Chapter 74: The Happy Paws Fun-Rasier
Steadily breathing in and out a few times in a row, the creature suddenly found herself pulling her mind from her thoughts- and allowed herself to welcome in an overwhelming amount of input from each of her senses. There was so much stimulation around her, so much overtaking her all at once that she was unable to mute any of it any longer.
Her small pink nose wiggled slightly as rich, delicious smells abruptly leaked into it. She quickly realized that the heavy air around her never smelt so sweet before- and that was saying something about the confectionery town of Sugar Russia.
Taking in a deep breath, the animal licked her lips and happily sighed at the flavorful smells of cupcakes and pies and all kinds of various home-cooked treats- all made, presented, and displayed by the helpful volunteers in the city. A few patrons always supplied the food for the competition and fun-filled fair- but for some odd reason, the treats smelled especially mouth-watering today.
Her stomach suddenly growling longingly at the different food aromas, she silently hushed it, reminding it that someone else might hear it's protest. Disguarding her tummy's whining, she instead focused on staying well hidden, crouching down that much more in the small bush she was currectly hidding in.
Besides, she reasoned with a careless shrug of her furry shoulders, there's no time for food right now- even if it has a few good days since I'd found a decent amount of anything to eat...
Her large ears started twitching slightly at exciting sounds and noises filling the air all at once, however. Noises familiar to her ears...yet still new and exciting...
And making her slowly allow herself to lift her head up a bit, peeking slyly through the shruggery.
Blinking her eyes, the creature felt them go wide as she saw the event unfolding on the now-closed down streets of Sugar Russia- a site all too familiar yet oddly foreign to the small animal at the same time.
There were overwjelmingly different colored streamers still being hung up, she noticed, the flags dangling off of them whipping happily in the breeze. Banner after banner with words that brightly spelled out Happy Paws Fun-Raiser!!! were being tied between on the streetlights nearby, connecting one far off lamp post to the next and seeming to add even more color to the cheery town.
Down below the strings of flags and happy banners were yet more decorations, colorful balloons on countless food tables and donation booths lining the streets. Where there wasn't a crowded table or donation booth there was an equally crowded kiddie game, inviting unentertained children of all ages to try and win a dooprize before the main event began.
Somehow sandwiched between the tables, booths, and game stations were build-in shops in the small strip malls on each side of the road as well, each one open and bustling with many customers. Most of them were selling even more food and tricnet items than what was offered at the fair-equste itself- making the small town somehow even more colorful yet confining than it already was.
And right before her hiding place in the bush, the small creature realized with excitement, was the place was where the main event would be held. The overall main attraction for the fun-filled fair...
The every reason she herself was so eager yet so nervous to be there...
The competition site- the very place where the best animal talent show in the whole state would take place.
Feeling her eyes widen all the more in unrelenting elation, the kitten allowed a sincere smile to dance across her lips. Just the sight of the small stage perched unattended before her was enough to make her small heart skip a beat a few times, backfiring like an eager yet extremely nervous black-and-white motorcycle.
The talent show site wasn't anything exquisite or grandiose, she well knew; in fact, it was mostly just a well-maintained, grassy lot that sat near the end of of the road that ran north and south through the tiny town. A circus-like stage was in the middle of the field for the animals to do their tricks on- and surrounding the platform were rows after rows of benches, providing seats for a few excited human spectators to come and watch the competition live.
The easy-going (yet competitive) animal talent show was the highlight for everyone the entire event- although it wasn't anything new for the hidden creature nor for the town of Sugar Russia to lays eyes on. The animal talent show and the bustling, excitement-filled fair that came with it happened the first weekend of every month- and one that every human and animal looked forward.
The exciting talent show and full-filled festivities were sponsored by the Happy Paws Adoption Services itself- the temporary home for so many homeless or abandoned animals needing a place to call their own. The fair-like venders and booths selling goods were there to raise more money for the animal shelter- and the talent show was there to raise awareness of the animals that were up for adoption in the shelter, to show case the available animals' abilities, and to bring in more donations for the shelter.
In fact, several information posters from the shelter were posted everywhere- taped on every booth, hung up in every shop- reminding all to take a minute and make a donation to the shelter. A few fliers were handled out before, during, and after the talent show as well, pointedly inviting all interested in adopting to speak with any Happy Paws volunteer- who were often seen lurking around the competition site. Very few people actually followed through with that pointed invitation- mostly because people reported that their families already had a pet at home... and/or the 'salemen' for the adoption services they had spoken to were oddly 'a little too pushy' in getting sincerely interested ones to adopt an animal.
Sadly, all in all, most humans who came to the talent show (and the other fun activites the event brought) were just spectators. They merely liked to be entertained by the animals' talents and enjoying the delicious food and items the fair-like event sponsored- not really interested in adopting an animal and giving them a good home.
But thankfully what made this talent show unique (and all the more important for the animals in the shelter) was the local Sugar Russia tv crew that also came every time the event took place. Their cameras always up and ready to go, the crew televised the entire event off to one side- making everyone in the state aware of the talented animals that were up for adoption at Happy Paws.
In addition to broadcasting their live recordings to individual home televisions, the crew also synced the live event up onto a huge jumbotron that was on the side of the water tower in Sugar Russia. The huge screen was high enough and large enough to been seen by almost every inch of the town Sugar Russia, leaving no area unaware of the animals up on the stage.
The exaggerated, over-the-top airing of the animal talent show was to make sure as many people as possible saw the animals available. Each camera captured every wag of a tail, every playful pat of a paw, every trick and talent and ability each animal displayed up on the stage- briefly giving these animals a chance of fame and staredom.
Making the show a competition provided a friendly twist into the mix by the humans (yet it became highly competitive and stressful among the animals themselves.) Each animal knew that they had their one mintue of fame on the stage- but the real screen time and glory came if they won the talent show.
The winner (voted and determined by the live audience) got five more mintues on stage to show off any other tricks they could do in the allotted time- which was vital. Each second of screen time (and stage time, really) was extremely important for the individual animals for the most part; the more time on screen they got, the greater their odds were of being seen, loved, and adopted...
Especially for a certain homeless, disabled, hated kitten gulping all the more nervously in her place in the bush.
