She only saw a flash of orange on the highway — a blur so quick she wasn’t sure it was real — but something in her whispered, Look again.
Minutes later, Katie circled back, pulled onto the shoulder, and found a tiny orange cat lying limp on a sewer grate as cars roared past.
For a moment she thought he was gone — until his eyes opened just enough to say, Help me.
Terrified he’d bolt into traffic, she spent nearly thirty minutes inching toward him, whispering soft reassurance over the sound of speeding cars.
When she draped her sweatshirt over his trembling body, he melted into it, finally allowing himself to be lifted to safety.
At the vet she learned the truth: no microchip, declawed, and the pads of his paws burned off from walking on blistering pavement.
She named him Sunny — because even on the harshest highway, he held onto one spark of light.
In her home he slowly unfolded, turning fear into trust, hiding into affection, and trauma into air biscuits.
Two months later he left for his forever family, healed, playful, and finally safe — living the peaceful life he almost never had the chance to reach.
All because one driver chose not to look away.