Shipponashi's diary

My name is Shipponashi (no tail), people call me a stray cat. I live in a small yard outside of a crumbling old apartment in Tokyo with my family; Grandpa, Dad, Mum, big brother and baby sisters. My sisters were born last year here and they are very small and pretty. I love them. I don't know how much I am loved by my brother - he is very bossy and treats me like his servant. I call him Boss and he seems to like it. He is so big and strong, and eats a lot. Fortunately humans around us are quite friendly to us, and sometimes they feed us. So we never starve. The problem is though, these days Boss takes sisters' lunch away while Mum is out. She knows what Boss is up to, but does not say much.

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I have this thing called 'charm', which Boss does not have, and it is fatal for any stray cat not to be charming. He has terrible scratchy voice, bendy legs (worse than having no tail) and a grumpy expression on his face, even when he is not grumpy. The couple, Uncle and Auntie, living on the next corner are certainly very suspicious of Boss. Well, it took a while even for me to get a stray permit for their garden. Auntie used to shoo me away as soon as they saw me, because she was convinced that I was the one who always drop poo near the pretty bonsai pots. However I knew Uncle has a soft spot for cats. Today I saw Uncle whistling and pointing at a bowl of food. I thought it was a trap, but I could not resist the smell of sardines. It was a feast and I gobbled it all up. Then I thought about my family.

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I know that my family need me for survival, especially Boss. He went around to the couple's garden this morning and ended up with getting shot by a water pistol, because Auntie saw Boss peeing in her flowerbed. He should have done it more discreetly. He was sulking and hungry. In the afternoon I went around and saw a bowl of food in the garden. I ate half of it and left. Auntie noticed it and took it away, but she changed her mind and put the bowl back there again. I went home and told Boss to go and eat the rest after it gets dark.

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I found a bowl of food again today in the garden. I felt so happy that I sung an old song of Tokyo stray cats. Other cats joined in and the voices echoed through the narrow streets.

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It seems to work out well this way, at least Boss stopped stealing sisters' lunches and no one is left grumpy anymore. Auntie saw Boss hanging around while I was eating half a bowlful at lunchtime, but she did not say anything. Boss and I get on quite well these days. He even says thank you, and I see Boss's face getting a little softer.