Many thanks to all those who already left a review after the prologue, want to follow my story and already count it among their favorites. This motivates me tremendously to continue writing. So thank you again.
I also like to thank BrookeWorm3 for some background information she gave me.
But enough with the talk. Here's the first chapter and please let me know what you think of it.
Chapter 1 ~ A pet for her?
'… I'm driving around in my car, I'm driving too fast I'm driving too far. I'd like to change my point of view, I feel so lonely I'm waiting for you. But nothing ever happens and I wonder. I wonder how I wonder why. Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky and all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree. I'm turning my head up and down, I'm turning turning turning turning turning around, and all that I can see is just another lemon-tree…'
Lilia sucked the balmy evening air into her lungs as she mentally sang along one of her favorite songs. She had the headphones secured with a light hair band, so they wouldn't fall out during the ride and, worse, get into the spokes of her bike. That would be the culmination of a lousy day – after having overslept, she had forgotten her prepared sandwiches, had then to step in for a colleague who had broken her ankle while playing football and, last but not least, a storm gust had carried away her work cap, causing her hair to hang around her face all day long thanks to the stormy wind. Because of course she had forgotten to grab a hair tie in her early morning rush... The hair band looked very childish with its motley colors, but at least it kept Lilia's long curls from getting into her eyes. And that's what was important for her at that moment.
Now she was on her way home, only wanting to put her feet up and re-watch the first season of Heroes with a bowl of her favorite mueslis. She could already see in her mind how she took the cereal package from the shelf and collected her favorite bowl out of the cupboard. The young woman loved such mental games as they always shortened the time on her way home. But as she mentally shook the package and wanted to pour the cereals into the bowl, her face lost all color. Without mercy her subconsciousness pointed out to her that already yesterday she had held an empty box in her hands. 'Damn it!' Normally, Lilia wasn't the type of person who cursed all the time, but just then she felt like it. After all, she didn't feel like going to the supermarket now after her work, which was indeed fulfilling, but nevertheless very exhausting too. Resigned, she inwardly said goodbye to her couch snack and promised herself a large bowl of strawberry ice cream instead.
Maybe she could convince her brother to join her on the couch to lighten her mood again. Because if he had a weak spot, it was ice cream! But Lilia didn't have too high hopes. Lately, Leo was constantly hanging out with his best buddy – and perhaps already boyfriend – Caleb. And whenever this Caleb came to visit, her brother would ignore her which left her with enough alone-time for her mind to remind her of her biological clock that had begun to tick loudly. Because at the age of 24, she was the only one in her circle of friends who was neither married, had no children and where there was not even a boyfriend on the horizon. She had sometimes noticed that Caleb gave her strange glances now and then, but he had never even tried to flirt with her, so Lilia paid no attention to him after politely greeting him when he came around to hang out with her brother. Because, if she was honest, she found him nice, yes, but he was definitely not her type and of course, she knew that her brother was interested in him.
Lilia sighed as all those thoughts passed through her mind on the last part of her journey home. 'Maybe I should get myself a pet...' she thought to herself.
That might really mean a turnaround in her live. How did the saying go? You meet a lot of new people – and attractive men – when taking the dog out for a walk. But after thinking it over while driving around the corner of a house, Lilia rejected the idea again. Because having a dog would mean to be ready to do a lot of effort: Going outside in all kinds of weather, visiting a dog school, constantly watching him or her... No, that would be too stressful in the long run. Besides, she was out all day with her bike, so she couldn't even take a dog to her work and drive the animal around in a car for example.
'Okay, so no dog. But maybe... a reptile? A snake? A spider? Oh goddess, no!' A friend of hers at school had once told her about an uncle who had an expensive tarantula roaming freely through the house and had not forewarned a visitor. Unfortunately, when said tarantula approached the unsuspecting woman from behind and had then been noticed, after a panic-fueled war cry, the spider had quickly found itself on the Rainbow Bridge buried underneath a heavy book...
'Poor spider.' Lilia sighed again, thinking of another schoolmate who had had two giant slugs as pets during her teenager years. Lilia had once accompanied her when she was out for a walk with her pets... carrying them on her hand... With a shudder, Lilia remembered the slimy feeling she had when she had allowed one of the slugs on her hand. 'No, definitely not a slug for me!'
