The morning Bunji died

This comic is a little sad. I drew a memory from the morning when Bunji died. If you are likely to remember sad memories, it may be better not to read...

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The next morning my mother took him to his last pee and put him to bed in front of the stove. Bun-chan, who passed away soon after, was in a peaceful sleeping position.

"You're big, so the box is tight. Bun-chan."

I put him in the mandarin orange box once, but I regretted it so I took him out again and put him on the futon and towel.

"He looks like he's sleeping."

There were two days until cremation, so I decided to put Bun-chan in the coldest entryway. For two days, I went to stroke many times.

"Black cat's face can't be seen well in the dark..."

I made a model of his hand in clay, painted his paws, pressed them down on construction paper, and stroked his tail and face. Goodbye, Bun-chan's tail, ears, nose, whiskers, mane, and foot. good bye.

—

The best things to have are light clay from a 100-yen shop, drawing paper, and paints to make the shape of a paw.

The clay should not be too hard, not too powdery, and not too hard when you touch it. Even now, I occasionally touch Bun-chan's paw-shaped hand. The paw print is displayed on the shelf along with Bunji's favorite sheep mascot.

I've lost three cats so far, but (all of them were brought by my sister) It's always very sad to say goodbye to them...

Cats are cute, but when they say goodbye forever, it's pretty hard.

翌朝、最後のおしっこに行って、ストーブの前に寝かせて、そのまますぐに逝ってしまったぶんちゃんは、安らかな寝姿だった。

「ブンちゃんでかいから、箱がみっちりだね。ブンちゃん。」

いちどみかん箱に入れたけど、なごり惜しくてまた出して、フトンとタオルの上に置いた。

「寝てるみたい。」

火葬まで二日間あったから、ぶんちゃんを1番寒い玄関に置いた。二日間、何度もなでに行った。

「黒猫ちゃんは暗いとお顔がよく見えないね…」

粘土に手型をとって、肉球に絵の具を塗って、画用紙にぺったんして、しっぽやお顔をいっぱい撫でた。さよなら、ぶんちゃんのしっぽ、お耳、お鼻、おひげ、おてて、あんよ。さようなら。

—

ズバリあるといいものは、肉球を型どる、100円ショップの軽いねんどと、画用紙と絵の具です。

粘土は、触った時にヒヤッとしなくて、粉っぽくなくて、硬くないやつがいいです。今でも私は、ブンちゃんの肉球手型をたまにさわさわしてます。肉球プリントは、ブンジの好きだった羊のマスコットと一緒に、棚に飾ってます。