........

The little black girl stopped.
She remembered so much, and thought for sure
that she was not a little girl anymore, but a full
grown panther.  Yet she had big clumsy
kitten paws, and huge bright kitten eyes.

Behind her, kitties were playing, chasing each other and
wrestling in the warm sunshine.
It looked like so much fun, but in front of her, through
the clear stillness of the pond's water, she could see her mommy.
And Mommy wanted to cry.
She pawed at the water, trying to get at her, and when
that didn't work, she jumped into the shallow water. All that got her was wet and Mommy's image danced away in the ripples.
"Mommy!" she cried. "Is something wrong?" The little black girl turned
around.

A lady was standing at the edge of the pond, her eyes
sad but filled with love.
The little black girl sighed and walked out of the water.
"There's been a mistake," she said. "I'm not supposed to be here."
She looked back at the water.
It was starting to still again and her mommy's image was coming back.
"I'm just a baby. Mommy said it had to be a mistake. She said I wasn't
supposed to come here yet." The kind lady sighed and sat down on the grass.
The little black girl climbed into her lap.
It wasn't Mommy's lap, but it was almost as good.
When she started to pet her and scratch under her ear like she liked, she
started to purr. She hadn't wanted to, but she couldn't help it.
"I'm afraid there is no mistake. You are supposed to be
here and your mommy knows it deep down in her heart," the lady said.
The little black girl sighed and laid her head on the lady's leg.
"But she's so sad. It hurts me to see her like this. And Daddy cries so much."
"But they knew right from the beginning this would happen."
"That I was sick?"

That surprised the little black girl.
No one had ever said anything and she had listened when
they thought she was sleeping.
All she had heard them talk about was how cute she was, or
how fast she was or how well she was hunting.
"No, not that you were sick," the lady said.
"But you see, they chose tears."
"No, they didn't," the little black girl argued. Who would choose to cry?
The lady gently brushed the top of her head with a kiss.
It made her feel safe and loved and warm - but she still worried about her mommy.

"Let me tell you a story," the lady said.
The little black girl looked up and saw other animals gathering around.
Cats - Dusty and Mittens and Ariel and Miss Kitty and little Cleo and Robin.
Merlin and Toby and Iggy and Zachary. Napoleon and Kamatte and Obi.
Dogs too- Penny and Baby and Morgan and Spunky and Belle.
Even a lizard named Clyde and some rats named Inky and
Lady and a hamster named Ham Sandwich.
They all lay down near the kind lady and looked up at her, waiting.
She smiled at them and began:

A long long time ago, the Loving Ones went to the Angel
in Charge. They were lonesome and asked the Angel to help them.
The Angel took them to a wall of windows and let them
look out the first window at all sorts of things - dolls and stuffed
animals and cars and toys and sporting events. "Here are things
you can love," the Angel said. "They will keep you from being lonesome."
"Oh, thank you," the Loving Ones said. "These are just what we need."
"You have chosen Pleasure," the Angel told them.

But after a time the Loving Ones came back to the Angel in Charge.
"Things are okay to love," they said. "But they don't care that we love them."
The Angel in Charge led them over to the second window. It looked out at all sorts of wild animals. "Here are animals to love," he said. "They will know you love them."
So the Loving Ones hurried out to care for the wild
animals. "You have chosen Satisfaction," the Angel said.

Some of the Loving Ones worked at zoos and wild animal
preserves, some just had bird feeders in their yards, but after a time some
came back to the Angel in Charge.
"They know we love them," they told the Angel. "But they don't love us back. We want to be loved in return."
So the Angel took them to the third window and showed
them lots of people walking around, hurrying places.
"Here are people for you to love," the Angel told them.
So the Loving Ones hurried off to find other people to love.
"You have chosen Commitment," the Angel said.

But after a time a lot of Loving Ones came back to the
Angel in Charge.
"People were okay to love," they said. "But sometimes
they stopped loving us and left. They broke our hearts."
The Angel just shook his head. "I cannot help you," he said.
"You will have to be satisfied with the choices I gave you."

