Black Cat
170 × 200 mm, 38 pages, saddle-stitched; printed at home with a Canon PIXMA PRO-100 on 25 lb Hammermill matte copy paper; Springhill matte paper, 110 lb cover; 1 dummy; 2023.
Prologue I have been raising a black cat. I do not remember exactly when she started staying with me or where she came from. It is as though she was a part of my life ever since I was born. Did my mother give birth to her when she had me? I do not think so, as my mother is not a cat. Anyway, she has been with me for quite a long time. She is adorable but also a troublemaker. To be precise, she makes me cause trouble in my life.
When I traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, I came across a lake surrounded by a valley. She suddenly dived into the water and said, “Hey, Theo, isn’t it a good day for swimming?” It had been ages since I had swum, and I had never swum in a lake before; when I woke up from her hypnosis, I found myself floundering in the middle of the lake. I was rescued by a lifeguard and saw her smiling at me. She likes tricking me that way.
Even though she is mischievous or worse — she has put my life in mortal danger several times — I cannot hate her; she is too cute to be hated, of course, but there is one other reason. She entices me to follow her like White Rabbit in Wonderland. She makes me encounter new adventures in my life. However, at the end of them, I always find I have arrived in a different world. It is quite addictive, and she seems to know what she is doing.