A/N: This story is just for venting. I have no intention of continuing it, unless the mood strikes me sometime later. Now that we have an understanding, enjoy!

God Bless,

Jerry

I sit down and stare at the glass wall of my box. Through it, I can see various humanoids milling about with their children, inspecting each vivarium and aquarium on the wall for a suitable companion. Most of them are humans, and a few mobians like me are there as well. I see a little Korean girl of about ten look up toward my box and point excitedly, but her father takes one look at me and shakes his head no. I watch as he leads her away, and I see that crushed look on her face. Oh, well. No parent in his right mind would buy a mutant like me.

Mutant. That's polite society's way of saying "freak." People no longer abort their unwanted or deformed children as they used to: they birth them and send them here to be shrunken down and sold as pets. This trend caught on quickly, as it was only introduced twenty years ago. At least, that's what the storeowner said.

Oh, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself: I am a golden fox named Miles Prower, although the owner calls me "Tails." Why does he call me that? It's the reason I'm here and not with my bastard parents: I possess two tails. What's wrong with having an extra tail? It's not like my face is inside-out or I have three noses like some of my neighbors do. I just have another tail growing from the base of my first, but otherwise I'm completely normal…aside from being shrunken down to a height of four inches.

I look at the owner behind the register, who was talking to the Korean father about how to take care of a boa constrictor. No, this isn't a special store for mutants: pet stores just sell people like me as well as regular animals nowadays. Anyway, I hear them ramble on about tank temperature and whatnot until I lose interest. I stand up and walk to the back of my box, where I lie down by my water dish to sleep. My bed is indeed a real bed, only miniaturized: the storeowner gave it to me, apparently as a compensation for everything that I've gone through. While I would say that is a sorry excuse for an apology, the bed is definitely better than the banana leaf-and-wood chips bedding my neighbors get. I guess I should be grateful.

As I settle down to take a nap, I hear a voice. "Hey there, little guy," it says. I look towards the glass end of my box to see a woman—a seedrian woman, to be exact—looking at me through a pair of fashionable spectacles. I get up and walk to the glass where she can see me better. Her ocean blue eyes lock with mine, and we stare at each other for a few seconds.

"Ma'am? Did you find something you like?" asks the storeowner.

The seedrian turns away to answer. "I believe I have, sir. How much for the little twin-tailed fox?"

"Oh, him? How about…fifty dollars, plus the bed?"

"I just want him."

"Okay, then forty dollars."

The seedrian turns back to me. "Deal," she says, a small smile on her lips.

"Will that be all, ma'am?"

"Yes, it will. And I'll use my credit card for this purchase."

I cannot believe my ears: someone just bought me! My head fills with questions: does she have kids that will hurt me? Is she just buying me to feed another pet for sick kicks? Will she take care of me or neglect me? Alternatively, is she my ticket to a normal life?

The storeowner opens the door to my box and carefully picks me up by the scruff of my neck and places me in a smaller cardboard box used to transport pets my size, and then hands the box to my new owner. "Have a nice day, ma'am," he says as she walks out the door. I hear the entrance bell jingle one last time, and then the door shutting. As the woman starts the car and drives me to my new home, I curl up in my current box and fall asleep. For better or worse, my life is about to go in a very different direction. I can only hope that it is for the better.

I wake up to the creak of an old door and the scent of chocolate. I am no longer in my cardboard box, but I am sitting on a normal-sized bed with a blue comforter and gray pillows. As I get up to explore my surroundings a bit more, I see the woman come into the room with a half-eaten cookie in her hand. She is wearing a Boston Red Sox t-shirt, a pair of faded denim jeans, and for the first time I notice the pair of flower buds on each side of her green-haired head. She looks down at me, swallows, and giggles. "Hi there."

I wave nervously. "H-hello. You have a very nice home, I see."

The seedrian chuckles and lies down on the bed next to me. "I'm Cosmo Baioretta, geneticist for Biosyn Incorporated. Do you have a name?"

"My name is Miles Prower, but you can call me 'Tails' if you want," I say. "I don't have an occupation beyond being your pet mutant."

Cosmo sighs and shakes her head. "You're not a mutant, Miles. You just happen to have an extra tail, and there is nothing wrong with that."

I smile: yes, she is shaping up to be a very good owner. "Thank you, Cos."

She giggles. "That's what my friends call me at work!" We both grin at each other until my stomach suddenly growls. "Hungry, are we?" she asks, to which I nod yes. "Want a bite of my cookie?"

My mouth waters. "Yes, please!" She breaks off a little piece and gives it to me, which I shove down my throat without even chewing. She gives me another piece, which I also hork down unhesitatingly. After several pieces, I am so full that I almost throw it back up, but I manage to hold on. Cosmo then picks me up in cupped hands and we rub noses. "Thanks for lunch," I say.

Cosmo places me back on the bed and pats the area next to her. "This is where you'll be sleeping, Tails. I hope that's okay with you."

I blink. "Sorry, what?"

"Are you okay with sleeping here?" she reiterates.

"Um…"

"You're right, I might accidentally crush you. Maybe you can sleep…" she scans the room, looking for something suitable for me to sleep in without risk of death. "Maybe you can sleep on my nightstand? I can clear off the books and make a little bed for you from blankets."

"Okay, that'll work." Yes, Cosmo will be a great owner for me, and I a great pet for her.