Malora is melting. Maybe that’s thawing. Warming might be the better term. This isn’t to imply that Malora was ever as chilly as an iceberg. In fact, for cats, Malora has always been as warm as a cup of cocoa on a cold night. With humans, not quite as much, although always somewhat, or almost somewhat. But, change is the one true constant in the universe.
It is likely that the changes within Malora were more gradual than the incremental growth of whatever earthly organism grows at the smallest increments over the longest timeframe. Those nascent changes weren’t obvious to casual observers. But, when Malora’s world went topsy turvy due to equal parts of relocations, ragamuffins, and revampings, more subtle changes were at work.
Softening begins from the inside out. These softenings don’t show up in any kind of medical exams – not the MRI kind, not the tummy palpitating kind, nor any other kind known to humans or beasts. But, the effects are clear. Malora’s softening started with accepting the occasional gentle stroke. It progressed with tolerating the ragamuffins and scritches around the neck and chin. When the ragamuffins went to their forever home, rather than ceasing to soften, Malora continued to move forward and allowing the hardest of her shyness to ease.
Even now, this shy, tiny grey and white tuxedo needs a slow approach, a calming tone, and friends who are considerate of her boundaries. Yet, when the time is right, Malora is all in. In fact, she will melt, falling into a proffered hand and purring more loudly than an engine-breaking truck on nearby Route 202, the big road that runs right by Tabby’s Place. As Malora becomes liquid, so too will her visitor. This is based on both empirical and personal evidence.
Fret not about this kind of liquidation! It is neither of the dangerous sort called liquefaction, nor does it have anything to do with a store that is going out of business. Both of those reflect forms of weakening. Malora, to be clear, is strengthening through softening. The bonds she forms thusly are strengthening too. As she warms to increases in demonstrated affections, she becomes more pliable and welcoming. As we respond in kind, we too grow stronger and more adaptable. We learn from our feline masters, and Malora might be master of them all.
Fear had its chance with Malora, but she has lost patience with it. Instead, she is embracing the possibility that any careful visitor, graciously accepted into her inner circle, will become her newest closest friend. Malora is taking the chance that someone who speaks sweet nothings to her really means them. Malora is finally relaxing fully into the mature, quietly good-natured cat that she always has been, but now more so where people are concerned. However you frame this picture of a cautious little feline, the change has been years in the making. It was well worth the wait.