and then there were three...

Patches died early friday morning.
i covered her in a red flannel blanket while i waited for my father to come home and laid on her still body and cried.
mum says she probably had cancer, since she lost so much weight in so short a time and appeared to not be able to eat. we thought at first she was just hot, but as time went on i would take anything she would eat up to the pasture and try to coax her into taking some.
she was the friendliest of the herd, the one who loved children and pretzels, with a long haired calico pelt and big dropping ears. large, calm, intellegent eyes and that distinctive roman nose.
she had arthritis in her knees, and they would pop everytime she flexed them... when i checked for rigor mortis that morning they creaked agian and i was undone.

my beloved.

every time one of them passes it's like burying children. i could never be brave enough to bring a life into the world knowing one day i might lose it.