Roly Poly was awake.
He was up early,
Even though it was raining and cold outside.
He stretched out his paws and did some cat yoga,
Which he never missed.
It was part of his morning routine.
He was a creature of habit,
Dedicated to his own self-care,
Always starting each day in the same way,
Unless of course he was on holiday,
And he took holidays every third week.
Which may seem like a lot,
But remember,
Roly is very strict about his cat care and his meow time.
Anyway,
You don't need to know all that,
Unless you're really nosy like me.
I always want to know what Roly Poly is up to.
Today,
Even though the weather was bad,
He had to go out,
But he had no intention of getting wet.
Roly Poly knew all the clever ways to get about town,
Without ever getting caught in the rain.
His preference,
If he had an early appointment,
Would be to get a lift with Eric,
The friendly milkman,
Who not only gave him lifts,
But better still would save him a lovely bottle of Jersey milk.
Some of you will recall these,
The creamy ones with a gold top.
Eric was waiting,
As was his habit,
Outside the Rose and Crown,
By the street light.
He loved this time of day,
Just before dawn,
Watching the town slowly come to life.
He loved his little town and all its characters.
Eric knew everybody and everything.
In fact,
He was the first person to have met the mysterious new cat about town.
He recalled how he had first seen him at the back of one of the care homes and gave him a drink of creamy milk.
He had been overcome by his beautiful woolly coat and his big brown eyes.
Eric smiled to himself,
Remembering how he'd discovered Roly Poly and could only just about make out his name on the faded tag.
Surprisingly,
There was no address.
Eric told all his customers about his new friend,
But nobody claimed him.
Over time,
Many of them got to meet him for themselves and agreed Roly Poly was the perfect name for such a gorgeous cat.
Up you come,
My friend.
Are we going to see Mr.
Brown?
Mr.
Brown was one of Roly Poly's regulars.
He was an old man who lived at Greenacres Care Home.
While Eric was delivering the milk to the back kitchen,
Roly would slip unseen and make his way to bedroom three on the second floor.
The door was always left ajar and Mr.
Brown would be dozing in the chair.
He was sad and in pain.
Nobody came to see Mr.
Brown.
His son lived in Germany and his daughter had fallen out with him over some brass candlesticks.
Don't ask.
Well,
If you must know,
Layla,
His only daughter,
Had become convinced that the said candlesticks were worth a small fortune.
She had taken them from the family home without asking and sold them on eBay for,
Can you believe it,
The measly sum of £42.
Mr.
Brown was naturally very upset about this.
He could not believe his only daughter would do such a thing.
He had bought those candlesticks on a day out to Barmouth with his first wife,
Mary.
Mary,
Who was not Layla's mother,
Which may account for the fact that she didn't care about the candlesticks.
Anyway,
In the end,
Mr.
Brown had gotten so mad that he told Layla he never wanted to see her ever again.
But now he was old and sad,
He wished he could sort things out with her.
Roly-poly jumped up onto his lap and purred.
Mr.
Brown stroked him and spoke softly.
If only I could see Layla again.
I don't care about those stupid brass candlesticks.
He looked into Roly's loving eyes.
He knew that somehow he understood.
Later that day,
When Roly was on his way home,
He could not stop thinking about Mr.
Brown and he decided that he was going to do something about it.
He didn't know what yet,
But he always had a plan.
However,
Right now he had an appointment to keep.
Delito would be waiting for him at Paul's Palace.
He was going for his weekly wash and blow-dry.
His thick,
Woolly,
Creamy coloured coat would not stay perfect all by itself.
This was perhaps his finest feature.
His beautiful coat,
So unlike all the other furry cats in the neighbourhood.
Right from the beginning,
He had been special,
Or as I like to think of him,
Unique.
He was not only handsome and immaculate,
He was filled with empathy.
Let me explain what empathy means.
Roly-poly always knew how someone was feeling.
He knew when they were happy,
When they were sad,
When they were angry.
He knew if someone was scared or lonely.
With this amazing gift,
He always knew how to help.
Of course,
Looking like a big,
Cuddly,
Soft lamb in the shape of a cat was perhaps his best way of helping.
Everybody wanted to squeeze him and squish him.
They would pick him up and cuddle him.
He never tired of cuddles.
In fact,
He never seemed to get tired at all.
Probably because he took such great care of himself,
Going on holidays,
Doing his cat yoga and having weekly visits to Paw's Palace.
Roly was always careful to look his best.
His coat duly washed and quaffed.
He said goodbye to Delita and took a last admiring look at himself in the mirror.
He was very pleased to see his new collar,
Which Eric had ordered especially,
Complete with his name Roly-poly embossed in gold letters.
He made his way to the park.
Surprisingly by now the sun was out.
It was going to be a beautiful day after all.
