Binder2

On one occasion, I was driving to a huge shopping mall with a remarkable young girl who
suffered from severe schizophrenia. This is a mental health disorder that disturbs your thinking
and perceptions of life, which affects your interactions with the world. People with schizophrenia
may hear voices or noises; become very paranoid, believe they have unusual powers and that
world events are connected to them, sometimes thinking others control their thoughts, or viceversa.
As I drove, she was giving me directions because she knew the mall very well since it was
near her home but I was unfamiliar with the location as it was quite far from where I lived.
As my client told me to turn a corner, suddenly I heard a strange screeching noise. It sounded like
a cat moaning or meowing and I thought perhaps there was a poor cat lost on the side of the road. I
ignored it and continued to drive but I wasn’t really focused on where we were going because I
was concentrating on whether I could really hear meowing sounds or was it my tires screeching,
or even worse was it something in the engine like a fan belt rubbing against something. I was
worried but I didn’t want to alarm my client, but I was getting quite paranoid about these strange
sounds. I asked my client if she too could hear some cat sounds. She confidently answered “No,
what noises?” No doubt she was thinking I was testing her mental state when, in reality, I was
testing myself. We finally arrived at the mall, swiftly did the shopping and then I dropped my
client off at her parents’ house. I was still questioning myself as to what these strange screeching
noises could be. As soon as my client was out of sight, I thought it would be best to check the
engine and see if everything looked alright before I set off again and safely drive back home. I
lifted the bonnet and sure enough a horrified black cat dashed out from underneath, letting out a
shrieking meow. I was instantly shocked and relieved at the same time. It is utterly stunning how a
cat can survive a whole journey in my engine! Furthermore I was relieved that I’m not inventing
things in my own head!!
I drove home astounded by what had just occurred. It was 10 pm when I arrived home and I
needed to wind down from what had just happened. I was, however, curious to know how the cat
had survived for so long and where there was space in the bonnet safe enough for a cat to stay
without it getting shredded to bits? Once again I popped open the bonnet, and I pointed a torch
systematically all around the engine in search of a place the cat could have been. My jaw dropped
to the ground. “I nearly had kittens” when I discovered a litter of newly born kittens all curled up
on a small ledge near the water tank. I wasn’t sure if they were still alive, they had just been born
and looked like little furless mice. I gave them a poke to see if they would move, and then quickly
thought that they had better not fall through the hot engine now they have come all this way. I
rushed off to find a towel and a small box to put them in. I was quite focused considering this
astonishing situation. I wrapped my hands in plastic bags, like surgical gloves, so the kittens
wouldn’t be “contaminated” from human smells and touch. Keeping a clear mind, I planned how
to reunite them with their mother. I grabbed a tin of tuna, wrapped all four kittens in a warm towel
and placed them safely in a box. I secured them with the seatbelt in the front seat next to me and
drove off, all the while trying to retrace the journey and location where the cat had jumped out of
the bonnet. I was in a hurry because I knew mummy cat would start to stroll around in a desperate
search for her kittens. As if all that wasn’t enough drama, two police officers waved me down to
do a standard license check. They were asking unimportant questions like where I was heading at
this time of night. All that came to mind was the catch phrase “I’m on a mission from God” but I
didn’t say this to them because it just doesn’t sound the same in Hebrew, and thought they might
mistake me for being “loopy”. I told them the story; and sure enough they did think I was one of
the towns crazy cat ladies. Luckily, they didn’t waste too much time and let me continue on my
mission. I reached the destination and started to do the crazy cat lady sounds. “Psspsspss... here,
puss pusspuss...” I opened the tin of tuna and wafted it around hoping the black cat would catch
the scent of the food. I took the box of kittens out of the car, safely placing it in a bush and started
to poke them hoping they would squeal so mummy cat would hear them. I left the tin of tuna in
the box poked the kittens once more and hid quietly behind a wall where I could still spy on the
box. Shortly afterwards, I saw mummy cat approaching the box with caution. My heart skipped a
beat as I realized I had just accomplished what seemed like an impossible undertaking and I truly
had been “On A Mission From God”.
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