Good evening and welcome to this bedtime story with me,
Janik.
Before I start to tell you the story of Willy,
Please take place in your bed,
Take a comfortable position,
Make sure that everything is in place for your relaxation.
In this 10 hours recording,
There will be a first part where I will be telling you a story to bring you to sleep,
Followed by the crackles of a campfire.
At the end of the recording,
You will hear the birds singing.
This will be the signal for you to start your day.
Now that you are comfortably lying in your bed in your favorite position,
I will start the story of Willy.
My name is Willy.
I am a 5-year-old grey cat.
I weigh 25 pounds and I'm 36 inches tall.
I am,
What you can tell,
A big cat.
I was born in a busy house.
I had 9 sisters,
2 cousins dog,
2 baby humans and a busy mom.
Unfortunately,
My mother could not nurture us all and I was rejected from my family.
I spent most of my time hiding behind the couch in the living room,
Trying to escape the mistreatments from my sisters.
I was very desperate.
But one day,
The human lady pushed the couch and reached for me in a very energetic movement.
Suddenly,
She placed me in the arms of a nice woman that I did not know at that time.
She took me in her hands and brought me close to her heart.
I felt love for the first time.
Very quickly,
They put me into a box and then I felt like I was carried outside this house and put into a traveling device.
After a few minutes of this travel,
I felt big hands pulling me outside of the box.
I took a look between those fingers and what I saw was an unknown house.
I jumped really quickly and I ran as fast as I could and I hid behind another couch.
I stayed there for the night.
The lady,
My new mom,
Brought me some food and a bowl of water that she placed nearby the couch.
For that first night,
I was still scared,
But the voices and the energy of the big hands and the lady brought me some confidence.
And the morning after,
I found the strength to walk away from the couch and visit this new place.
It was really exciting.
They were petting me.
They were telling me nice words,
Something I never felt or encountered in this other place where I was from.
Soon I forgot about my sisters and my mother and all those people back there.
I was so happy.
I had a new mom and a new dad.
It was a wonderful time.
The seasons went by.
I had the permission to go outside.
I had my own door so I could come in or come out as I wish.
I made friends with other cats in the neighborhood.
I was gardening with my mother,
Visiting the chickens and Jean-Charles,
The duck.
Those days were the golden age.
I grew stronger and bigger day after day.
My life was like a dream.
Eat,
Sleep,
Go outside,
Play with my friends.
We were a great family all together.
But one day,
My mom and my dad looked worried.
They were talking louder.
They were speaking about a disaster.
A fire was raging outside and it was not the first time.
My father was exhausted.
He wanted to move away from our house.
He wished to go back from where he was born.
Somewhere I never heard about.
A village.
At the other end of the country.
After weeks of selling stuff and packing things,
They put me into a bigger box and they charged me again in that moving device.
We traveled for six long nights and five long days.
I lost my friends.
I lost my house.
I was crying in despair into that what they called the pickup.
I didn't know where we were going.
I felt unsafe.
And when we arrived,
The first thing I did was to run away from that new place.
It was the night.
My dad opened the door to take a breath of fresh air.
And I took my chance and ran between his legs as far as I can.
And into the darkness,
Even though he was running after me,
I disappeared.
I ran,
I ran,
I ran.
I was sure that I could find my way back to my home.
But after minutes out of breath,
Completely lost in the darkness,
I realized that I was in the middle of nowhere and I could not find my way back to my mom and my dad.
I found a tree and I decided to sleep at its feet,
Waiting for the sun to rise.
I did not sleep.
But in the morning,
I realized that I was completely lost.
The smells,
The landscape,
Everything was different.
I knew that I could not find my way back home.
So I started walking in despair.
Maybe my mom and my dad would find me.
I started to feel hungry and thirsty.
Everything was new.
I was looking for places to hide.
But there was just forests and fields.
After two long weeks of walking,
I finally found a barn.
There was an opening and I could make my way in.
I was able to find something to eat.
There was a bag of rabbit food and I ate as much as I can.
After eating,
I found a safe spot to lie down on a bunch of hay.
And I waited.
Suddenly,
I saw a woman coming in.
And she saw that I ate some of her rabbit food.
And she was looking around,
Calling my name as if she was knowing me.
I got scared and I went to hide.
A few moments later,
My dad and my mom were in the barn,
Calling for me.
But I was too scared to show up.
I thought that they would be mad at me for disappearing for so long.
I stayed the day into the barn,
Wishing for my parents to come back to pick me up.
And the night came,
And I went to lie on that pile of hay again.
I was so weak that I fell asleep.
Suddenly,
I felt the loving hands of my dad on my body.
I realized that I was saved.
My dad took me in his arms and we walked out from that barn.
I was so tired of that time outside that I just cuddled with him during that small walk.
I was hiding 300 feet from my new place and I did not even know.
And when we arrived,
My dad opened the door and my mom was there,
Crying,
Laughing.
She was so happy to see me.
I really learned something from these two weeks of loneliness.
I learned that I can survive by myself.
But most of all,
I discovered the true strength of a family,
That we can count on each other.
And that my dad and my mom really love me.
