A Friend Called Alfie

‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year,’ George said, in his sing-song voice. He was incredibly excited because it was Christmas Day. Our favourite day.

‘It is son. Happy Christmas.’ We nuzzled.

It was early, of course, because our children woke at the crack of dawn, or so it seemed, to see if Santa had been. He had. As George and I watched them open presents, squealing excitedly about what they’d got, we felt warm and fuzzy. This was family at its best and it was also the scene that made it absolutely crystal clear how lucky we all were. We had so much, and it also made me spare a thought for those who didn’t have as much, or anything close. We had to remember Christmas was about giving, receiving, and also being mindful of everyone else. What saddened me about the world sometimes is how people don’t value people enough, or cats for that matter. Anyway, enough of my sad thoughts, because no one should be miserable on Christmas Day.

The run-up had been hectic, as it always is, although in a different way this year. Harold’s Sunday Lunch Club was up and running, although it was very early days, and today we had five people dining with us who would otherwise be on their own for Christmas. And not only that, there would be no turkey for them if they didn’t join us. I, for one, found that unimaginable because that was my favourite thing about Christmas. George also quite liked Brussels sprouts but I didn’t quite understand that.

The Goodwins and the Barkers were having Christmas Day together, and they had invited three other people, which was kind of them. In the new year, the regular Sunday lunches would start properly, and Harold was very proud of himself. As was I. And of George, who inspired this whole thing. Claire was working with the Goodwins as well, to try to get more people involved. They were starting with Edgar Road, because it is a very long road, they felt they should be able to get many people to sign up. With the combined forces, I couldn’t see how it would fail. Claire had the charm, Vic would talk until people agreed to anything and Heather never took no for an answer. We all had high hopes.

There had been the usual pre-Christmas fun of course. The nativity play which Toby, Henry, Summer and Martha were all in. It was pretty uneventful compared to last year when we put George in the manger as baby Jesus. People are still talking about that, and oh how I’d enjoyed it but we were absolutely banned from going this year. Claire even locked the cat/dog flap, she wasn’t taking any chances as we were trapped in the house.

The Christmas tree had also managed to survive relatively unscathed, as George didn’t climb it this year. He said he had grown out of that, but the same couldn’t be said for Matt and Polly’s because George taught Pickles to try to climb it instead. Pickles had gone back to trying to be a cat having abandoned trying to be a girl, and George showed that despite his maturity and his discovery of his purpose in life he could still be naughty. It didn’t end well. Polly was furious as decorations scattered, the tree almost landed on Pickles, who thankfully escaped unhurt. We were all cross with George and even he realised he’d pushed it too far. He promised to act as a more responsible older cousin to Pickles but I wasn’t holding out much hope on that. Thankfully Polly had the sense to ban putting presents around the tree, in case Pickles ate them and we had adopted that policy at our house as well.

I had been spending more time with Snowball and my other Edgar Road friends, now we had a little less going on. Snowball and I were back to being a couple, and although at times I did feel guilty about Tiger, I knew, deep down, she would want me to be happy. And I was happy. Some days I woke up and wondered how I was so happy, because since losing Tiger, I’d been far more down than even I realised, but it was as if I now had a new lease of life.

It was as if I was on life four of my nine lives. I had rediscovered a spring in my paws, which I never thought I would have again, and I felt invincible. I still thought of Tiger every day, and George and talked about her all the time, but it was finally time for me to move on, and as it was with Snowball, my first love, it made sense. If that made sense. But I wasn’t replacing Tiger. I hadn’t gone out looking for a new cat. I was back in love with someone I loved before.

George pretty much accepted it with good grace. He and Hana were closer than ever now he had stopped going to the hospital, but he also visited Snowball and Harold a lot. He sometimes would have a teenage strop and tell me that I better not ask him to call Snowball mum, but as I explained that would never happen, he was silenced. And he did really like her, they were pretty good friends actually.

So as we approached the end of the year, it was happy families, and love and laughter filled our lives once more. As did the fact we were helping people who might be lonely. What I loved about all our friends and family was that we all knew how much we had, so we were willing to make the lives of others better. And that is what life should be about. Sadly I know it’s not, but it should be. That’s how it would be if cats ruled the whole world.

The streets were pretty empty as a convoy of adults, children, cats and a dog made their way down the street on Christmas Day to go to Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant, so we only received the odd strange glance. Marcus had gone to pick up some of our new guests and Harold, as it was bitingly cold and too far for them to walk. Matt had also gone to pick up a couple of others as they couldn’t all fit into one car. The children chattered excitedly, no longer fighting over Pickles’ lead; that particular novelty had worn off a bit, and also they had all insisted on carrying one of their new toys with them. I couldn’t wait. Not only was I spending Christmas Day with my favourite humans, George, Snowball, Hana and Pickles, I was also going to see Dustbin and Ally. Not to mention my turkey dinner. I really couldn’t wait for that.

The restaurant was warm, welcoming, with lights twinkling everywhere. Frankie greeted us all with hugs and kisses, Tomasz was cooking, and Sylvie and Claire went to help him. Jonathan organised the children, while Franceska poured drinks. Tommy and Aleksy played a game on a tablet; rare for the brothers to share a moment together. I knew Aleksy was missing Connie, but it was nice to see them hanging out, and I hoped it would bring them closer together.

