Kahlan 'Two Eyes' Tokona

by Rebbeca Tokona
(Dunedin, New Zealand)

Hi everyone. My name is Rebbeca Tokona and my cat is Kahlan who is the title of my story. He just walked into my life really ... or actually he walked into the lives of my sister, her husband and two children. Apparently he waltzed inside like he owned the place. Very placid wee one he was and still is.

The daughter, Reva wanted to keep him but wasn't allowed to and her dad ordered Kahlan to stay in the shed outside. At the time he was called 'kitty' and was just ten weeks old and they weren't allowed to get attached to him because they weren't 'keeping' him. So Reva's room is upstairs and over looks the shed door and of course she was agonizing as to how he would fare in the shed.

Finally, she couldn't stand it and went down to the shed in the middle of the night to keep him company because he was cold, shivering etc even though he had a gorgeous woolen mat to snuggle into. She had no sleep that night.

I visited them all the next day and was told about this gorgeous kitten they have which they wanted to keep but couldn't and I was asked if I would keep him. Well I thought he was the handsomest kitty I had ever seen. Hes a grey tabby with beautiful markings and his eyes are huge with black rims, like he has permanent eyeliner on. He also has 4 cute black feet and the tiniest hair pointing straight up on the points of his ears. Gorgeous!!! However, knowing next to nothing about cats and kittens we all assumed he was a girl. Don't ask me why we just did.

So after a few moments of he and I sizing each other up I decided to take him. I think he chose me because he climbed up my body from my feet and walked all the way up to my shoulder and sat there looking at my face. I feel his eyes staring at my face looking at the details of it. It was after that when I said i would take him.

So I have had immense pleasure taking care of him and enjoy every minute of our time together. His name is Kahlan which originally came from a series of books I had just finished reading. The name of the series is called, "The Legend of the Seeker" series in which the heroines name is Kahlan. I fell in love with the name and thought I would name one of my children this name if I had any.

So two weeks after naming him I took him to the vet for a check up and was told 'She' was a 'He'! Laughed out loud I did! The poor thing! Anyway I decided that 'Kahlan' could be a name for a boy too and kept it. We bonded so well and he is now one year old. He was 10 weeks when I took him to the vet. A most placid and very intelligent animal, I love him!

Anyway as the days grew so did our relationship together. I teach young children and sometimes I would come home late at night after time in the office and as I'd drive up the hill to the house I rented, I would call to him in the car, (he couldn't hear me of course but we are so connected with each other and I will hear a mioaw in my head when he wants to know where I am or get a strong sense of longing from him when hes missed me and is wondering where I am). I would say, "Oh, where's my kitty? Where's my darling?" amongst other endearments much like a croon.

There's a conifer tree that marks the edge of the driveway and he would sit under it waiting for me to come home. I would see two eyes glowing in the dark amongst the leaves and he would run out after I turned into the driveway to greet me. That's how he got his middle name 'Two-Eyes'. I think that's the most cutest thing to see! I thought the names really go together!

So finally after nearly a year of living together, I was asked to come live with my sister after my renting situation changed. Of course I said to my sister and her family, that I will come live with them only if Kahlan came with me as well. There was no compromising for me, he had to come with me or I go somewhere else! Well now we are back at the house Kahlan and I met at and after a shaky settling period for Kahlan, I am glad to say he is settled and enjoying this bigger house that we live in now. And just quietly, hes winning the approval of ALL family members.

PS. We live upstairs in the room that used to be Reva's!

I have pics of him and will load them on at a later stage