As the Loving Ones were leaving, someone saw a window
off to one side and hurried to look out.
Through it, they could see puppies and kittens and dogs
and cats and lizards and hamsters and ferrets.
The other Loving Ones hurried over. "What about these?" they asked.
But the Angel just tried to shoo them away.
"Those are Personal Empathy Trainers," he said.
"But there's a problem with their system operations."
"Would they know that we love them?" someone asked.
"Yes," the Angel said.
"Would they love us back?" another asked.
"Yes," the Angel said.
"Will they stop loving us?" someone else asked.
"No," the Angel admitted. "They will love you forever."
"Then these are what we want," the Loving Ones said.
But the Angel was very upset.

"You don't understand," he told them. "You will have to
feed these animals."
"That's all right," the Loving Ones said.
"You will have to clean up after them and take care of them forever."
"We don't care."
The Loving Ones did not listen. They went down to where
the Pets were and picked them up, seeing the love in their own hearts
reflected in the animals' eyes.

"They were not programmed right," the Angel said. "We can't offer a
warranty. We don't know how durable they are. Some of their systems
malfunction very quickly, others last a long time."
But the Loving Ones did not care.
They were holding the warm little bodies and finding
their hearts so filled
with love that they thought they would burst.
"We will take our chances," they said.
"You do not understand." The Angel tried one more time.
"They are so dependent on you that even the most well-made of them is
not designed to out live you. You are destined to suffer their loss."
The Loving Ones looked at the sweetness in their arms
and nodded.
"That is how it should be. It is a fair trade for the
love they offer."

The Angel just watched them all go, shaking his head.
"You have chosen Tears," he whispered.

"So it is," the kind lady told the kitties.
"And so each mommy and daddy knows. When they take a baby into their heart, they know that one day it will leave them and they will cry."
The little black girl sat up. "So why do they take us in?" she asked.
"Because even a moment of your love is worth years of pain later."
"Oh."

The little black girl got off the lady's lap and went back to the edge of the pond. Mommy was still there, and Daddy was still crying.
"Will he ever stop crying?" she asked the kind lady.
She nodded. "You see, the Angel felt sorry for the
Loving Ones, knowing how much they would suffer. He couldn't take the tears away but he made them special."

She dipped her hand into the pond and let the water
trickle off her fingers.
"He made them healing tears, formed from the special water here.
Each tear holds bits of all the happy times of purring
and petting and shared love.
And the promise of love once again.

As your daddy cries, he is healing. It may take a long
while, but the tears will help him feel better. In time he will be less sad
and he will smile when he thinks of you.
And he has already opened his heart again to another little baby."
"But then he will cry again one day," the little black
girl said.

The lady just smiled at her as she got to her feet.
"No, he will love again. That is all he will think
about."
She picked up Dusty and Miss Kitty and gave them hugs,
then scratched
Penny's ear just how she liked.

"Look," she said. "The butterflies have come. Shall we
go over to play?"
The other animals all ran ahead, but the little black
girl wasn't ready to leave her mommy.
"Will I ever get to be with her again?"
The kind lady nodded.
"You'll be in the eyes of every kitty she looks at.
You'll be in the purr of
every cat she pets. And late at night, when she's fast
asleep, your spirit will snuggle up close to her and you both will feel at
peace.

One day soon, you can even send her a rainbow to tell her you're safe
and waiting here for when it's her turn to come."
"I would like that," the little black girl said and took
one long look at her mommy.
She saw Mommy smile slightly and knew
Mommy had remembered how she peeled tape
away from the drapes to look outside.
"I love you, Mommy," she whispered. "It's okay if you
cry.  You need to cry."

She glanced over at the other pets, running and playing
and laughing with the butterflies.
The little black girl was no longer the runt,
no longer the outcast.  Though her new
friends could not replace Mommy,
she would not have to be alone here.
As an eager little panther would,
she wanted to play.
"Uh, Mommy? I gotta go play now, okay? But I'll be
around, I promise."

Then, with one more glance to see
if Mommy would begin to cry and heal,
the little black girl turned and raced after the others.
---------------------------------------


That was about 70% my writing.  A lesser poem, adapted and expanded.