Grief is International--Greece

There was no point in denying it. Your cat's death hit you like a falling piano. You were devastated, and that was putting it mildly.

You were curled into fetal position on your bed, lights off and blasting the most comforting music you owned. The voice coming from the speakers echoed your pain, and it was the only thing keeping you on this earth at the moment.

You had lost loved ones before, but never like this. It was the first time you had been there when they died. You shuddered at the memory.

"It was just a cat," a tiny part of your mind whispered, and your grief raged and slammed the idea out of your brain. As it left, you couldn't help but feel disgusted with yourself for even letting it enter. He wasn't "just" anything. He had been your dear, close friend for fifteen years—most of your lifetime. How could you ever hope to go on without him?

Your phone buzzed innocently beside you, it's bright and abrupt light causing you to blink. Someone was calling you.

You curled up tighter and let it go. A discussion with a human being was not even remotely interesting to you at the moment. It stopped, and your phone darkened once more.

The lights flashed and the vibration started again, with just a few seconds of rest. Whoever this was, they were certainly persistent. With a sigh, you resigned yourself to human contact and picked it up, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Yeah?" you whispered into the device. Your voice somehow managed to break on the one word.

"…____?" the voice on the other end asked quietly.

Your breath hitched. It was Greece. You would have known that quiet, understanding tone anywhere.

"Hey Heracles," you mumbled, praying this conversation would be over quickly. At the same time, you were intrigued. Heracles was a very laid-back and casual person—your entire friendship sometimes felt like one prolonged snuggle and nap. Calling repeatedly was not his modus operandi, and it had your interest piqued. "What's up?"

There was a long pause—long even for him. "…What happened?" His voice was even softer than usual.

You flinched. You'd always known Heracles was a wise and perceptive person. How you thought you could fake normalcy around him, even through the phone, was beyond you. Then again, you weren't exactly thinking clearly at the moment.

You hesitated, considering what to say. You didn't want to burden him with your problem—after all, he had called for a reason—but there was no way you could pretend to be alright, not while the pain was so fresh.

"____?" he said quietly, "What is it?"

"Purrcy," you mumbled, "Purrcy's dead." Saying it brought all the recent memories to the surface, and you wept anew.

He gasped softly, but said nothing.

You waited, half expecting him to laugh at what most would consider an "overreaction". But….Greece liked cats, right? Surely he would understand…

"I'll be there in thirty minutes," he said slowly.

Before you could object, he hung up.

You clambered out of bed and unlocked the front door for him.


*~*~*~*


He didn't knock when he arrived, just tried the door. You felt his arms—strong and defined from years of digging in his own backyard—wrap around you tightly and hold you close. "I'm so, so sorry, ____," he whispered.

His strength had a profound impact on you. You had thought your tears had run dry long ago, but they had no difficulty flowing now.

"Talk to me," he murmured, and before you realized it, you were complying.

You started slowly at first, then the words poured out of you. How he had been fine, just a week ago, how he stopped eating, and barely moved from your side, as if he had known his life was ending, and he wanted to be with you as much as possible. You told your friend about the way he would sniff out dark, quiet places to lie down and be alone, how his back legs wobbled when he walked, and the way his face started to swell, so you knew he was in pain. By the time you reached the end, you were babbling almost incoherently about driving him to the vet and holding him close while they had given him the injection. You hadn't wanted him to die afraid, but there was no helping that. Purrcy had always been terrified of strangers, and the veterinary office was full of them. It had only taken a minute, from the injection to the final frantic beat of his heart.

Heracles sat silently, holding you close comfortingly. Toward the end of your story, tears filled his eyes and slowly began running down his cheeks.

You buried your face in his shoulder, glad to have the empathy of your close friend. "The worst part was his eyes," you whispered, "they were all wide and scared when he died, and they didn't close them… He looked like a pickled fish at the museum!" Your voice rose to a wail before plummeting to a hiccupping whisper. "I couldn't even bring him home… I couldn't even bury him at home…"

Heracles said nothing. He simply drew you closer and set his head on yours comfortingly. Eventually, his breathing grew steady, and you smiled ever so faintly, knowing he had fallen asleep.

You couldn't say you minded. He was near, and that meant the world to you.


