|
The cat collects the goat's hair to sleep on them.
She also likes the smell of goat.
The cat has the bed made of goat's hair and also a little treasure box.
Inside the box there are feathers of different colours and a hand knitted cap with an old crystal of snow made of glass.
The cap perfectly fits the cat's left ear.
It has a scent of sweet memories of a human.
The cat digs a shallow hole just as big as her body and places the goat's hair.
Under the goat's hair are the dead leaves which still have a nice scent.
The goat's hair is getting entangled day by day as it's rubbed by the cat's body.
Then it becomes a special blanket.
The cat always reflects upon herself.
I am disagreeable....
I am lonely....
When the cat is overwhelmed by uneasiness, she licks her body courteously.
Then her mind somehow becomes gentle and calm.
When it rains continuously, the cat feels more and more lonely.
She opens the box, takes some of the feathers out and gnaws them with a frowning look.
The smell of feathers is a treat for her mind.
Then the cat fixes the feathers and puts them back in the box.
She is methodically neat even when she is lonely.
When it shines and makes a pond of sunshine on the ground, the cat comes out from the hole and goes to see the goat.
Then she rubs her body against the goat's leg to put her scent on the goat.
For her it is a proof of being friends.
The goat gets angry and snorts.
"Don't touch my leg!"
The goat is reckless.
The cat has lived in the forest for a few months since she left the city.
Previously the cat had lived with a human for 9 years until she died suddenly.
The cat pushed her body but nothing happened and the body gradually started to become cold.
The cat cried and slept beside her overnight.
The next morning she decided on
a journey.
Her handmade cap was firmly held in her mouth.
The cat was determined to live alone.
Even though there is no Go-cat or smoked salmon.
Even though there is no down quilt and no warmth from another.
Every time she cried her tears melted down the sadness one by one.
When the last of her sadness melted away
the cat opened her mind and let go of her sadness.
"It's ok, the ice age has passed."
When the cat wished she would like to be useful to others
she encountered with the reckless goat.
The goat snapped and assaulted others.
The goat was so flared up and kicked a fence peevishly.
The goat’s mind was full of uneasiness and desolation
as she had never known gentleness.
Every day the cat rubs her body against the goat.
Even when the goat kicks her.
The cat wants to rub against the goat
as she knows what sadness is all about.
She understands the goat's feeling.
The goat is reckless because she holds the sadness within her mind.
The cat goes to rub her body against the goat everyday
smiling until the goat's sadness melts away.
One year has passed.
The cat recalls the life with her human friend.
The sorrow makes her nose feel a little pain.
But the cat holds her feeling back and goes beside the goat and rubs against her with a mewing "prrrrrr-"
When the goat snorts "purhhhhh-"
something smells nice.
The cat looks up.
The goat is producing a drop of milk.
It looks like a teardrop and the cat licks the milk.
That moment the cat's holy mind melts the goat's sadness away.
The goat looks at the cat with a smile.
The goat finally feels something like happiness.
Happiness is your permanent mission
merry new morning
Toyoko Sugiwaka was born in Osaka, Japan, and studied graphic design at the Osaka College of Design. In 1993 she moved to Australia as the art director for a printing company in Sydney, before going freelance as a graphic designer. Toyoko received training in felting techniques from internationally renowned South Australian artist, felter and dyer India Flint, with whom she co-wrote Handmade Style: Felt for Murdoch Books. Toyoko says, 'I was impressed by India's large-hearted human nature, and now, since I have been given this experience myself, I want to share it with other people in my story. 'Toyoko sugiwaka's second book "pass me a smile" will publish Aplil 2009.
Copyright by Toyoko Sugiwaka
Photograph Copyright by Toyoko Sugiwaka
|
|
|