We cats skipped happily out the back to wish Dustbin a Happy Christmas.

‘Well I never, it’s Snowball.’ Dustbin raised his whiskers in greeting. ‘How lovely to see you after all this time.’

‘Remember, George, I told you that I ran away once and Dustbin literally saved my life,’ Snowball explained.

‘Yes, but that was down to Alfie, really,’ Dustbin said. We all spared a thought for our old memories.

‘Isn’t it great us all being here together?’ Dustbin said as he introduced Snowball and Hana to Ally.

‘Hana, come outside,’ George coaxed, she was still stood just inside the door.

‘But it’s so cold on my paws,’ Hana replied, tentatively lifting a paw out. ‘Brurrgh,’ she said, shivering. We all smiled at her fondly.

I went back inside when I heard Matt and Marcus arrive, as did George and Hana. Snowball stayed outside to catch up with Dustbin and Ally.

Harold proudly led our new friends, Les, Mary, Val, Jack and Alan in. I felt so proud and sad at the same time. I still couldn’t quite come to terms with the idea that people were alone at Christmas.

‘Thanks so much for having us,’ Mary said, she was quiet and a little nervous. Our families had decided that they would share the old people, although Claire said we shouldn’t say it like that, you know what Jonathan was like. However, this way us, Polly, Matt, Franceska, Tomasz, Sylvie and Marcus would make sure they were looked after and we’d somehow ended up with an extra person too, but it didn’t matter because we had enough love to go round. George and I enjoyed the extra fuss we got when we saw them also.

I went to greet them all by rubbing their legs, but Alan looked a bit shocked. He wasn’t a cat person, and didn’t make a fuss of us, but George and I had decided that we’d soon convert him.

‘You are all so welcome,’ Franceska said, ‘now can I get you drinks. We’ve got Prosecco?’

‘Oh I’ve never had it,’ Val said. ‘But I wouldn’t say no.’ She grinned. She had never had children and her husband died a few years ago, so she’d been on her own ever since.

‘I think I might rather a sherry?’ Mary said, sounding a little uncertain. I guessed we were overwhelming all together, and they weren’t used to us yet.

‘Meow.’ I tried to reassure them all.

‘I’d love a beer,’ Jack said.

‘We’ve got sherry, beer, wine or Prosecco, you’re welcome to whatever you want,’ Jonathan said, as he took orders.

‘And can I take your coats?’ Franceska asked, as they finally shrugged off their coats. Matt and Harold led them to the table.

‘Take a seat,’ Harold said. He was definitely enjoying taking charge.

‘Is there anywhere we should sit?’ Val asked.

‘Wherever you like,’ Harold replied. I watched as they levered themselves into chairs, just as drinks were delivered to them, and the children came over.

‘We wish you a Merry Christmas,’ Summer and Martha sang. They were so angelic, I wondered what they’d been bribed with. Aleksy, and Tommy shook everyone’s hands like the polite older children they were growing into and Toby and Henry introduced them to Pickles. Although our guests were still a little bewildered, it wasn’t long before they started to relax. Our families had that effect on people.

Sylvie sat down with them. She didn’t have a big pregnancy belly yet but she tired easily and had to take care of herself and the unborn baby. We didn’t know what we were having yet but we were all very excited about it. Especially Hana, who was looking forward to having new life in their house.

‘So, I hope you’re going to enjoy today.’ She smiled. ‘It’s a little crazy when we’re all together.’ That was an understatement.

‘I just never saw a family who went to a restaurant and took their pets,’ Alan said, nervously. ‘But I’m so happy to be here, I can’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked Christmas meal.’

‘Oh Alan.’ Sylvie who was emotional, hugged him which seemed to shock him even more. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added as she wiped tears from her face. ‘But my little girl, who is fifteen and not so little, is in Japan with my ex-husband. It’s my first ever Christmas without her and I miss her so much.’ Her tears streamed down her cheeks and Hana jumped to comfort her as did Marcus. ‘Oh it’s fine, she’ll be fine and so will I but I feel so strange without her. You know this morning, we would always wake up on Christmas morning and open her stocking. I wish she was here, that’s all. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, it’s not easy, Sylvie,’ Harold said, squeezing her hand.

‘Thanks, Harold, right it’s Christmas, I will make sure we all have fun.’ She wiped her tears away and then went to see if she could help anyone.

‘I don’t know if I explained to all of you,’ Harold continued, taking his role of organiser of this wonderful thing very seriously. ‘But this is Tomasz and Franceska’s restaurant and they never open on Christmas, so it’s more like going to someone’s home. And the cats, well what can I say, they come everywhere with us more or less. I can highly recommend getting a cat if you’re lonely by the way, it worked wonders for me.’

‘Meow.’ Snowball appeared and jumped on Harold’s lap. ‘But at our age, what if anything happened to us and we left them?’ Val asked.

‘You can rehome an older cat,’ Harold explained. Goodness at this rate they would all have cats by the end of this meal. Although possibly not Alan.

