Chapter 4
A cat!
The man stares into the mirror once again, having just returned from work the next day. While in the shower, he tried to figure out how to make his life more interesting. He hates most animals but cats he liked. He remembers when he was a kid a stray kitten would come to him no matter what he did, even when he yelled at the kitten or tried to scare it away. The kitten, a small all-black thing, had become his best friend for a good four years until the cat disappeared mysteriously. So then maybe a cat would liven up his life like the tiny black kitten had done all those years ago.
He turns away from the mirror and grabs his phone so that he can find the closest pet store to buy the items he will need to take care of a cat. His second search is the first two closest animal shelters that adopt out kittens and cats. Thankfully he has a few hours before the pet store and humane societies close for the day. He pins both the pet store and the humane societies on his phone so that he can easily pull up the directions once in his car. He grabs his keys to his dark blue Chevy truck and walks out of the house, locking up behind him.
Going to the pet store first, he buys everything that he thinks that he will need for his new friend and even takes a bit of time to look at the cats and kittens that the pet store has for adoption. Not finding either a kitten, young cat, or older cat that he wished to be adopted, he buys his items, packs his truck up, and heads to the first humane society that is almost right down the road from the pet store.
He spends about an hour there, wandering around the cat section of the humane society. He even asks to see a few in their visiting rooms but none of the cats seemed right for him. Sadly, he left without a cat but he has high hopes that the next humane society that is a bit further down the road will have the right kitty companion for him. He parks a few minutes later in the parking lot of Sunshine Pets Humane Society, and after locking his truck, he heads inside still hopeful.
He stops at the front desk and asks the woman sitting behind the giant desk and computers for help in finding an adoptable cat companion. The woman smiles warmly up at him and tells him to wait over by the door to her left that leads into their cat wing while she calls someone from the back to come up and help him. He thanks the woman and walks over to the door while the woman gets on the phone that sits at her right hand and calls the people in the back, most likely taking care of the cats.
The door opens a minute later and a young woman with a name tag that reads Cindy appears. “Hi, there! Stephanie at the front desk said that you need help finding a kitty companion.” She holds out her hand to him to shake. “I’m Cindy and I hope that I can help you find your new kitten or cat to take home for the rest of his or her life.”
He shakes her hand, “Hey Cindy, I’m Boston and I hope you can help me too. I’ve already been to Pets Heaven and bought everything that I think I’ll need for the cat. I even have looked at their adoptable cats but didn’t find one. I then looked at the Spooks Pet Humane Society but again came out empty-handed.” He lets her hand go, shoving it back into his pocket and shrugs a bit with an ‘oh well’ look on his face.
She gives him a sympathetic smile as she leans back more against the door to prop it open. She motions for him to follow her into the massive cat wing of the humane society. “Well, hopefully, you won’t leave here empty-handed. We have quite a lot of cats and kittens who are looking for their forever homes.”
Boston walks through the door, his ears perking up as soon as he can hear the door behind him close. A small smile spreads on his face when he hears the subtle meowing from the cats in their cat condos in front of them. As they begin to walk around looking at the cats, Cindy does her long spiel about the humane society, their mission, and how she hopes to one day come to work and find that all of the animals have been adopted. She then begins to ask Boston about what he is looking for in a cat companion; age, color, and if he prefers a male or female. Boston only half listens to her blabber on and gives quick short answers, not wanting to become buddy-buddy with the woman, only wanting to see the cats.
He wishes he could just wander around by himself but the thought of having to ask constantly for someone to help him get a cat out to visit with would be such a pain. He moves back and forth from one side to the other of the long hallway. Peering into cat condos at kittens, young cats, and older cats who are waiting to be adopted, Boston waves a little at each to see who would come over to him. They also walk to other hallways here and there as they look at the thousands of adoptable cats. Boston sees quite a few with a note on their condos stating that they were going home soon.
He asks to see a few of the cats in order to escape Cindy’s chatter and to see if he can adopt any of them but the cats would either hiss at him, completely ignore him or hide in the corner while glaring at him. It almost seemed as if they know what he does as a hobby. He shakes that feeling away as he tells Cindy each time that the cat he had visited with wasn’t the one and follows beside her as they continue to look. Boston does his best not to sigh heavily in annoyance or roll his eyes as Cindy continues to talk his ear off. He forces a smile and forces himself to answer the random questions from Cindy, imagining murdering the woman right then and there to shut her up.
They stop in front of a cat condo with an all-black kitten that reminds him of the small kitten from his past but once again the kitten completely ignores Boston. He moves away from the glass and pretends that he hadn’t seen the humans. Boston sighs heavily, ready to give up until Cindy tells him about the new cat that sits behind them. Cindy turns to look at the new cat and happily exclaims that the cat is awake. He slowly turns around to see a beautiful red-furred young cat with a pair of striking eyes. Why do the eyes look familiar? He shakes his head, getting rid of the last question. He smiles and moves closer to get a better look at the beautiful cat. He stares into her eyes as she stares back at him. He gently taps his fingertip against the glass as the cat blinks at him then meows through the glass. He chuckles and nods at the cat, feeling a strong connection with her.
“Cindy, I think I’d like to visit with her if that is okay.” He glances over his shoulder before looking back at the stunning cat. “She’s beautiful.”
“I thought the same when we found her at the nearby park, River Crescent Park. We believe that she is about one year old and she has had a rough life, only living on the streets from what we could tell. Her fur was a lot dirtier but with a quick bath, while she was unconscious, her fur brightened up quite a bit. We have had a couple of people look at her today but she’s been unconscious from fear we think so they didn’t really get to interact with her.” Cindy steps forward once Boston has moved with a ring of keys already in her hand. She unlocks the side of the condo using a small key in the small lock and pulls open the door.
Boston shifts his weight back and forth then back again anxiously as he watches Cindy gently pluck the cat from the condo, eager to get into the visiting room. He then follows behind the woman to the closest interaction room, slipping eagerly inside behind her. Cindy sets the cat down on the ground before she steps out of the room, closing the door silently behind her to give Boston and the cat time to interact with one another alone.
Boston sits on the ground and faces the cat, his hand already out she can sniff it and figure him out. “Hi there, gorgeous. I’m Boston. Would you like to come home with me?”