A Second Chance

New Beginnings

Anger. Frustration. Doubt. And most of all, betrayal. She felt like she was taken advantage of, a feeling she had experienced far too much in her short life. But unlike all the other times she was faced with such a challenge, she at least had the ability to free herself from it. This time she couldn't. This guy, this beast, this alien needed her. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his survival relied solely on her. But, again, he'd never admit it! Instead he preferred to give her the cold shoulder.

I hate pride, she thought bitterly as she swept up the sand off of the basement's concrete floor.

Second week in and Rae had no idea what to do now. Her vacation time was up and she had called in sick... again. Now her position at work was beginning to be questioned, but she couldn't help it! Could she really trust that her home wouldn't be burnt to a crisp when she returned from her shift? It was bad enough that she needed to provide for two people, but now she was also working with a very bored alien that was meant to be very active.

Thankfully there was about a 5-mile radius from the property to the closest residents and businesses of the town, so there was literally nothing to worry about. With no one around to be bothered and plenty for him to enjoy outside, it was probably the perfect place for him to stay. Bad news was the weather was not having any of it. It had gone from frigid temperatures to pouring rain that never ceased to stop, each storm seemingly rolling into the next. Today was an exception, but it still wasn't all that pretty out after the intense showers that had taken place the other night.

If she was being honest, she hated this time of season, it was so mucky there was absolutely nothing to do but stay indoors. Not even Chase wanted to go outside and that was saying something. He was always an outdoors cat, never to the point of fearing that he might not return, but enough that he would make enemies with the small wildlife community, mainly the squirrels and chipmunks, though there was that old skunk, Chase's old nemesis, hanging around here somewhere.

The black and white weasel apparently did not appreciate Chase's curious advances the first time they had crossed paths and ever since, she had to be careful going outside in fear she would meet it up close. The garden beds she had tried to keep up had turned into a literal bed for that pest. Rae was pretty certain it was trying to purposefully provoke Chase, subtly letting him know he was trespassing in his territory and taking care to rub it in his face. Boys be boys, and she was really starting to get a clear picture of that.

Her thoughts immediately went back to her archenemy at the moment and she groaned. Her life was never going to be normal again, not that it ever was, but now her version of normal living had come to a screeching halt thanks to a particular alien. She was playing his game now.

All too late, she realized that she much preferred his grumpy side than his restless one. At least before he would just stay in his room and avoid her, but now he was like a walking time bomb that could go off at any second and she was certain one of her ornaments or picture frames would pay the price. Just the other day he broke her favorite vase whilst tormenting poor Chase. That pretty much did it for her.

Resisting the itching desire to yell and throw whatever she could at him, she recalled her father's patience. She never knew anyone in the world to be so composed and even-tempered as he was. Even on her worst days, he was considerate and took the time to see things from her point of view. Could you not also do the same for him? she could almost hear her father's words.

So she did, or at least she tried.

Just yesterday she had decided it was time to introduce him to a new outlet to use that volatile energy on. So she had him follow her over to the basement door, waving her arm for him to follow her down the steep wooden steps. His growling figure grew silent as they entered her workout space. Down here was where she kept the bench press, weights, some yoga mats, a pull-up bar, a couple of resistance bands, and in the far end of the spacious room was her old well-acquainted friend, the punching bag.