The Cat with Three Names

Every evening at six, a gray cat with white feet and one bent ear jumped onto Ana's small balcony on the third floor. Ana was twenty-four, new to the city, and lived alone, so the cat made her apartment feel less quiet. She named him Pepper and bought a little blue bowl just for him.

For two weeks, Pepper came, ate his dinner, and slept on her chair while she read. Then one evening, Ana heard a voice from across the yard.

"Biscuit! Dinner time, Biscuit!"

Ana looked up. On the opposite balcony, a young man was holding a bowl of fish, and Pepper was walking along the wall toward him, his tail high in the air.

The next morning, Ana met the young man by the mailboxes. His name was Leo, and he worked at a nearby bike shop.

"I think we are feeding the same cat," she said.

Leo laughed."That explains why he is getting so round."

They made a plan: Ana would feed the cat on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Leo would take the other days. They wrote it on a piece of paper and tied it to the cat's collar, so the cat would "know" it too. It was a silly idea, but they both enjoyed it.

Three days later, the cat came back with a different note on his collar. Ana opened it carefully. The handwriting was neat and old-fashioned.

"Dear friends, thank you for loving Mr. Button. He has a home with me on the first floor, but he likes to visit. Please do not feed him so much. His doctor says he is too heavy. Perhaps you would like to come for tea on Sunday instead? Apartment 1B. Mrs. Halina Dobrowska."

Ana ran to Leo's door with the note. They read it together and laughed so hard that Leo had to sit down on the stairs.

On Sunday, they brought a small cake to apartment 1B. Mrs. Dobrowska had made tea in tall glasses, and Mr. Button was asleep on a cushion by the window, as if nothing had happened.

Now the three neighbors have tea together every Sunday. The cat still visits Ana's balcony each evening, but the blue bowl stays empty, and Ana does not mind. She has found more than a cat.