Ella, the Fluffy-Hearted Lion

ELLA, THE FLUFFY-HEARTED LION
By Mary Rhudy
705 Bragg Circle
Tullahoma, TN  37388
9 March 2007


         On David's fifth birthday, his cat, Miss Lemon, had a litter of five kittens. Three were grey tabbies, one was grey and white, but one was a soft, fluffy, long-haired golden kitten who looked just like a lion cub. David fell in love with the kitten and named her Ella. David's mother found homes for the other four kittens, but since Ella and David had become so close, she let David keep her.
         They played together and when David would go to sleep at night, Ella would curl up on his pillow around his head and purr loudly until they both fell asleep. And just before he fell asleep, David would say, "Goodnight. I love you."
         One day, David was looking at a book about cats and saw a picture of a lioness on the savanna in Africa. It occurred to David that Ella looked just like that lioness, and from then he called her his fluffy-hearted lion. Ella seemed to like being a lion, and they would have great fun playing with stuffed toys that he called her wildebeests. All day long she would be the fierce hunter cat chasing her prey, but at night she would curl up around his head and purr loudly, and just as David was falling asleep he would say, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion.
         The years passed, and David and Ella grew to be so close that Ella would walk with him out to the car as he was leaving for school and would be waiting for him to come home. With schoolwork and scouts, David didn't have as much time to play with her, but they still enjoyed their games. At night, she would still curl up around his head and purr loudly until they would fall asleep. And just before he would fall asleep, David would always say, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion.
         One day, when David was eighteen, he was holding Ella and watching the news. His country was preparing to go to war to help free a country in a far off land from a very bad leader who was hurting his people. David did not like war, but he knew that he could not let other boys go off and fight while he stayed at home, and so he put Ella down and went into town to the Navy recruiting station.
When he came home, he picked Ella up and hugged her closely. He told her that he would soon be going off to that far off country as a hospital corpsman. He cried into her fur as he thought of leaving her, for Ella was not a young cat, anymore. That night as he and Ella went to bed, she curled up on his pillow around his head and purred loudly as David cried saying, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion.
When the day came for David to leave for boot camp, Ella walked out to the car with him and he picked her up and held her to his heart crying for this was the first time he had ever left her for more than a few days at a time. She licked his face and purred loudly in his arms until he had to put her down. She waited at the side of the driveway until she could no longer see him. Then she went inside and went into his bedroom. She curled up on his pillow and purred loudly until she fell asleep.
The first night at boot camp, David got into his bunk and almost cried for missing Ella so much. Just as he felt his heart would break for missing her, he felt a warm spot next to his head, and in his heart he could hear her purring loudly to him, and he whispered, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion and fell asleep.
Everyday Ella would walk out to the driveway and sit and wait for him until dark came. And then she would go into his room, curl up on his pillow and purr loudly until she fell asleep. And every night, David would feel the warmth of her around his head and in his heart would hear her purring and would whisper, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion and would fall asleep.
The day came when David had to go to that far off country, and he was scared. His first night in the far off country, he and his mates dug ditches in the ground where they would be sleeping. Though they were in a desert country, it was very cold at night, and the men had no shelter. They had to sleep in holes in the ground with all their gear, fully dressed in case of emergency and to be able to move quickly.
David, like the other boys, was terribly lonely and homesick. As he curled into his hole for the night, he felt the comforting warmth around his head, again, and he heard the loud purring in his heart. Suddenly David felt the warmth spread through his whole body, and he whispered, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion and fell asleep.
David was away from Ella for two years, and in his work he had had to witness very bad things being done to boys who had never done anything to hurt anyone but who were being hurt because they wanted to help a people be free. He wrote to his mother and talked with his chaplain, but what carried him through was the warmth in his heart when he thought of his fluffy-hearted lion.
The day came for David to come home, and he was worried, because Ella had been an older cat when he had left her, and he was worried that she might not be there, anymore. All the way home from that far off country, he prayed that his fluffy-hearted lion would be there for him when he got to his house.
When his mother picked him up at the airport, she didn't ask about his experiences, because she knew it would take a long time for him to be able to share that pain with her. She talked instead about how things were going in town and caught him up on all of his friends still at home.
As she pulled into the driveway, David looked for his friend, and his heart leapt when he saw Ella waiting in her usual spot. David jumped out of the car and scooped her up in his arms and sat down on the ground where he was. He held her close to his heart and cried. That night, they went to bed, and she curled up around his head and purred loudly while they fell asleep. And just before he fell asleep, David whispered, "Goodnight. I love you," to his fluffy-hearted lion. And he knew he was home.