How Lucky She Is

Happy stories are very much alike and every sad story is different, but real life stories in general tend to be bittersweet, rather than completely perfectly happy or totally desperately sad. In the life of every sentient being there is joy and misery, happiness and

sadness, hope and despair, something is lost, something gained and something still on the horizon. It relates to humans and animals evenly and helps in understanding a basis of their mutual relationships. A mission of helping animals sounds great

and easy on the surface, but there’s much more involved in animal rescue then just picking up and caring for unwanted animals. Taking them in is one thing; providing them with everything they need is a completely different matter.

Treca Sreca was the third kitten I’d run into over a very short period of time and her name means literally “Third time lucky”. Tigi and Negro had already settled in when she arrived, a cute tiny girl with big round eyes, the youngest and the smallest of three. They were inseparable from the beginning; they ate, slept and played together. For quite some time, all three of them had been rather reluctant to go out and even when they decided to set foot into the outside world, they were extremely cautious and

careful. Their strongest instinct was fear and it helped them stay alive.

When Treca Sreca was less than a year old, she disappeared without a trace. She never took a long walk before and I knew something had happened. After many

hours of calling her, combing the entire neighborhood and checking the backs of other people’s houses, I finally managed to locate her, locked in a nearby basement. A dozen tense, anxious phone calls to neighbors followed, until I found someone who had the key and was willing to

unlock the door. There she was, dehydrated and horribly hungry, dirty, panic-stricken and almost hysterical. Broken and bloody claws on her front paws told me the story of the immense fear and the frantic digging into the concrete walls she'd done, trying to find the way out…

Treca Sreca's long years of watching every step, being on her guard and struggling to stay alive are behind her now. She is living a tranquil and blissful life in the shelter, so appropriate for a nice, calm and placid cat. She

is still talkative like she's always been, her tail is still held vertically, over her back like always, but she has something she hasn’t had before – she is glowing with happiness of a protected and very much loved kitty. She surely won’t ever forget the times of

fear and uncertainty she went through, but she is now able to move on without any bitterness, hatred or malice, like only animals can.