Coal's Story, New Jersey

Hi! I'm Coal. I was born in the woods of Southern New Jersey. My mommy cat did not have any human of her own, but there were humans nearby that left food out for her sometimes. While living in the woods, my littermates and I were taught very important skills such as stalking prey and pouncing, but the main thing that my mommy cat taught us was hiding. Whenever we heard a strange sound we learned to dive into the closest hiding place. There were scary things in the woods such as raccoons and possums and humans.

One day, when I was about two months old, I heard someone big stomping through the woods. I immediately dove into a hiding place, but it was too late. A human appeared from between the trees and saw me. She immediately grabbed me and picked me up. Instead of hurting me, however, she started stroking my fur and talking soothingly to me. I liked that. The human's name was Barb and she took me home with her. Her house was very scary because it did not have trees and bushes and dirt, but Barb spent a lot of time holding me and petting me and I got used to it.

After two days at Barb's house, I was finally taken to my Mommy's condominium apartment. Since cats are not allowed in our building, Barb hid me inside of her jacket so that noone would see me in the lobby, elevator, and hallway. When Barb was finally inside of our condo, she said "Well, do you want to see him?" . She then unzipped her jacket part way, and I poked my gorgeous black face out, and Mommy's heart melted. She fell in love with me immediately.

The first few days in my new home were scary. I stayed in the bathroom for a while and then the bedroom. At first I would hide when Mommy came into the room, and only come out to play when she was sitting very quietly on the floor and I was sure there was noone else in the room. After a couple of weeks however, I was waiting at the door for Mommy.

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