"I can't stand watching her in pain ( knowing that Mikeco won't live long )," JoOusama had said, though I know oooohh yes I know, that that's just one of her usual excuses to hide her true feelings.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Oh yes, it certainly was quite a task to even get Mikeco into the laundry net, while she still had enough strength to go into a frenzy. But after she'd grown weaker, Mikeco hardly refused. Besides, JoOusama and I were taking turns for our daily visit to the veterinarian, so I doubt if it was that much trouble for JoOusama even in view of her age.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Moreover, JoOusama had plenty of free time to spend at home when she wasn't taking Mikeco to the veterinarian, so the physical burdens must have been even more less. As for me, I had to go out to prepare for my new job during the day, while I had to run home in the evening so that I was able to pick Mikeco up in time.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

I also had to wake up earlier every second day though I usually went to sleep near dawn, to drop Mikeco at the veterinarian again for her drip. That left me only about 4 hours in average to sleep. Now, how's that?

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Well, how much would JoOusama's physical burdens be compared to mine, eh? If she can show me in numbers, sure go ahead!

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

As for economic burdens, it does cost about 3,600 yen per day for the everyday dose and drips. Yes, it's too true to be funny. Suppose we took Mikeco to the veterinarian every day for a month, it would cost us about 108,000 yen (!!).

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

However, JoOusama unlike me, is not pinched for money. That is to say, it is not such fantastic sums of money that JoOusama can't pay. According to my personal presumption, she should be able to raise it if she could only hold her lavish spending, probably for about a couple of months.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Besides, if those bills were really too much to pay for JoOusama, she could always make Hime who originally brought Mikeco to our house to pay at least half the money.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Hime was the one who brought home Mikeco on her own despite my advice not to. Then, she not only skipped out on Mikeco when leaving this house to get married, but also showed no sign of carrying out her responsibility as a "pet owner", to take her to the vet and all. I suppose it wouldn't hurt her if she paid at least half the money.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Yet JoOusama used the word euthanasia so lightly without even thinking about all those things ... oh JoOusama, you're such a ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

So to me, JoOusama sounded like she was shedding crocodile tears full of hypocrisy when she called me up, to kindly let me know that Mikeco has passed away just a few minutes ago.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Being informed of Mikeco's death and the fact that she no longer existed in this world by that JoOusama's hypocritical call, I felt terribly bad after I hung up the phone ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Mikeco's figure disappeared from our house. That apricot patch on the white fur of her back, or those gleaming golden eyes couldn't be seen any more.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Almost every day, my eyes unconsciously drifted along searching for that apricot patch or those golden pair of eyes, but I couldn't find them where they used to be. What was there was just an empty space opening its mouth at me, as if to say Mikeco hadn't been there right from the start.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Just like the wound on my left hand.

The wound that Mikeco had made with her sharp claw. It covered up by the next day and the scar gradually faded, that now I guess no one would be able to tell whether there was a wound there or not. It was gone, as if it hadn't been there at all from the start.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

But I can tell.

There it is, on that base of my left index finger. If I looked reeeaaaally close, I can still find a faint scar. And once in a while, there's a pricklling sort of pain coming up from deep down inside.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Every time that prickling pain hits me, it seems to remind me that Mikeco did live in this same world that I live in now, and that she definitely did exist here without a doubt.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Perhaps someday the scar will be completely gone. And perhaps even I might become unable to tell where it was. By then, I suppose that prickling pain won't be there any more too. But one thing will remain unchanged. It's the truth that you Mikeco, lived here in this world.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Mikeco will stay in my memory, in my puny little brains, as long as I live. Always.

The End

Caterpillar

There were two holidays in November.

I might have written before but since I've started working again, I only get day-offs on Sundays and holidays (tears). That may be less than an average Japanese office worker... . Anyway, I have to finish all my personal things-to-do on Sundays and holidays.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

However, with the autumn grade 1 race (horse race, of course) season starting and all, my Sundays usually flew away (ha-ha). And I've been turning my back on a number of things, knowing that I had to do something about it.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

So on the National Culture Day which became the first day of a consecutive holiday, I decided to do some cleaning. Since my room hadn't been cleaned in a while and left that way for over a month, it was ... pretty much a mess as might have been expected.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Ah, but don't it feel good after a good cleaning, woot! I was thinking so, when my eyes fell on an electric oscillating fan standing on my Tatami sheet, as I was wrapping up my cleaning with wiping.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Ohhh yeah, I forgot ... . Actually, I had left the fan that way since summer because I coudn't figure out how to take off that wheel-like cover ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

As I looked closer, I noticed that it was quite grimy ... . Yes, thinking it over, the fans ususally were supposed be stored away in the back of the closet or something, by the Koromo-gae season which was already way behind.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

In Japan yes, it's general to clean the summer seasonal items such as electric fans or summer clothes or mosquito coil holders, to put them away on the occasion of the October 1st Koromo-gae, so that we can use them again next summer. Though I've been getting away from it, using my recent business as an excuse.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

All right, why not use this opportunity and clean the fan? So I decided to clean the fan.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

After taking a goooood look at the fan, I figured that the cover around the blades could be removed easily than I thought. Woooh, why of course it should be, or no one would be able to clean the blades.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

However, satisfied from having able to remove the cover quite easily, I recklessly ventured into an intensive task of removing dust balls off from the motor, remebering all of a sudden about reading in a magazine or something that it would be better to clean the motor too ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

But since I was cooking with the gas, I lost no time in bringing some screw drivers to dismount the head part off the neck. Then, I also took off the white plastic cover around the motor and started to remove the dust off from around it, using an old toothbrush and some cotton buds!

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar