The young athlete Nicollo Bonifazio has already won many awards and is known as a promising cyclist. And there will be even more cups and medals in the future, but he has already won his biggest prize. Last month Bonifazio and his colleagues went on a 12-mile training ride in a remote area.
Driving along a remote trail, Bonifazio heard a squeak. He couldn't but stop, that was against the rules, and went deeper into the thicket.
"I heard meowing in the distance," Bonifazio said. "It was a disturbed noise. So, I went into the woods to search."
The athlete soon found a tiny black-and-white kitten nestled against a garbage bag. The poor thing must have been dumped in the woods to die.
Alas, for modern Italy, this is not uncommon. Unwanted kittens and puppies are often taken to the woods or mountains, where they quickly become prey to foxes and other predators. But with the stubbornness of the Romans, the people here give birth to sympathetic citizens who, like Bonifazio, do the opposite and rescue the babies. There was just one snag: the athlete's tight uniform had no pockets, so where did he put the kitten?
Bonifazio spent the next hour riding the bike with only one hand, because in the other hand he kept tightly the kitten. The training turned into a rescue mission! That day, the kitten's life changed forever and Bonifazio as an honest man adopted him. Fortunately, the little pet turned out to be healthy and strong, and when he got used to his new home, very playful!
The cyclist's girlfriend named the kitten Bisous that means 'kiss' in French. For Nicollo Bonifazio, he became a visual symbol of the right choice of the way, because he found and saved his friend on the road when pedaling. So, Bisous was destined to become the athlete's main reward.
Source: thedodo
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