Two Women Cross Paths with Black Cat, One Retreats While Other Proceeds & Gains $35K Soon After — Story of the Day

Old friends, Vera and Iris, walked down the street and saw a black cat approaching them. Iris stepped away as she was scared, but Vera grabbed the kitty. She heard something surprising in the distance and was shocked by what happened later.

"It's a beautiful day," Vera said to her friend, Iris, who was walking with her as they did every morning. Iris lived next door to Vera, and she accompanied her friend who was working at the local school as a cleaner. They had retired, but Vera started working for a serious reason, and Iris liked walking with her to catch up in the morning.

"Yes, it is," Iris nodded, and they continued walking. "I wish you could come with me to see my grandson, Joshie."

"It'll only make me miss my grandson. I hope he's doing better now," Vera said wistfully.

Her grandson lived with her daughter in New York, while she lived in Florida. But he was the main reason she had started working again – she would do anything for that sweet boy – and she missed him so much.

"Work? I thought you would be retired already," Alexandra commented, and Vera felt compelled to tell her the entire truth.

Suddenly, Iris squeaked, "Yuck!"

"What?" Vera asked, confused, and followed Iris' gaze to the ground in front of them. A beautiful black cat with the greenest eyes had stumbled on their path, and Vera smiled, leaning down to pat it.

"Don't do that! It's bad luck!" Iris warned, retreating in fear of the black cat.

"Please, I don't believe in that stuff," Vera scoffed gently at her friend.

She picked up the black cat and noticed a tag, but it only featured the pet's name. "Well, that's not smart."

Iris turned back, avoiding the cat's path, and she left in a hurry. Meanwhile, Vera laughed at her friend. She decided to find the cat's owner. She started to walk around the houses in that neighborhood to see if anyone was looking for their pet.

At last, she heard a little voice yelling, "Kitty, kitty, kitty!"

She walked further and saw a little girl in front of a house, calling out for her cat. "Hey, little darling. Is this your cat?"

"Molly!" the little girl yelled and approached the old woman. But unfortunately, she stumbled, scrapping her knee. Then she started to cry.

Vera knelt in front of the little girl and comforted her. The cat curled up next to her, and after a few minutes, she calmed down. "What's your name, sweetie?" Vera asked.

"Anna," she answered and wiped her face with one hand, petting her cat with the other.

For some reason, Vera stayed and listened to the girl explain how the cat had escaped, and she had been looking for her for a long time.

"My mom is going to be mad at me," Anna added in her innocent voice.

But Vera shook her head. "She'll understand."

Suddenly, a car drove up to the house, and a woman emerged from it quickly. "Anna! What are you doing outside?"

"Mom! Molly got away. I was looking for her!"

"I told you not to let her out! You have to be more responsible!" the woman scolded, lifting her child from the pavement. "What happened to your knee?"

Vera decided to interject and explained everything better. Finally, the young mother seemed to calm down. "I see, thank you so much for helping out. Would you like to come in for tea? I don't know many people in the area, and it would be nice to talk to someone."

"Sure, that sounds lovely," the older woman answered, and they entered her house. Her name was Alexandra, and she had to dash to the convenience store for something, so she left her daughter alone.

"It was only a few minutes, I swear. I haven't enrolled her in school yet," Alexandra explained.

"Children at that age get curious."

"For sure. I'll never do that again. Do you have children? Grandchildren?"

Vera smiled and talked about raising her daughter and how she now had a grandson. For some reason, it was easy to talk to Alexandra, even if she was so much younger than her. But a thought suddenly entered her head.

"Oh jeez! I'm late for work. I'm a cleaner at the school! Oh my god, I'll get fired! Maybe black cats are bad luck after all," she muttered, rising from the couch.

"Work? I thought you would be retired already," Alexandra commented, and Vera felt compelled to tell her the entire truth.

She had a huge debt to pay because her grandson, Lukie, needed serious medical treatments. She had taken out a loan for thousands of dollars and got the job to help pay it back as her pension was not enough.

"And now, I can't even save enough money to visit them in New York. Life is tricky and money runs the world," the older woman finished. She quickly said goodbye and rushed to work, not letting Alexandra stop her.

Fortunately, her boss was lenient that day and didn't fire her, so she worked twice as hard, even if it hurt her back later.

Vera didn't know that Alexandra worked for a non-profit organization raising money for sick kids. The young mother was so thankful that Vera had found her daughter's cat and stayed with her to keep her safe. She wanted to do something nice for her.

Alexandra used her connections and created a GoFundMe. A week later, the young mother found Vera walking down the street and surprised her with the news that she had raised $35,000 for her to pay back her loans.

"Come to my house. I'll give you a check!" Alexandra said. "Anna has been asking about you too."

Vera tried to reject the offer, but the young mother insisted, almost dragging her back to the house and plopping her down on the sofa. But that whopping amount was not all. The young mother took out several hundred-dollar bills and gave them to Vera. "This is from me," she said.

"What's this? Alexandra, you've already given me too much. We're practically strangers!" the older woman said, feeling grateful but embarrassed by such generosity.

"It's my job to help people. Even strangers. And your story spoke to me for some reason. Anna doesn't have grandparents. And I hope that your Lukie can spend as much time with his grandma as possible. So that money is for your plane ticket, so you can go see him," Alexandra revealed, touching Vera's arm gently.

The older woman finally started sobbing at the gesture. She couldn't believe it. She could now relieve herself from her debt and visit her daughter and grandson too. What did she do to deserve this?

Suddenly, the black cat, Molly, jumped into her lap and Vera laughed. "You're a lucky cat, you know?" she said to the beautiful pet with bright green eyes, who meowed at her in return.

What can we learn from this story?

• A random act of kindness can change your life. Vera didn't ignore or shy away from the cat because of its color. Instead, she found its owner and stayed to comfort the little girl, not knowing how her life would change when the young mother showed up.
• You never know where luck will come from. Be ready for it. Vera thought her day turned unlucky as she didn't notice how late she was. But she was wrong, and it was the best day ever.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a cat lady who went out to feed her pets and met a hungry little boy.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.