"Cat in the Rain" by Ernest Hemingway is a short story about an American couple vacationing in Italy. The wife sees a cat sheltering from the rain under a table outside their hotel room and expresses a desire to rescue it. When she goes outside to get the cat, it has disappeared, leading her to return to their room feeling dejected. The story highlights the wife's feelings of unfulfillment and her longing for care and attention, which she projects onto the cat. Her husband, indifferent to her needs, remains absorbed in his book, underscoring the emotional distance between them.