The Cat That Waited Without Expectation

29 May 2026
All rights reserved by the author

The cat did not belong to anyone in particular.
It appeared every evening near the edge of a quiet lane, sitting at almost the same place, as if the world had agreed on a small routine without signing anything.
No one remembered when it first arrived.
It never asked for attention in the way living beings sometimes do when they are unsure of their place. It simply observed — the movement of shadows, the sound of footsteps, the fading light across broken walls.
Sometimes people paused. Sometimes they did not.
The cat remained unchanged either way.
There is something unsettling and peaceful about such consistency. It does not depend on recognition. It does not adjust itself to response.
It simply exists, as if presence itself is enough.
And watching it, one begins to wonder how much of human waiting is actually expectation, and how much could simply be presence without demand.
The cat never answered that question.
It only blinked slowly, as evening became night.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
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