Anto’s face went pale. He didn’t move right away. Something heavy pressed against his thoughts, an unease he couldn’t shake.
“Mas, bring the baby here. If you can’t carry it, ask a nurse,” Ratri snapped, growing more irritated.
A cold sweat broke across his skin. Still, he steadied himself and made his way to the room where the baby was being cared for. He lifted the tiny body into his arms, his chest swelling with emotions he could barely name.
Step by step, he walked back toward Ratri’s room, lost in thought. It wasn’t the missing cat that weighed on him now—but something far more difficult. The child born of their love rested in his arms. And deep within, he clung to a fragile hope—that Ratri would understand.
That she had given birth not to a human child…
…but to a small kitten, writhing softly within its swaddle, as though searching, hungrily for its mother’s milk.
KOMPAK Yogyakarta, January 2022.