"Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?"
I was greeted by a friendly girl when I stepped inside the pound, the muffled sound of dog barks coming from a door behind her.
"Hi, I'm looking to adopt a pet." I said this with a small grin, staring at her from behind my shades. She was nice, telling me the ups and downs of both cats and dogs, and in the end, I was pretty convinced I wanted a dog.
"Alright.. The canine kennels are through this door. If you don't find any dogs you're interested in, then we also have cats which you can find by going through the door at the end of the canine kennel hall."
I nodded and then stepped inside, leaving her up at the front desk. I was surprised by how many dogs there were.. But within fifteen minutes, I was pretty disappointed. None of these dogs were very nice.. And the ones that were, were too old to even walk. Yeah.. I felt bad for them.. But I didn't want to get a pet that was going to die on me and leave me miserable after I just got attached to it. So.. Off to the cats.
"Hey.. You're kinda' cute.." I smiled, spotting a little grey tabby kitten with green eyes. It was rubbing up against the bars like crazy and when I stuck my fingers in the cage it nibbled on them and purred like crazy. I was pretty sure I found the pet for me.. That is.. Until I spotted the little hand poking out from a supply closet door two cages down, reaching for a cat toy that was just out of reach. I stared at it, thinking maybe it was some kid that had been looking around at the animals and decided to play in the closet, but I soon noticed that the little hand had cat like claws instead of fingernails. I decided that I'd check it out and slowly made my way towards the closet door. As soon as I got close though, the hand vanished inside and I couldn't help but become more curious. I grabbed the toy, holding it out as I pulled open the door.
I was surprised to say the least.. When I discovered that the little hand belonged to a small boy with cat ears and a tail. He even had feet that looked like cat paws!
"Hey little guy.." I said this softly, still holding out the toy as I stared at him. He had black hair and big, bright blue eyes and was locked inside a small cage. It barely looked big enough for him to stand in, let alone live in, and it seemed that the only thing he had was a small torn up blanket and a bowl of water. The little guy was backed up into the corner as far as he possibly could get too.. And I felt bad. He didn't seem dangerous or anything.. So I didn't see why he'd be hidden in such an awful place. "It's ok.. I won't hurt you." I held the toy in the palm of my hand, stretching it out as far as possible without getting closer to him. He eyed me suspiciously before hesitantly reaching his little hand out, grabbing the toy from me.
Once he had it though, he was back to the corner, clinging to the toy and hiding his face. His whole body was shaking and that was all I needed to see to make my decision.
He was coming home with me.