‘Ahh, no, Pickles, stop, Pickles,’ Henry started shouting. We all looked over.

‘What’s going on?’ Polly asked, appearing from the kitchen.

‘Pickles just ate a Christmas cracker toy,’ Henry explained as he tried to fish it out of Pickles’ mouth. Polly grabbed him, and managed to get it.

‘How on earth did he get that?’ Matt asked, scratching his head. We hadn’t pulled any crackers yet. The children all shrugged innocently.

‘Let’s do Secret Santa now,’ Marcus suggested, cleverly changing the subject.

All the adults exchanged gifts and the younger children all helped deliver them. Summer wanted to deliver a gift when it was Martha’s turn and although Martha was pretty laid-back, she got cross, and then Pickles barked.

‘Summer, you all take turns remember,’ Claire said.

‘She never likes to take turns,’ Toby explained. ‘But, Summer, as it’s Christmas, you can have my turn,’ he added.

‘Yay!’ Summer hugged Toby and I felt a pang. My children were growing up to be like us too.

‘Also, and I won’t have any arguing, you will all take home some leftover food please, it will help me out,’ Tomasz stated, as he prepared to go and put the finishing touches to dinner. I know he meant our new guests, as we all had plenty, but it had been decided before to cook extra food and send it home with our guests, by letting them think it was just leftovers and we needed them to help eat it up. That was Harold’s idea too. He said like him, a lot of them were too proud to admit being lonely, or to needing help. I had learnt, through Harold, to understand that. I was quite a proud cat myself, after all.

Lunch was wonderful. We cats all ate together. Pickles was kept away, because we all know about his strict diet, and I did feel a bit sorry for him. However, he was given some turkey so it wasn’t all bad. As we ate, I enjoyed listening to the low hum of happy human conversation and laughter. Crackers were pulled, hats put on, drinks refreshed – Mary was a little tipsy, her cheeks flushed and she giggled like a young girl. The rest of our new friends were all relaxing, as they were made to feel part of the family. The children were behaving again, all getting along, under the watchful eyes of Aleksy and Tommy, and everyone was having a lovely time which was all that mattered. It was all that ever mattered to me, to see my friends and families happy.

It was all any cat could ever want.

Later, as the clearing up was underway, we all headed to see Dustbin for the last time before it was time to leave. I told George we should take Pickles with us, too, after all it was Christmas, and as the adults had begun to unwind – with the help of a few drinks – they weren’t quite so vigilant with him.

‘You can come too this time,’ I said, and he happily waddled after us.

‘Hello again, Pickles,’ Dustbin said, having met him when he broke out of home and we were on the recreation ground for Tiger’s anniversary. We introduced him to Ally.

‘You’re a funny looking dog, if you don’t mind me saying,’ Ally said as Pickles licked her.

‘He does that, he licks everything,’ George explained, and Pickles licked the window nearest to him to illustrate the point.

‘I don’t exactly mind you saying,’ Pickles replied. ‘But I am more cat than dog now, surely?’ he added. ‘After all I’ve been practising for such a long time.’

‘You’re probably about as much cat as you’re ever going to be,’ George said and I nudged him.

‘Yay! I knew I could do it,’ Pickles replied. ‘It was nice to see you but I’ve got to go inside now, Summer has dropped a lot of food and it needs clearing up.’ He waddled back to eat the scraps.

‘He’ll never really be a cat will he?’ George said.

‘It’s unfortunate but a lesson of life, there’s no dog or human as clever as a cat,’ I pointed out. ‘But don’t tell Pickles that.’

‘So another year drawing to a close,’ Dustbin said.

‘And it’s been eventful,’ I added. ‘What with Pickles’ arrival, then Harold, George and his job, and Snowball.’ I grinned over at her. I still felt a flutter in my heart every time I saw her and I could barely believe that she was back with us. Back in my life.

‘I was so upset that my family moved away, and that I had to be rehomed but it’s worked out pretty well,’ Snowball said.

‘Definitely for us,’ George said sweetly.

‘And I met Ally,’ Dustbin said. ‘Which made me see what all the fuss is about.’ He looked down and I knew this was an emotional time for him.

‘And I am still here,’ Hana announced, putting a paw out to join us and shivering. George nuzzled her.

‘We are so lucky to have each other aren’t we?’ he said.

‘We are and if we learnt anything this year it’s the importance of love, of helping people and of friendship. Being a friend is the best thing ever.’

‘I like friendship,’ Hana said. ‘I never had cat friends before I met you guys and I am so lucky to have you.’

‘For me to have met friends again, old and new, when I could have been so lonely is a miracle,’ Snowball added.

‘And I love all my friends, old and new, human and cat. It’s part of my job after all,’ George added seriously.

‘Well I for one am glad I met you all,’ Ally said. ‘I can’t believe how much friendship has changed my life for the better. Being a friend is the best thing ever!’

‘Let’s toast to friendship,’ George said, raising his paw. He’d got that from the humans who did it all the time with drinks. We all put our paws up, feeling the warmth despite the freezing cold.

‘And it’s easy to be a friend when you’ve got a friend called Alfie,’ Dustbin finished.