No matter how hard we try to stay positive, life can really be cruel sometimes. We try to fit in and be loved all the time, usually ending up rejected even by those we considered close. That doesn’t mean anyone should stop trying – in the end, how we respond to these situations makes us who we really are. If you’re having doubts about it, this story about a kitten who never lost the ability to love even after being rejected several times will give you a new perspective.

“Everyone in the apartment complex I resided in was aware of Ugly,” claims a resident. “Ugly loved three things more than anything else in this world: fighting, eating, and garbage,” to quote one person. The impact of all of these things, along with a life spent outside, had its effect on Ugly. To begin with, he only had one eye, and where the other should have been was a gaping hole. He also lacks his left ear on that side; his left foot appears to have been severely fractured at some point. Meet Ugly, this is his story (we think he’s beautiful).

He had been turned the wrong way, with his tail now gone and leaving a small stump from which he would jerk and twist constantly.

To make things even worse, the kitty was rejected by everyone. People would throw rocks at him and children chased him away. The kitten, however, never fought back. He just stood there and looked everyone with his tiny eye. He would curl up on people’s shoes and ask to be pet.

However, Ugly always had the same response. He would stand there and not budge until the cruel stranger gave up on the hose and the rocks and left him alone.

If you threw things at him, he would come running and rub his head against your feet in an attempt to obtain forgiveness. When Ugly saw youngsters, he would come running excitedly and bang his head against their hands in an effort to be stroked. He immediately began drinking from your shirt or ears, whatever he could get his hands on if you picked him up.

Ugly fell in love with the neighbor’s Huskies one day. They didn’t take kindly to his advances, and he was severely injured. I heard his screams from my apartment, and I rushed to his aid. He was already dead by the time I got there; he had been brutally murdered. I carried him home because touching him made me afraid it would be unpleasant for him. He gasped and struggled, but then something tense beneath my ear sent a familiar warmth up through my body. Ugly was sucking on my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he banged his head against my hand.

Then he turned his one golden eye toward me and I could hear the distinct sound of purring. Even though he was in so much pain, covered in wounds, the battle-scarred cat was only asking for one thing: a little bit of affection.

At that moment, I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, or run away from me. Ugly just looked up at me, trusting me to relieve his pain. Ugly died in my arms before I could bring him inside but I sat there and held him for a long time afterward, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray could alter my opinion about what it means to have pureness of spirit. To love so totally and truly.

Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures or talk show specials ever could.

Sadly, there’s no happy ending to this story. Ugly died purring in the man’s hands, leaving him with tears in his eyes and something to think about – how could such a deformed and defenseless animal show so much love?

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