That's
one UGLY cat!!" All the children were warned
not to touch him, the adults threw
rocks at him, hosed him down, squirted
him when he tried to come in their
homes, or shut his paws in the door when
he would not leave. Ugly always
had the same reaction. If you turned the
hose on him, he would stand there,
getting soaked until you gave up and
quit. If you threw things at him,
he would curl his lanky body around feet
in forgiveness. Whenever he spied
children, he would come running meowing
frantically and bump his head against
their hands, begging for their love.
If you ever picked him up
he would immediately begin suckling on your
shirt, earrings, whatever he could
find.
One day Ugly shared his love with
the neighbors huskies. They did not
respond kindly, and Ugly
as badly mauled. From my apartment I could hear
his screams, and I tried to rush
to his aid. By the time I got to where he
was laying, it was apparent Ugly's
sad life was almost at an end. Ugly lay
in a wet circle, his back legs
and lower back twisted grossly out of shape,
a gaping tear in the white trip
of fur that ran down his front. As I picked
him up and tried to carry him home
I could hear him wheezing and gasping,
and could feel him struggling.
I must be hurting him terribly I thought.
Then I felt a familiar tugging,
sucking sensation on my ear - Ugly, in so
much pain, suffering and
obviously dying was trying to suckle my ear. I
pulled him closer to me, and he
bumped the palm of my hand with his head,
then he turned his one golden eye
towards me, and I could hear the distinct
sound of purring. Even in the greatest
pain, that ugly battle scarred cat
was asking only for a little affection,
perhaps some compassion. At that
moment I thought Ugly was the most
beautiful, loving creature I had ever
seen. Never once did he try to
bite or scratch me, or even try to get away
from me, or struggle in any way.
Ugly just looked up at me completely
trusting in me to relieve his pain.
Ugly died in my arms before I could
get inside, but I sat and held him for a
long time afterwards, thinking
about how one scarred, deformed little stray
could so alter my opinion about
what it means to have true pureness of
spirit, to love so totally and
truly. Ugly taught me more about giving and
compassion than a thousand books,
lectures, or talk show specials ever
could, and for that I will always
be thankful. He had been scarred on the
outside, but I was scarred on the
inside, and it was
time for me to move on and learn
to love truly and deeply. To give my total
to those I cared for. any people
want to be richer, more successful, well
liked, beautiful, but for me, I
will always try to be Ugly.