Abandoned 05.28.23
"Moon Cat!"
Skipper and the team approached Max the Cat as he frantically ran up to them on all fours.
"Guys! I need your help!" Max exclaimed as he came to a stop next to them.
"What's wrong, Max?" Private asked.
"There's this little girl down in the Bronx. Her name is Sally. She needs our help," he explained.
"Okay," Skipper responded, his brow furrowing. "I'll never say no to helping a child in need. But how do you know her?"
Max shook his head. "No time to explain. We just have history. Are you going to help, then?"
"Affirmative," Skipper responded. "Explain on the way. Move out, men."
The penguins followed Max as he explained the story. Apparently, the little girl had been kidnapped and nobody saw what happened except for Max. He had followed her and her kidnapper to a house just outside of the Bronx, one in a neighborhood with neighbors that were far apart. Once he knew where she was, he immediately went to recruit the penguins to help. After only a couple hours of work, they managed to save little Sally before any real harm came to her, physically anyway. Once she was reunited with her parents, Max and the penguins started making their way back to Central Park.
"I can't thank you guys enough for helping me save Sally," Max said as they walked alongside the brown river beneath the New York streets.
"No problemo, Moon Cat," Skipper responded.
"Of course, Max," Private added, "we couldn't let that poor girl remain in that evil man's house."
"Do we get to know how you know her now?" Kowalski asked.
Max slowed his pace a little and looked down. "Truth is, guys, it's a little personal."
The penguins nodded and exchanged looks.
"Well," Private started, "you don't have to tell us, but I hope you know we're your friends and you can trust us."
Max looked at Private, who gave him a trustworthy look. Looking at the rest of the penguins, they all watched him similarly. He sighed and nodded, then went closer to the sewer wall and sat down against it. The penguins joined him.
"Sally was . . . my person," Max said sorrowfully.
"Was?" Kowalski asked. "What happened?"
The penguins leaned in, eagerly listening. Max had a family? He had never mentioned them before.
"Yeah," Max said, studying his paws. "The family abandoned me when they moved."
Private frowned angrily. "Abandoned?" he exclaimed. "That's awful!"
Max nodded but didn't respond at first. The penguins exchanged glances trying to figure out what to say, but Max finally broke the silence.
"They said that I didn't fit into their family anymore. They locked me into a room and left the day they moved out. Didn't even leave me any food or water. I waited for 3 days, hoping they would change their mind and come back. That never happened. I had to meow in the window until someone finally found me and let me out."
The penguins felt their blood boiling. They had left Max to die.
Private sighed exasperatedly. "Well, Sally certainly didn't deserve to stay kidnapped or anything of course, but why were you watching her if she did that to you?"
Max sighed. "After I was on the streets for a while I found them again. But I was too afraid and hurt to try to go back to them. But it wasn't Sally's fault. She was just a toddler. She still holds a place in my heart. I check on her every now and again to see how she's doing. I hope that maybe one day when she's grown I'll find her again and she'll remember me, and maybe take me back in. But then I get too scared she'll have forgotten me and see me as just some mangy stray."
The penguins watched Max sympathetically. They had never asked how he had become a stray. They had always assumed he'd been a stray since birth.
"Well, Moon Cat," Skipper started, breaking the sad silence, "whenever you decide you want to try, we'll be happy to help." He put a flipper on his shoulder.
Max looked up at the penguins, then gave them a sad smile. "Thanks, guys."
Shortly after, they were making their way back to the zoo again. Little did Max know that little Sally still had a picture of her and her childhood buddy on her bedroom wall.
[Words: 737]
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Note: I accidentally wrote two installments for Abandoned, so I decided to put them both in the same chapter.
— § —
Abandoned 10.29.23
Note: This short takes place after Chapter 7: . . . To Heart Break in my other story, A Lesson in Life, so if you haven't read that work, you may want to read that first to avoid spoilers.
— § —
The penguins awoke the next morning after the New Year's excitement, feeling groggy from how late they'd stayed up. Humans were all around their habitat, ogling the sleepy baby penguins.
"It's already past opening?" the small Skipper asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Affirmative," Kowalski responded, rubbing his eyes as well.
The penguins slowly rose to their feet and shook away their tiredness. For the next several hours they did cute antics for the guests until finally it was closing time. They waved their last goodbyes to the humans as they walked away.
"I haven't seen Dave all day," Private noted. "Perhaps he's still asleep after all the fuss last night?"
Skipper nodded. "I'll go wake him up."
The other penguins waited patiently as Skipper dove underwater to get Dave. The silence was interrupted when Skipper broke back through the water and climbed back onto the island.
"He's gone!" he cried.
The other penguins gasped.
"Gone?" Private cried worriedly.
"Uh-uh!" Rico protested, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Are you sure he isn't just camouflaging himself?" Kowalski asked.
Skipper shook his head and walked past him. "No."
"Perhaps he's in trouble!" Private suggested, putting his flippers over his beak. Rico nodded in agreement.
"But where would he go?" Kowalski asked.
"We should go look for him," Private said, stepping closer to the pool and looking distantly at the city.
"He's gone!" Skipper said sharply, turning to them. The other penguins looked at him in shock, falling silent. "Don't you get it?"
The other penguins couldn't respond.
"He abandoned us," Skipper insisted. "Just like all the other penguins in Antarctica did. Just like our families did!"
Private's brow furrowed. "My family abandoned me?" he asked softly, looking expectantly at Skipper.
Skipper softened a little, then looked away. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. All of our families did. And now Dave did too."
Private looked at the ground. "We don't know that for sure," he suggested quietly.
"We do know that," Skipper shot back, turning to him. "He's gone just like everyone else! Forget him! We're better off alone."
"Skipper," Kowalski said in shock, holding Private closer.
Skipper looked down and saw that Private had started crying. He started to feel guilty for snapping at him. He had scorned Kowalski in the past for his "true, but unhelpful comments," but he was now guilty of doing the same.
Skipper exhaled, then knelt in front of Private. "I'm sorry, Private," he said softer. He reached out and pulled Private into a hug. "All that matters is that we all have each other now. We don't need anyone else. Forget him."
Private tapped his flippers together timidly. "But, Dave has always –"
"It doesn't matter!" Skipper interrupted, putting his flippers on the small penguin's shoulders. "He's gone now. He made his choice. We're on our own and we're better off that way. Let's just forget him and move on."
Private sniffled a little and looked down.
"Aye-aye, Skipper."
[Words: 492]