The traffic light in front of her turned red, and with a slight squeal of the wheels, she stopped at the intersection. Now it wasn't far to her apartment anymore, and while she waited, she went through all sorts of domestic animals she knew. Without warning, her MP3 player turned off, and with a grunt of annoyance, she remembered that the battery had already been low this morning. Frustrated at her own forgetfulness to recharge the device on time, she plucked the earplugs from her ears and stowed the device in her jacket pocket. 'Could this day get any worse?'
When the traffic light turned green again, she even hadn't gotten any farther with a decision which animal companion she would like, and sighed again. Maybe a pet wasn't right for her if she couldn't even decide which she wanted.
Passing the last big major lane, she suddenly heard a shrill hissing. It happened so abruptly that she started braking and almost drove into a garbage can. Then she heard several children laughing maliciously and the hissing turned into a painful cry.
"What the..."
Growing angry, she quickly turned her bike and drove into the lane towards the noises. If she couldn't stand something, it was people who tormented animals.
With a grim expression, she pedaled and looked around attentively. It didn't take her half a minute before she saw several children through a broken fence separating a backyard from the sidewalk. They were standing in a circle and laughed loudly. Lilia stopped and listened with narrowed eyes to try to hear any suspicious sounds from the group. And indeed; when a boy just pushed his foot forward, she heard a scream of pain again and with an angry movement, Lilia just dropped her bike and ran to the fence to push herself through a gap.
"Hey! What do you think are you doing? Leave the animal alone!"
She would have loved to shake some sense into the children, but when they heard and saw her coming, they all rushed away with loud shouts.
"Didn't your parents teach you to treat other beings with respect?" Lilia shouted after them in rage, dropping to her knees at the same time.
There was a cat in front of her – and what a beauty it was. It was a tabby, the black stripes and spots highlighting the silvery-white fur. Such a beautiful cat Lilia had never seen before. But when she tried to reach for the cat, it hissed at her and Lilia immediately pulled her hand away in alarm. Then she saw the injuries: The right front paw was bleeding slightly, and when the animal tried to get up and run away, its left hind leg twisted and it sank back to the ground with a whimper.
"What did they do to you?" Lilia whispered sadly, wondering what she could do. Thoughtfully, she chewed on her bottom lip and then, with a slow movement to not scare the cat any more, finally set down her backpack, pulling out her bottle.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Look, I have my water bottle here. Surely you are thirsty?"
In the absence of a bowl or cup, Lilia formed a hollow with her left hand and let some water flow into it.
"Do you see? That's just water; you can drink it."
Carefully she held out her hand to the cat and waited patiently. But the animal initially made no move to drink it. Instead, it stared at Lilia with its beautiful eyes. She almost felt caught in the intense gaze of those green eyes with golden speckles and could hardly take her eyes off them. It seemed like a mild hypnosis to Lilia. Because the longer the cat stared at her with inscrutable eyes, the more the young woman realized how the tension of the day eased away and her muscles relaxed. It was only when the cat lowered its head and broke their eye contact that Lilia could blink several times in succession again. She felt as if she had just awakened from a dream.
"Wow… that was weird."
Then she had to giggle as the animal's rough tongue brushed over her palm while licking the water away. This caused the cat to look up again and Lilia almost felt as if the animal was looking at her questioningly.
"Yeah, I know... Of all the places on the body I have to be ticklish on my palms."
With a giggled sigh she pointed to her water bottle. "Would you like more of the water?"
This time, Lilia was sure that the cat looked at her expectantly, and astonished, she let it drink from her hand several more times.
"You are very intelligent, you know that? Do you really understand what I'm saying, or am I just imagining it?"
As she searched for an answer in the cat's eyes, she felt it again. It was like a pull, as if the cat was trying to look into her very soul.
"Don't say that you're an enchanted prince." Lilia chuckled, and then scratched her head thoughtfully with her dry hand. "Although it would certainly be more promising to kiss a cute cat like you than a frog. But tell me, who do you belong to? Where is your home? Does anyone miss you?"
