Each morning when the old man wakes up, his cats are with him. And they are with him when he has breakfast, when he cleans his house, and as he works his way through his daily farm chores. The old man is content with his life, but something is missing, and it is only at the end that the reader discovers what it is: a much-missed friend. But turn the page and we are assured, as he is, that life goes on.