In the McGuire College gym, if you step back in time, you’ll come across Year 8 student Noah Aldren, just one of several kids playing dodge ball.
Among the group, Noah didn’t particularly shine; in fact, he struggled quite a bit.
His time on the sidelines often exceeded his time on the court, waiting for a chance to be brought back into the game.
As the class concluded, Noah left the gym, determined to leave behind his lacklustre performance.
Little did he realise that beneath the very same hardwood floor, where he had endured countless foam ball peltings, his future partner-in-crime was born.
It may not be normal at every school for a group of wild cats to greet students as they exit the canteen.
But McGuire College in Shepparton was no ordinary school, so this was pretty normal.
These feline figures, more like statues or paintings, seamlessly blended into the scenery, making occasional cameos in the students’ lives throughout the school day.
Then on one fateful day, seven years ago, Noah came home to find one of them in his home.
“I got home from school and we had a cat,” Noah said.
“My sister had brought it home in a box from school; they couldn’t keep the cats, so they passed them out.”
Pipsqueak, or ‘Pip’, had been born under the school gym just a few weeks before.
The new resident of the Aldren household came as a complete surprise to Noah.
“We thought it was a girl for like two months,” Noah said.
“Then the vet was like, nah, Pip’s a dude.”
Noah had always been a cat person, preferring the independent, low-maintenance personalities of cats to dogs.
Pip quickly imprinted his paw prints all over the neighbourhood, cultivating an intimidating reputation among the cats who dared to encroach upon his territory, letting them know he wants all the smoke.
“He stands his ground; any other cat comes by he’s there, he’s watching, he’s beefing,” Noah said, with a laugh.
Despite his imposing exterior, Pip is really a softie.
“In our area, we have a lot of cats, so they all just hang out,” Noah said.
“Mainly this cat down the street named Chester, who’s a real one.”
“They’ve just always been homies.”
Pip is perhaps stubborn to a fault, having once tried to hold his ground against a snake.
He came home from one of his outings with a limp, prompting the Aldrens to take him to a vet, who informed them he had been bitten by said snake.
Pip recovered quickly, shaking off the bite with ease.
While his protective nature has led him to some scrapes, Pip is now a relaxed and easy-going companion to Noah’s family.
“He was a real scratcher at the start,” Noah said.
“He was very much a wild cat when he came to us — he’s definitely not now.
“He loves food, he eats a lot.
“You could feed him six times a day and he’d still eat.”
Noah described Pip as a little sheepish around new people, but said he was a loyal companion to those near to him.
“He doesn’t run off or anything, he just doesn’t love being touched by people he doesn’t know,” he said.
“But he’s very friendly, particularly to me.
“He’s just great company and never makes me feel like I’m alone.”
In summing up how he felt about Pipsqueak, Noah offered a somewhat profound and deep summation that minced no words.
“He’s a good cat, great cat, amazing cat,” he said.
The McGuire College gym certainly held no promise of dodge ball dominance down the line for a young Noah.
But fate had a different plan for him, as the gym indirectly introduced him to a new friend — a connection that he now cherishes dearly after graduating.