MR. MONK AND THE KITTEN
Adrian Monk looked around the dumpster, careful not to brush up against anything. He knew he had heard a faint "meow" and he was going to find the culprit. He pulled his arm higher up into his sleeve and pulled away an old tire. Scrunched down below it was a small tabby kitten. His heart gave way. He stuck his hand out of his sleeve and picked it up. It started to purr, and Monk could feel it's tiny heartbeat up against his hand. He ran back to where Sharona had parked the car and was impatiently waiting for him. "Oh no. Not an animal." Sharona groaned. She unlocked the car and stepped out. "Monk! You aren't planning on taking that home, are you?" she asked with a tone in her voice that Adrian knew meant that she didn't like what was about to happen. "Well, actually, Sharona, I was. You don't mind him in you car, do you?" Monk said, getting in and stroking the cat gently. "Yes, Monk. I do. But obviously you don't care, do you." Sharona muttered under her breath. She stood outside the car for a moment, watching Monk with the cat. It was obvious he really liked it. She opened the door and got in. "I'm going to stop by the supermarket and pick up some cat food for you and your friend here, okay Adrian?" Sharona told Monk. He nodded, but she knew he wasn't really paying attention because all of it was devoted to the kitten.
"How about Kitty Kibbles?" Sharona asked Monk. "No, no. I think the Cat Chef Gourmet Meal is better." Monk said. "Maybe, but a can for the same size costs four dollars more! We're getting the Kitty Kibbles." Sharona said. Monk nodded, but snuck a can of Cat Chef Gourmet Meal into the cart when she wasn't looking. They walked past dog, cat, and bird toys. "Oh!" Monk exclaimed. "What now?" Sharona asked sarcastically. "It needs a - a toy." Monk said, giving a slight smile, realizing Sharona didn't want to be at the store all night. "Fine. It'll like the jingly balls, right?" Sharona asked, tossing a bag of four into the cart. Monk nodded. "Come on. I'll pay for this then we need to go. Benji can't sit in the car all night with that cat of yours." Sharona said. "Please don't refer to it as 'that cat'. It's name is Boris." Monk said. "Boris?" Sharona asked, raising her eyebrows. "Yes. Boris. It's Russian, if you didn't know." Monk said. Sharona laughed and rolled the cart up to the front.
Later that night, after Sharona had dropped Monk and Boris off at Monk's house, Monk sat on the floor beside the kitten and started talking to it. "You remind me of a cat that I had when I was young. Much younger than I am now. I was about 7. Maybe 8. Or 9. He looked like you, with tabby stripes and all. His meow even sounded a bit like yours. But then one night, my mother accidentally let him outside... he ran off to where some Boy Scouts where having a campout, and they even had a bonfire. One of the younger ones thought it would be funny to set him on fire, and so he did. I remember sitting there, watching my cat burn...." Monk trailed off, and wiped what was starting to be a tear from his eye. "I never had another pet. I had a turtle once, when I was 12, but it died the day after I bought it because it was sick. Everything I loved after that all went away... my parents died in a wreck when I was 16, my favorite aunt died from a heart attack when I was 19, and then I stopped loving. Then Trudy came. I loved her, but then she was gone so soon too..." Monk trailed off again, and turned around. Sharona was standing behind him. She had heard the whole thing. "You forgot the jingly balls." she whispered, and set them on the counter. Monk looked at her and shook his head. "Why does everything I love disappear?"