*~*~*~*


It had been a week since that day, you realized. It was annoying how time could just crawl on as if nothing had happened. As if you hadn't lost one of your dearest companions just a few days before.

And how time did crawl. Every day you were alone in that house, with an empty bowl in the kitchen you didn't have the heart to pick up, felt closer to a year. The only time you felt remotely sane was when Heracles came to visit.

He had come three times in the past week—the first to bring you authentic Greek yogurt, the second time he brought one of his own kittens for you to snuggle while he napped on your sofa, and the third time to distract you with a story of the ruins he found on one of his digs.

You hoped he would return today. Every time the word "Tuesday" popped up, a shudder of distress coursed through you.

The door opened, and you turned quickly to see Heracles coming through the door. "Hello…." he whispered.

A weary smile found its way to your face. "Hey." You scooted over, making room for him on your sofa. "I was hoping you'd come…"

He didn't sit, as you expected. He smiled softly and held out a hand. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Come on," he said gently.

You took his hand and followed him curiously as he led you slowly around to your backyard. What you saw touched you so deeply, you felt more tears trying to get out.

Heracles had obviously spent a great deal of time there in the past few days. There was a small structure in the corner that hadn't existed before. It looked like a small wall of glistening white stone. It had obviously been pieced together from a variety of smaller pieces, but it was lovely nonetheless. There were two long and slender pieces of stone set in the center like a door. It wasn't very tall, only reaching the middle of your thigh, but it was certainly eye-catching. Along the top something had been carved in a language you didn't understand. Underneath it, scribbled in hasty English, were the letters P-U-R-R-C-Y.

"Heracles…what….what is this?" you asked, quietly awed.

A blush crept onto his cheeks, and he smiled sheepishly. "Just something I dug up."

You laughed quietly, reaching out to touch the beautiful wall. "…What does it say?" you asked, running your fingers over the foreign inscription.

His blush darkened slightly. "The same as the English. I forgot you couldn't read Greek." He held out a small wooden box that had been painted gold. He lifted the lid to reveal a photograph of your dear pet. "So that in a way," he murmured, "He can be buried here."

You were flabbergasted. He always seemed so…sleepy. The amount of work involved in this must have been exhausting for him. And he had done it all just so that you could keep Purrcy near…in a way. Taking the box, you knelt and opened the "door" to the tomb carefully. You laid the box inside it and resealed it, forever locking a tiny piece of your heart away with it.

Arms you knew well wrapped around you and pulled you close. "Thank you," you murmured, crying again, "so much for this. For everything." Your arms wound around his waist tightly.

He smiled softly. "Our pets may pass away, but the paw prints they leave on our hearts never fade." He was trying to seem very serious, but he had to stifle a yawn.

Those words wrapped you up in a warm blanket of consolation. For the first time in a week, you felt better. You smiled up at Heracles softly.

He flushed and smiled back gently, leaning forward to kiss you lightly.

Your brow furrowed in confusion and you blushed deeply, wondering exactly what that had been for.

"Sorry," he mumbled shyly, "Not the time, I know."

You shook your head softly before leaning forward and returning his kiss tenderly. His arms tightened around you, and he brushed his lips against yours with a warmth that rivaled the Mediterranean sun. You pressed closer to him longingly, enjoying this different form of comfort.

After you pulled away, the two of you stayed there, nestled together in front of Purrcy's tomb. You couldn't help but contemplate what turns the future might take, or find it ironic that what might be a new chapter in your life had begun with a devastating ending.

There was still one thing you didn't understand, though. "Heracles….how did you know to call me last week? I mean, you've never called me more than once before, and—" You looked up, only to realize…he had fallen asleep.

You only smiled. Neither of you were going anywhere soon.

You smiled at Purrcy's tomb and whispered, "I love you."

*~*~*~*

*~*~*~*

EXTENDED ENDING:

The card arrived in the mail the next day.

"To ____,

I am sincerely sorry you were injured in the horseriding accident and needed constant nursing by Greece. Please accept my dearest wishes for your improving health.

Sincerely,

Turkey

PS: You two missed one great party last Tuesday!"

You turned to Heracles and quirked an eyebrow.

"What? I had to tell him something to get out of it!"