The New Pet

Chapter 1: The New Pet

In a Midwestern American home, Garfield the cat laid on the kitchen table without any motives to be productive. He stared at the wall. All was quiet. It was another boring day. The day before, he had successfully made it through another horrible Monday. Pies had been thrown at him from out of nowhere, angry pit bulls tore him apart, and worst of all, his owner, Jon, gave him the dreaded canned cat food…ick! Fortunately for Garfield, though, Monday was over, and it was now Tuesday…just another average, ordinary day…or so he thought.

Odie, Jon's pet dog, lapped water from the toilet in the bathroom. Garfield could hear it from the kitchen. The rhythmic lapping of water was gentle. Garfield was mesmerized by it, and he shut his eyes as it relaxed him furthermore. It eventually lulled Garfield to sleep.

Garfield awoke several hours later. The lights in the kitchen were still on, but it was nearly pitch black outside. Garfield looked at the digital clock on the oven. It was 9:00! Jon was extremely late! Normally, Jon arrived home at 5:30, but he'd never once been home later than 7:00 at the most. Where could he possibly be? Garfield got worried. Who would feed him his lasagna? Who would buy him new alarm clocks whenever Garfield smashed the old ones? How would Garfield possibly survive?

Jon burst into the house from work. Jon was a cartoonist and drew cartoons for the local newspaper. They were well-liked by the public, and the newspaper paid Jon a fair salary for the work, so he was satisfied with the job. "Garfield, Odie, I'm home!" announced Jon.

Garfield perked up and was excited, feeling glad that Jon finally was home. Odie and he scampered into the foyer to greet him. Odie pounced up and licked Jon on the face, while Garfield affectionately rubbed against Jon's legs.

"Take it easy, guys," Jon laughed. Garfield and Odie relaxed. "I'm sorry I'm so late. I've got a surprise for you both." Garfield and Odie perked up. What could their surprise be? A new scratching post for Garfield? A new tennis ball for Odie to slobber over? The moment was intense. He went outside and went to the car. "Tada!" Jon yelled, as he brought in something on a blue leash.

It was a cat. Garfield gasped and nearly fell backward in shock. The cat was much thinner than Garfield, and it was yellow. It did not have the tiger stripes like Garfield did.

"Guys, meet our new friend, Bob!" Jon said.

Garfield glared at the cat in jealousy. Bob was an envy to Garfield. Apparently, Jon wanted Bob as a replacement for Garfield. After all, Bob was not fat the way Garfield was. He seemed less sarcastic and more affectionate, as well.

"I think I'll let him share your box bed with you tonight, Garfield," Jon said. Garfield's eyes widened in shock. There was no way he was going to share his bed with a male cat! "I'll go out tomorrow and buy him his own box and other accessories. Until then, you guys can share." Jon then picked up Garfield and Bob and placed them in the box bed together. Jon turned off the lights and went to his bedroom. "Good night, guys!" he called.