The Lost Cat - A love story.

Once upon a time, in the beautiful Alpujarras of Spain, there lived a cat named Mica. Mica was a  cat with a remarkable personality. She had a mischievous streak, but was also incredibly affectionate and loyal. She had a strange marking on her back which looked like a question mark. Her owner was an old lady called Juana. Every evening, Mica would sit on her lap and they would sit on her terrace and watch the sun go down. Juana would think about the old times when she was young and she lived in Granada. She had been a flamenco dancer in the Sacromonte and had had many adventures. During the sunset, Mica would think about catching mice and eating sardines, which was her favourite food.  

Mica's home was a small village in the Alpujarras mountains. Life in the village was simple and slow, and Mica spent her days exploring the cobblestone streets and chasing the village chickens and trying to catch lizards. The villagers loved Mica and she was always around to greet them with her enthusiastic purr and rub her head against their legs. She was a beloved member of the village.

One day, as Mica was out exploring, she noticed that there was a wonderful smell of fish coming from the van that was parked in the main square. The van had the word "Pescado de Ramón" written on the side but Mica did not understand because she could not read.  She jumped into the back of the van and she found some delicious sardines.  They were so delicious that Mica started eating them.  After about five minutes, she heard Ramón say, "Adiós. Hasta la semana que viene".  Suddenly, the door at the side of the van shut, the engine of the van started and the van was soon speeding along the curvy mountain roads of the Alpujarras.     

Oh no! She was trapped. How stressful! Mica was very worried but she did what all cats do when life is too difficult, she went to sleep. 

About an hour later, Ramón arrived in Almuñécar, which is a small seaside town. Ramón opened the door of his van and Mica jumped out. Mica had never been to this place before, there were no friendly village people. She was next to the beach where Ramón kept his small fishing boat and his net. There were some men playing Petanca and a group of young people were doing exercises in a fitness class. The sun was going down. Mica felt very alone and she wondered where Juana was. She was sad and hungry and went to sit down under one of the fishing boats on the beach. Cats don't cry, but Mica was very lonely and upset. As usual, when life gets difficult, she went to sleep. 

The next day, she wandered around for what seemed like forever, but couldn't find her way back home. Everywhere she went, there were strange sights and unfamiliar scents that scared her. She felt like a tiny speck in a big, scary world. Mica had never been totally alone before, and it was a terrifying experience. She felt so lost and confused, and the loneliness was unbearable. She longed to be back home with Juana and her friends in the village. How would she ever find her way back to the village? It was impossible. 

Life was much more difficult at the beach. She was hungry most of the time.  Fortunately, there was a kind old woman called Victoria who would bring food for all the stray cats every morning. The food was mainly leftovers and scraps that had been donated to Victoria by the local restaurants. Victoria was a retired nurse who lived in a small apartment looking over the sea. She was a very caring person and couldn't bear to see the stray cats suffering or going hungry. Mica would go to be fed by Victoria at her house and they got to know each other. Victoria named Mica "Question Mark" because of the strange lines on her back which looked like a question mark. 

One day, Mica was exploring the line of rocks where the fishermen sit and cast their lines into the sea. The fishermen use small sardines as bait to put on the end of their hooks. Mica smelt the sardines. She could not resist and snatched one of them from the fisherman's basket. The fisherman flew into a rage, picked up a stone and threw it at Mica. The stone hit Mica on the paw, she let out a big scream and ran as fast as she could. She ran and ran. Cats don't have good road sense and she ran straight across the road. A car had to swerve to avoid her and made a loud screech as the tyres slid on the asphalt. The driver shouted out "¡Caramba! ¡Maldito gato!" Mica carried on running. She ran to Victoria's house, who was the only friend she had in Almuñécar. 

It just so happened that at this moment an Englishman called John Spidley was walking along the sea front. He was doing a walk called the "Almuñécar fat burner" which was a walk to test his fitness to see if he was fit enough to walk with a local walking group. He had recently retired and come to live in Almuñécar. He had had a second-hand bookshop in Granada selling antiquarian books for many years. He was a very pleasant, amiable man who had a slightly posh English accent. His presence on the scene at this particular moment has a big bearing on this story.

In the latter years as a Flamenco dancer, Juana started to suffer from pains in her feet due to the years of "taconeo". This word taconeo in Spanish describes the energetic stamping of the heel into the ground which produces a staccato sound which accentuates the flamenco rhythm. To cut a long story short, Juana got a job in John's bookshop to reduce her hours of flamenco dancing and thus relieve her aching feet. John and Juana had worked together for years in the bookshop. In fact, John Spidley had been secretly in love with Juana for a long time but as John was a gentleman, he had never declared his love for her because she had a boyfriend. He had looked after Mica a couple of times when Juana had gone to dance in Paris so he remembered the distinctive question mark pattern on Mica's back. 

John suddenly realised that the cat running down the road was Juana's cat Mica. He abandoned his hike and followed Mica. When John arrived at Victoria's house, Mica was already eating the stolen sardine. Fortunately, she was not badly hurt by the stone. John told Victoria that he recognised Mica and that she belonged to Juana. John still had Juana's phone number even though he had not seen her for over a year. He phoned Juana and told her that he had found Mica.

When Juana heard the news, her eyes widened in amazement, and tears of joy started streaming down her face. She was so relieved and happy that her beloved pet had been found safe and sound. John decided immediately to take Mica back to the village. With Victoria's help, he put Mica into a cat box and within minutes, he was driving along the bendy roads of the Alpujarras. Eventually, John arrived at Juana's house, and when they opened the cat box, Mica suddenly realised that she was back in the village and her life of suffering was over. She was so happy that she went to her favourite chair, started purring and then went to sleep.  

Juana asked John if he was hungry and if he would like to stay for a meal. John gratefully accepted because he was very hungry. Juana went to the kitchen and started to make gazpacho. John went into the kitchen and took out three knives and forks from the kitchen drawer and started to lay the table for the meal for three people: himself, Juana and Pierre, Juana's French boyfriend. Juana and John had not seen each other for some time and John did not know about recent changes in Juana's life.  Juana told John that he only had to lay the table for two people because Pierre had died peacefully in his sleep six months previously. 


Juana and John had a lot of news to catch up on. They talked and laughed, and they both realized that they had a lot in common and that they had missed each other.  The conversation flowed effortlessly, and they began to realize that there was something special about their connection. Something snapped in John's brain and he decided to tell Juana the truth.

John took a deep breath and looked into Juana's eyes. "Juana," he said softly, "I can't keep this in any longer. I need to tell you that I love you. I have loved you for years, and I can't keep pretending otherwise anymore." 

Juana's eyes widened in surprise and delight. Then, she smiled and took John's hand in hers. "I love you too, John," she said. "I've been in love with you since the day we first met."

As you can imagine, the story has a happy ending. Juana and John became great friends and lovers. Mica enjoyed her old life in the village. Victoria, Juana and John would sometimes meet up and watch the sun going down over the bay in Almuñécar. 

John sometimes thought to himself how lucky he was that he was passing the road just at the moment that Mica ran in front of the car. Then he realised that it is very likely for unlikely things to happen. 

They all lived happily ever after.   

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LINK 1: More info about the Alpujarra.

LINK 2: Juana