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Last Night (A Sad Story)

AloneGuy

Entry posted by AloneGuy ·

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So something really sad happened last night. I've been thinking about it all day and feel the need to type this all out.

First a little background. There is a young guy who lives a couple houses down from me. I don't know for sure but I'd guess he is in his early-mid 20s. He has paranoid schizophrenia and lives with his parents. I know for a fact that he is very lonely, and he will occasionally stop by my house to talk about random things. I'm not exactly the most social guy in the world, so normally I'll talk to him for 5 minutes and then make up an excuse to end the conversation (I always feel very bad about that, but it's hard for me to talk to him.)

Some of the gossipy neighbors have said that because he has schizophrenia he must be dangerous. Well, I have been dealing with my own mental illnesses (depression and anxiety/panic) and so I never judge anyone by that.

Occasionally this guy will run down the road shouting to himself, and I guess that freaks a lot of people out. Not me though because I really feel for him. No doubt his life is a struggle.

Well anyway last night at around 9:30 I was sitting on the couch watching tv, and I hear someone banging on the porch door yelling "Help Help!"

So I go out on the porch and it was the schizophrenic guy. It was pretty dark outside, but I saw that there was blood on his arms and he was cradling something in his arms. I look closer and see that it was a very small black kitten! There was blood dripping from its neck and it wasn't moving.

I ask what happened, and he said that his dog (a large black dog that he will walk occasionally) attacked this stray kitten. He was very distraught and I was shocked to see the little cat with a large bite wound in it's neck.

I said "man, I think that cat is dead" but then it coughed and moved around in his arms! I was stunned and had no idea what to do, so I told him to go immediately home to his parents for help. He said ok and I think he may have been crying. He left and I saw him running home while cradling the kitten.

I felt like s***! Why couldn't I have done more? I could have at least given him a blanket to wrap the kitten in, but that thought didn't occur to me at the time...I was too stunned!

Well this has been on my mind all day. I know now what I always suspected about this guy. And that is that he's a very sensitive and caring human. All the gossip about him was wrong! I seriously doubt the kitten survived, as it was bitten severely and lost a lot of blood. I love cats so that has upset me as well.

So that's what happened here last night. I really needed to talk about this. Thanks for reading!

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eternaloptimist

Hi, AloneGuy. I want to applaud you for reaching out to this guy as much as you have! Believing in him and seeing the best in him and having those 5 minute conversations is really giving him so much. I've had to learn this in my recovery that what I'm able to do is enough, and so I applaud you. And I want to say please don't beat yourself up for not doing more! I'm sure a lot of people in your shoes would have done the same thing, sometimes it's hard to know what to do under pressure (especially with depression and anxiety, I know for myself as well). I think you handled it very well. Keep up the good work!

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absent

This is really sad. I think he is really fond of you, since you were the person that he came to firvhelp. I hope his parents were sensible enough to take the kitten to the vet.

I think you should ask him what happened. I know you feel quilty and the only thing you can do is learn from experience. It is difficult to react to unexpected situations that cause us anxiety. Our mind would go blank.

And I think he would feel even more guilty for what happened. Gosh. happens, but that doesn't make it alright.

I hate seeing hurt animals.

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AloneGuy

Thank you Absent.

He came by a few days ago and said that the kitten had passed away before he got home. He said he buried it in his yard. Very sad :(

However I did actually talk to him for much longer than normal. I also told him to come by my house on weekends if he ever wants to talk.

He's a very intelligent person with a horrible illness, so I can definitely relate to that...but he is also very talkative whereas I'm much more shy and reserved (in real life, at least).

Yeah, I love animals and it really bothered me to see such a tiny kitten in pain :(

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absent

Well I don't think you have anything to be shy about when you talk to him. I can see this only as a win-win situation for both of you. You don't have to see him every day, but at least it is some socializing.

Do you have social anxiety? Or any kind of anxiety? It is difficult for me to make new friends and to bond with people (in real life:), but gosh I can talk a lot (in real life).

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