Hopefully, she looked around at her surroundings, but it was a rather run-down neighborhood and Lilia doubted that a well-groomed cat like the one in front of her would be kept in that area. Thoughtfully, she looked again at the still slightly bleeding wound and bit her bottom lip. Then she realized that the cat was staring past her and meowing softly before looking at her again... clearly pleading with its eyes. Frowning, Lilia turned around in the same direction the cat had looked before and saw not far from her something flashy on the floor.
"Hey, what is that? Is it yours?"
Quickly Lilia picked up the object. It was a round golden pendant which hung on a broken black collar. Thoughtfully, the young woman crouched down while examining the pendant in her hand. But contrary to her hope of finding an owner's name plus address on it, there were only the two letters E. N. in an ornate font on the front side.
"E. N.… What's that supposed to mean?"
She looked back at the cat and tilted her head questioningly. Again the cat meowed, but this time it had a painful undertone. Lilia quickly went back to the animal and sat cross-legged in front of it. Because of her movements, her index finger brushed over the edge of the collar, where it was cracked, and she realized it was very smooth. With a deep frown, she took a closer look. Her breath was taken away for a moment when she suddenly realized that the collar had been cut through. Shocked, she dropped the collar into her lap and eyed the animal in front of her with attentive eyes.
"Did the children cut your collar when it was still around your neck?"
Again a heartbreaking meow reached her ears, and to Lilia's astonishment, the animal stretched and tilted its head to one side. As a result, she could see a smeared red spot in the nape of its neck and she knew that it had to be blood.
"They hurt you there too. I'm so sorry…" With gentle movements Lilia touched and examined the wound and although the cat flinched slightly at her brief touch, no further blood flowed. It was different with the front paw though – that wound was still bleeding.
"Look, I know that will hurt a bit more, but I'd like to tend to your wound, okay? And then I'll take you with me? Because you cannot stay here without being able to walk. The area isn't exactly friendly, you know."
With nimble fingers she folded a handkerchief into a bandage and put a roll of adhesive tape on the ground next to her. At that moment, she was glad she always had a role with her.
"Now I'd appreciate it if you didn't scratch or bite me, okay? Because I really have to tend to your wound so that it stops bleeding. And do you see my clothes? I'm wearing my uniform from work and it shouldn't get blood on it. Because, you know, my washing machine hasn't been working since last week and I have to wash everything by hand. And believe me, that is really exhausting. So…"
With a deep sigh, Lilia gazed expectantly at the cat, holding up her handkerchief bandage. And indeed, with a faint whimper, the animal stretched its bleeding paw in her direction and Lilia went to work.
It took a few minutes for the young woman to properly secure the makeshift bandage; the last first aid course she had attended had been way too many months ago. But after about fifteen minutes, she finally made it and, laughing relieved, put the tape back into her bag.
Once again she looked around whether anyone came to pick up this cat; but nobody came.
"Okay..." As Lilia looked at her bag and then at the cat, she quickly realized that the animal would never fit in there without running the risk of falling out on the way back to her home riding her bike.
"How do we do it now?" Lilia mused while chewing on her bottom lip again, unconsciously scratching the cat between its ears. She only became aware of it when the animal started to purr shortly thereafter. Surprised and startled, she stopped her movements, but even before she could think about pulling her hand away, the animal leaned into her palm and purred even louder. Lilia grinned down to her new friend then and restarted to stroke the cat with slow and delicate finger movements. It was nice to see that the cat had lost its initial fear of her in that short time and now visibly enjoyed the attention Lilia gave the animal. For several minutes, she continued with the petting and could see how a delicate trust started to build between them. When she moved her hand to scratch the cat under its head, the animal closed its eyes with relish.
"Ah, you like that? Cuddling is exactly your thing, am I right?"
In response, Lilia was given that thoughtful look again, and once again the young woman was astonished how deep the eyes of this beautiful animal were.
Carefully, she took the cat in her arms and thought hard, while searching her bag for something that could help her. When she touched the soft long scarf her mother had brought her from her last vacation, she had an epiphany – now Lilia knew how to transport the animal safely.
Lemon Tree - Fools Garden