The postman introduces his pet cat Cabbage as his roommate. The postman was five years old when his mother found an abandoned kitten on the street, soaked with rain and in a cardboard box. She named him “Lettuce” after the label on the side of the box, and refused to give him up even though she was allergic to cats. For a month she cared for Lettuce despite constant sneezes, watering eyes, and a swollen face, until one day the symptoms abruptly disappeared. She believed that one of the rules of the universe was that nothing can be gained without losing something else. Getting anything for free is just theft and means that somewhere someone else must be losing out.

Lettuce died of a tumor 11 years later, peacefully in his sleep. After his death, the postman’s mother was inconsolable with grief until she one day found and rescued another abandoned kitten. She laughed as she pointed out how much the new kitten—Cabbage—resembled Lettuce. It was the first time she smiled since Lettuce died. Four years ago the postman’s mother died peacefully in her sleep from a tumor, just as Lettuce had. Before she died, she asked her son to take care of Cabbage for her.