Death In The Alley Next Door

Tonight I met the long-term boyfriend of my very, very good friend, Miss Winn. Almost 10 years now we've gotten to know each other, and with each passing year I come to admire her spirit more. Now that we live on the same side of the ocean, the same side of the continent, the same side of the same city, there came the occasion to have dinner with her and her beau.

Mr. R is impressive in his own right, cute, funny, and totally in love with her. It was a very enjoyable evening of Greek food (though I would have sworn mine was Italian) and music (though I would have sworn it was Spanish). There are so many good food choices in New York, one almost can't get hungry fast enough!

Dinner comes and goes and we take a side street under a huge concrete arch with clever graffiti and past an impressive orthodox-looking church. You know, the original church of Jesus Christ before all that Catholic corruption and stuff with the Pope causing the East-West Schism?

As we reach my house (Miss Winn's bf lives a block away) there's a Chinese man, obviously distraught, telling us about a dying animal in the alley that just got hit by a car. Seriously put a damper on an otherwise great evening. Mr. R calls 311 as they say goodbye, but I just can't go on like nothing happened... I can't resume life as normal with a dying soul right there, probably afraid, confused, and in massive amounts of pain. I go in the alley between my house and the next building to be with the cat. Its left hip has been badly broken, easily evident from the Cirque-style contortion of his legs.

I'm crying as I type this, it was just awful... the poor thing was a total alley cat, no collar, no owner, a real survivor in this man-made city. His hair was sooty to the touch on both his neck and back, the places where he couldn't clean himself and where no-one else did. I first met him the night before, enjoying a meal out of a discarded food container. The cat, not me.

Animals generally take a liking to me, and such was the case with Amsterdam - the name I gave him posthumously. He wasn't bothered by my presence and as I was content to just enjoy the night, we shared each other's company while he enjoyed dinner.

Now here he was, gasping for breath, obviously in great pain, unable to move. I sat next to this dying creature, right next to the garbage, and spoke softly to it while rubbing it's head and neck until I could get him to calm down. It was just awful... the poor thing kept looking at me as if to say, "HELP ME" and all I could do was just talk to it and rub it's head. "Please," I said to the man who pointed out this poor creature, "fetch some water?" The man leaves me alone with Amsterdam while Miss Winn and Mr. R rush upstairs to search for information online - 311 was not of much help as it seemed anyone who was capable of helping was closed on this fateful Friday night.

Now alone with Amsterdam, I wished I had the wisdom, strength, and courage to break his neck and end his suffering, but that was not to be my role. I honestly believed that a vet would soon arrive and take care of this animal. Amsterdam seemed to calm down and be at peace. I began to believe that he would be okay.

My neighbor Chi (as in Arabic for tea), returns with some water. As he crouches down next to us, Amsterdam, lying on his right side, slowly tries to raise his left paw over his face. I take a few capfuls of water and pour them over his lips, hoping that he'll take a drink... but there's no reaction.

I suddenly notice my other hand on his belly is no longer moving... he's stopped breathing. Right then and there, in my arms, he died. It was awful... when he stopped breathing I instantly knew he was dead, but there were still lingering body spasms which made the people now taking notice think he was still alive. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Just then, another neighbor arrives with a box- initially designed to be a recovery bed for Amsterdam, it was now serving double-duty as a coffin.

Rest in peace, Mr. Amsterdam. I could not ease your suffering, but I could not let you journey into the next world frightened and alone. No spirit deserves that fate, especially one as magnificent as yours.