Lost.... in the world of humans

I had blogged a while back about a kitty that has come around and made my home a place to get food when he was unable to catch his own. He has seen some harsh times and some cruelty. He showed up at my house once with a huge gash on the top of his head that ran down the side of his face. This was not made by a fight with another cat. It was huge and exposed a large area of his head. When he ate I would dribble peroxide over his head to clean it out. He would of course run away, but hunger always won out and he would come back to eat. It took a long time for that mess to heal up. He often showed up with some severe injuries. I could only think that they were the result of humans. My cats never come home looking the way he did. I have always been saddened by the fact that he would never let anyone near him and that he would not know the touch of a kind hand. The other day he was sitting on the front porch and I went to feed him. I slowly reached for him and got close enough to lay a hand on his neck. He flinched. I held my breath as I was able to slide my hand down his back. I stopped with that one stroke and let him eat the food. Two days later he was on my door step again looking for a meal. I sat down on the step and as I poured the food I swear I heard a soft, almost non audible meow. It was the first time I ever heard a sound from that cat. I didn't want to push my luck so I simply basked in the warm a fuzzy feeling I had at that moment. Another week passed, and at each meal I was greeted with a soft but very real meow. Finally I decided to make another try at petting him. I sat down next to him and as I poured the food, I reached out and once again touched the top of his neck and slowly took may hand down his back. He continued to eat. Three more strokes. I softly spoke to him. Another 2 strokes. This is where I left it. I now knew that he had, however fragile, some trust in me........ and I knew that at last he would know that kind people exist and that the human hand could also provide pleasure. The old kitty will now know kindness, and that makes me happy................ I hope it does him as well.