I teased this at the end of the Wollongong blog post. We got home from a full day on the road — Bulli, Sea Cliff Bridge, the lighthouse, Nan Tien Temple — and something was waiting for us.
This is that story.
I also made a TikTok about it — watch it here:
The Crying We Couldn't Explain
We pulled up to the house exhausted. Good exhausted — the kind that comes from a day well spent. As we got out of the car, we heard it. Loud, persistent crying. The kind that makes you stop and look around.
Our first thought was birds. It was coming from somewhere near the roof, and it was so loud and so constant that it didn't seem like it could be anything small. We stood there for a moment just listening, trying to figure out where it was coming from.
Then we looked down.
A Kitten Near the Front Porch
There it was. Tiny, scruffy, and making more noise than seemed possible for something its size. It was near the front porch, half hidden, watching us.
The moment we moved toward it, it bolted behind the bushes. But it didn't go far. It kept coming back — crying, disappearing, reappearing. Like it wanted help but wasn't sure if it could trust us yet.
We stood there for a while, not rushing it. Just letting it get used to us being there. And slowly, it started to come closer.
It Came to Us
Eventually it stopped running. It crept forward, sniffed around, and then started rubbing against us while we were trying to open the front door. That was the moment we knew we couldn't leave it outside.
The kitten was visibly malnourished. And it was limping. Whatever it had been through before finding our porch, it hadn't been easy.
We brought it inside.
The First Night
We've always been dog people. We lost our dog TyTy last June, and since then the house had felt different. Quieter. So having a small animal inside again — especially one we knew nothing about — was new territory for all of us.
The kitten was hungry. Really hungry. It bit my mum's foot within the first few minutes, which told us everything we needed to know about how long it had gone without food. We didn't have any pet food in the house, so we gave it small pieces of chicken. It ate fast.
After that, we went and got cat food, flea shampoo, and flea treatment. The kitten got a shower — which it absolutely hated — then we dried it, brushed it, and fed it properly.
By the end of the night, it was on the couch. We'd put a blanket down, and it started kneading — slow, rhythmic, content. Then it started purring. That was the moment it really hit. The kitten felt safe.
Settling In
Over the next few days we got everything it needed — a litter box, a bed, wipes, toys, all from Kmart. It figured out the litter box almost immediately. It started playing with the toys. It found its spots around the house and claimed them.
For a kitten that showed up limping and malnourished on our porch, it settled in fast. Like it had already decided this was home before we had.
The Name
I didn't have to think about it for long.
Zira.
Named after my very first original character — the one that became the Neon Dreams: Zira T-Shirt. That design was the beginning of a lot of things for CityEvoke. It felt right that the name would carry forward into something real.
Zira the character was drawn on an iPad using Procreate — built from scratch, original in every way. Zira the kitten showed up uninvited, made itself impossible to ignore, and found its way into our home. There's something fitting about that.
What Comes Next
It's been a few days now and Zira is doing well. We're planning to take it to the vet to check for a microchip and get it properly looked at. We're hoping we get to keep it.
Whatever happens, Zira is already part of the story. No longer just a design on a tee — Zira is part of the CityEvoke journey now. And honestly, after the year this brand has had, that feels like exactly the kind of thing that was supposed to happen.
The Neon Dreams: Zira T-Shirt
If you want to wear the design that started it all — the original character that gave our kitten its name — it's available now.
→ Shop the Neon Dreams: Zira T-Shirt
→ Browse the full CityEvoke collection — Australia-wide shipping