The next day when we left the apartment, it was extremely hot... and there this little guy was, sitting outside the apartment complex, looking lost and confused.   One of the neighbors explained how the neighbor must have left this kitten outside and gone away for the day, and they were concerned the cat was going to pass out from the heat or something.

We brought Punkin inside with us for the day, gave him food and water.   He seemed to fit right in, he wasn't afraid of anything at all... anyplace was like home to him, anyone was family! The other cats just accepted him as if he'd always been there.   Later on, the neighbor came to get his cat.   Well, it turned out that this neighbor had problems and was constantly going into the hospital and away from home a lot.

Before long, poor Punkin was found outside again, and we brought him in once more. It wasn't safe for him to be out there, underneath parked cars, and a busy city street not far away.   He was just the cutest little thing... I didn't give him a name because he really didn't belong to me... but I'd come home from work and say the first thing that came to mind... "Hi, Punkin!" ... a term of endearment for this cute little guy.   

He ended up staying with us for weeks while this neighbor was in the hospital (or so I heard from other neighbors), and I soon became deeply attached to him. He was just so cute and personable, and always playing.   He'd also bonded quickly with the other cats... I've never seen anything like this with any other cat I've known. He was best friends with my cat, Shadow, right from the start, and still I have pics of Punkin cuddled up with every other cat in the house as well!   Well, it seems that everyone just loved Punkin!!!

It was a very long time till this neighbor was back home again, and then he came to see his cat.   My fiance took me by surprise and just handed Punkin over to him to take home now, and I guess I just wasn't prepared for it!   I started crying my heart out... "I didn't even get to say goodbye," I said!   ... plus I was worried now that this neighbor couldn't really care for Punkin the way he should be cared for.   My husband decided to go talk to the neighbor again, and before I knew it the neighbor walked into the bedroom where I was crying, handing Punkin to me.   I was embarrassed and tried to tell him not to mind me, that I was just being overly-emotional and so forth, and that we *really* did have too many cats in the apartment anyway... but the neighbor insisted that Punkin *did* belong with me now, gave me a kiss on the cheek and handed Punkin over to me!   He said it was for the best, that he really wasn't in a good position to take care of Punkin!   So, Punkin became mine!

Punkin was so much fun and such an explorer.   He was also a little terror, though, and he destroyed EVERY single nic-nac that I had in the apartment (I had too many nic-nacs anyway, though)!   ;)  He seemed to love anything that he could knock around and that would make noise... especially in the middle of the night, when he seemed to think things were just too quiet and wanted to stir up some action!   After there were no more nic-nacs left,  he started getting on top of a very tall wardrobe closet that was in the apartment, and there he could reach the ceiling and he started shredding the wallpaper up there!   Of course this was in the bedroom, the one room that had just been newly-wallpapered too! He loved to do this in the middle of the night, and I tried to use the trusty spray-bottle method to get him to stop the destruction! That soon became a game to Punkin too, though!   The moment he'd see me starting to get up and going for the spray bottle, he'd take off like a jet... but as soon as I got back under the covers, he'd come back and shred the wallpaper again!   Well, if this little guy was not so lovable, I don't know how I'd forgive him for all that!!!   Still, I just had to laugh and admire the little guy's spirit!    He just wanted to have fun.    

Punkin used to love to sleep underneath the blankets too. When he was so small, I worried that my fiance would roll over on him or something, or that he'd suffocate under there... but I guess he knew what he was doing! There was no keeping him out of there anyway, he could get under the blankets from the foot of the bed... one way or another, he'd get under there!    :)

He was wonderful at playing fetch... and just instinctively would bring the ball back to you to throw again and again. He wanted to play with ANYTHING that made noise, even the sound of a candy wrapper would bring him running... it was something he wanted to play with, for sure!   In the mornings when he was hungry, he never *did* learn to stop getting under my feet... I can't tell you how many times I'd tripped over him, and thought he'd probably learn the hard way not to do that.... but he never got hurt, I just got used to stumbling over him in the mornings!   If he didn't feel he was getting your attention,  sometimes he'd just take a jump and hang on the bottom of your leg till you fed him!    :)

Well, I don't like to play favorites... I love all my cats... but you can probably tell that Punkin really captured my heart and *did* become my very favorite.   We really bonded, and he just lit up my days with his playfulness, and oh how I miss the way he would come to greet me when I got home!    Losing him has been such a heartache to me, and harder still is the fact that I will never really know for sure why or how he died . .. it was all very strange, and still is such a horror to me that I can't make sense out of.   I miss my Punkin so very much, and my heart will always ache over what happened to my baby.    There can never be another Punkin, and the hole in my heart will always be there.... till we meet again, my sweet angel kitty!