A couple years ago our mama cat named Bear gave birth to three kittens under our deck. This was a good, safe place for the babies from the neighborhood dogs and the rain. After a couple of weeks, the kittens began moving around a bit more and found their way out from under the deck. Bear didn’t like this so she took them one by one up a wooden pole to our second floor balcony.
We had no idea she’d moved her babies until one day when my young daughter and I went outside and heard the kittens’ terrified meows. I looked up and saw three fluffy heads peaking over the edge of the balcony and one of the kittens moved dangerously close to the edge. My daughter gasped in fear; I had to act quickly. I positioned myself under the kitten just in time as it tumbled off the balcony. I caught it, surprisingly, and hurried and set it down readying myself for the next one. The other two followed one at a time and I successfully caught them and placed them on the ground. I was elated with my ‘good deed’ as was my daughter who watched the events unfold. She would have been horrified if the kittens had fallen to injury or death.
In comparison to the kitten story is Hurricane Irene which wreaked havoc along the Eastern Coast of the U.S. in late August, 2011. For days, this looming storm was predicted to cause damaging winds, intense flooding and other potentially life-threatening conditions. People were warned to evacuate and most did, but some die-hards decided to weather the storm. Emergency personnel reminded the determined people that top meteorologists were predicting the storm’s path would most likely remain unchanged and it would be unwise to stay in the path of possible death.
Even with all that knowledge, some still remained in their homes. Invariably, some of these stubborn people would most likely call for help once the storm intensified and the same emergency workers would be forced to tell them they could not come to their rescue due to the perilous conditions. Anyone who knows one of these first-responders personally, or everyday heroes as I call them, would understand that a moment like that would rip at their hearts. It would be similar to baby kittens on the verge of falling off a balcony and the one who wanted to try and catch them was being held back by forces beyond their control.
I believe most people in the world would try to catch the kittens; and most people would try and save others from possible danger or death. This type of individual is personified in the YA fiction books I write, especially A Diamond in my Pocket, where the lead heroine is allowed to see an impending disaster in the future in which many will die unless changes are made in the present.
My own understanding of gravity allowed me a quick glimpse of what might possibly happen to the kittens, therefore I acted and completed three lucky catches--and saved my daughter from witnessing the horror of what might have happened.
Do you have a 'lucky catch' or 'in the right place at the right time' story? I'd love to hear it!
-Lorena
