My kitten (Hyunlix)

Chapter 1, the kitten and the storm

Felix groaned as he opened his eyes in the late afternoon. Rain pattered against the windows mercilessly, and thunder could be heard in the distance.

As his eyes adjusted to the light though, he soon realized that it wasn't the thunder that had woken him up. A gentle "tap" sounded against his window again, and he was increasingly sure it wasn't the rain.

Felix stood up from his bed, grumpy from being woken up, and stretched his arms and back. Wondering who on earth would knock on his door in this weather, he straightened his shorts and walked down the stairs into the living room, not bothering to put on a shirt.

A gentle "tap" sounded again, and Felix finally looked out the glass door to see who was knocking. Seeing only a raging storm outside, and not a human in sight, Felix sighed, thinking that it was probably a twig banging against his window somewhere else.

As he was about to leave, another knock sounded, this time followed by a tiny squeal. Felix looked around, and, through the glass, saw a tiny kitten, its gray fur matted and soaked through by the rain, its eyes wide and scared, poking its miniature paw against the sliding glass door.

Immediately feeling a pang of worry for the poor small creature, Felix carefully opened the door and bent down, gently scooping the kitten up into his arms.

Careful, as not to hurt or frighten the cat any more, Felix cradled it in his bare arms and pulled it to his chest, closing the door behind him.

The kitten hissed weakly, but seemed otherwise unable to restrain Felix in any way, and then put its small head limply on Felix's arms, as though only finally admitting just how tired and cold it was.

"What are you doing out in the cold and rain, hmm, little one?" Felix whispered, looking down at the tiny being in his arms. "Come on, let me get you dried and fed, okay?"

Walking through the house to the bathroom, Felix wondered why the cat was in such bad condition. Where was its home? Parents? What was it doing outside in the rain? How did it find him? His prior exhaustion was long forgotten as his mind raced over the dozen possibilities of what he was supposed to do.

The kitten, of course, answered none of his unspoken, worried questions.

Carrying it to the restroom, Felix attentively nudged its head to signal they had arrived. Lightly lifting it up by the shoulder-blades, he placed the kitten on a white towel. Looking around cautiously, the tom cat let out a frightened mewl followed by another weak hiss as it spotted Felix.

Funny, Felix thought with a smile, how resistant it could be when it came looking for help in the first place.

Feeling the tiny thing wiggle around, Felix smiled at the kitten in a reassuring manner, even though knowing perfectly well that it couldn't understand his expressions. Notwithstanding, he was certain that he knew enough to help it.

"Don't worry, okay? I'm just going to get you dry. I'll be carefull, I promise." He said, bending down to the sink the towel was on. Lifting up yet another fluffy towel, he tenderly rubbed the fabric through the cat's knotted fur, massaging it, and trying to get the water out. It hissed again, but otherwise remained motionless. Maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do, but how else was he supposed to asses the cat's condition without drying it first?

Felix would have used a hairdryer -it definitely would have saved a lot of time - but he realised that it would probably frighten the kitty even more. So, he just dried the cat by hand, slightly turning it over at times. However, when he kindly flipped it onto its back, Felix practically gasped.

A crimson red patch of fur stretched along the kitten's gray belly, covering a large cut.

It wasn't large enough to be a stab or open wound of any kind, more akin to a large and painful scratch on a bramble, but even so, it must be extremely painful.