Abandoned

As you might have noticed I visit many abandoned buildings. Also on this day in October. I had spotted it on the way, not far from the hotel I had booked for a weekend of explorations. 'This is a place I definitely have to see', I immediately thought. It was located at the edge of a small village somewhere in the hills in the South of Poland. Seen from the road, the place looked very interesting. A big wooden building. A school was my first impression.

Creepy looking youth hotel

The next day I left the hotel quite early (for my standards) to visit some locations in the neighborhood I'd selected beforehand. I tried to find back the school building I saw the day before but could not find it. I started doubting if I really saw it or it was just my imagination... The marked locations were not spectacular however a long walk in a forest made it all good. Somewhere in the afternoon I decided to go back towards the hotel and give it another shot to find the school building I saw the day before.

When I'd almost arrived at my hotel, I saw it! From a hillside overlooking the road, the building peered through the trees. Now I understood why I didn't see it that morning. It is only visible if you approach it from the front. I drove the car up a narrow bumpy dirt road until I came close to the building. I managed to park on a piece of muddy land next to the road, only hoping I could get the car out of there when leaving the place. The building looked great. Yellowish beige wood, two stories, many windows and an overgrown yard gave the place a creepy atmosphere. At the front side everything had been sealed off but at the back the door was open. Or to state it correctly, the door was missing.

I went through the building and discovered it was not a school but some kind of youth hotel. Lots of small rooms with 2, 3 of 4 beds in them. I continued exploring. From far I could hear the voices of children playing outside in the village. For the rest absolute silence. In the basement was a kitchen still partly intact and I was imagining how pierogi were boiled there in the days of glory of the place. I went back up and stumbled more or less over the missing entrance door that was blocking a corridor. The noise this made initiated another noise. Something screaming. A child from the village? As this was very unlikely I decided it must be a cat. I guessed it would run off quickly as cats in these places usually do. However the screaming continued. And it seemed to come from a part of the building I was heading to. I got confused and curious. What was this? I moved on through a corridor and came at a point where several doors connected to a small hallway. The screaming became louder. Some of the doors were broken or open but one was intact and closed. The screaming seemed to come from there. 'What's happening here?', I thought. I wanted to open the door but was also afraid of what to find behind it. It could be a homeless guy with his cat. As usual, the curiosity overcame the fear and I opened the door a bit. I peeked in and saw nothing but a bed and the screaming stopped. I opened the door completely and stepped in. I could not believe what I saw!

The kitten and the empty bowls

From the corner of my eye I saw a small skinny kitten hide behind the bed. The room was small and had an penetrable smell. On the floor there was an old bed cover full of the kitten's crap. At least the smell was explained... Further more there were 3 food bowls. Empty. For some time it seemed. On a shelf above the bed were plenty of empty milk cartons. Lactose free. But no water, no food for the cat. And also no way out for it. I stepped inside, ignoring the stench and avoiding the crap and closed the door. I called the cat. It was still hiding behind the bed. However pretty soon it re-appeared and came to me. 'You poor thing', I thought. 'You must be hungry and thirsty'.

The kitten sniffed my boots and trousers and without much hesitation it started climbing straight up to my legs, my chest and finally sat down on my shoulder. Wow! It seemed this little fellow really wanted to become friends as quick as possible. My years in Poland have taught me that feeding is important in this country but at that moment I could only give the animal some water. It drank it greedily. It must have been very thirsty.

I was thinking of what to do next. It was impossible to take it to the hotel. I decided to lock it up again and drive to a supermarket I'd seen down the road. I bought some dry and wet food and went back. The little one was again happy to see me and started climbing again. But when it saw the food the attention was moved to the bowls. It was hungry. Very hungry. I stepped out the room and closed the door. Outside it had become dark. The poor cat started screaming again. Back in the hotel and also the following day I kept on thinking what to do with the cat. After quite some thinking I decided to take it home. I was convinced the kitten did not have a future in the abandoned place. I went back to the supermarket and asked for a box. That's where I learned the word 'pudełko'. It was not the box I had in mind but with the some rope I always carry around, I could make something out of it. At 6 o' clock the next day, I drove with my box to the building. It was still dark. With my torch I found my way to the cat's room. After entering and the climbing ceremony I managed to get the cat in the box and the rope around it. The cat did not like it. I think it was seriously thinking of ending our fresh friendship on the spot. But it was all for the best. We went back to the car and I put the box behind my chair and off we went. Driving back home was ok..... …..the first 5 kilometers..... Then the cat managed to escape from the box and started wandering through the car. The good thing was it stopped screaming. It actually calmed down a lot and it found a place half on my shoulder, half on the back rest of my seat. Like that we drove for a couple of hours until we reached home. The cat was completely calm and I did not have to put it back in the box because I could transport it back to the apartment sitting on my shoulder. I think the friendship was still ok. And that is how an abandoned cat in an abandoned hotel started a new episode in its life....

Epilog The cat is now living a happy life in the Netherlands. It's has become a friendly and curious young man. He still climbs humans from time to time.

George and his new owner.