Question 1.
What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s reaction? What does she do?
Answer:
One Sunday afternoon the author noticed smoke pouring in through the realms of the ceiling. Soon there was fire in the house. His mother ran out of the house carrying a small metal box full of important documents. His mother was in a crazy state, again she ran back into the house to collect the photograph of her late husband.

Question 2.
Why does he break down in tears after the fire?
Answer:
Everything was completely burnt down. Suddenly, he realised that his pet cat was missing. He searched for her everywhere. It was a big loss for him. He was already missing his old school, old friends and now it was his pet cat. All this made him break down in tears.

Question 3.
Why is the author deeply embarrassed the next day in school? Which words show his fear and insecurity?
Answer:
The author is deeply embarrassed the next day in school because when the fire broke out, he was still wearing the dress he had worn to church that morning but he had no shoes as he had lost them in the fire. So he had to borrow some tennis shoes from his aunt. He was totally embarrassed by everything.

The clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his backpack was gone. Words used in the lesson that show his fear and insecurity are “…outcast and geek…” , “…like a zombie.”, “…wanted to curl up and die”, “Everything felt surreal”, “All the security…had all been ripped away”.

Question 4.
The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?
Answer:
The cat used to play with the author every morning. She climbed up his robe and crawled into his pocket to fall asleep. After the fire accident, the cat went missing. He kept on searching for her. One day a woman brought the cat back to him. He held her ‘close and cried into that beautiful orange fur.’ The cat also purred happily. It shows that the lady was very kind-hearted and full of empathy for all. She took a great pain in finding the owner of the cat (the author) and returned it to him. She was really kind and considerate.

Question 5.
What actions of the schoolmates change the author’s understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?
Answer:
One day author’s classmates gave him a surprise. He found a big table set up with all kinds of stuff he needed. They had taken up a collection and bought the author school supplies. Their genuine outpouring and concern touched his heart and changed his feelings and opinion towards them. He realised how helpful they were. He made many friends and no more felt depressed. His new company gave a new lease of life to him. He started participating in the activities of life.

Question 6.
What is the meaning of “My cat was back and so was I”? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?
Answer:
On the day of the fire accident, the cat had run away. The narrator searched for her but all in vain. After one month of tragedy, he found his cat back. Things became normal again. All the overwhelming feelings of loss seemed to diminish. He felt gratitude for everything. The author had not gone anywhere but his joy and happiness had got burnt in the fire.

With the return of his cat, everything became normal. That is why he remarks, “My cat was back and so was I.” It shows the author’s love for animals. He was very kind and compassionate for his cat. He was deeply attached to the cat and could not bear the loss. When he found his cat safe, he was very happy.