A Second Chance

First Beginnings

The house was large. A large, antique looking mansion of sorts, hidden off the main road through a side road through multiple trees, a small farm and distant neighbors. It was a lovely neighborhood to live in. Neighbors were far enough for privacy, but close enough to be friendly and sometimes even close friends. 

The elderly woman that owned the mansion had decorated her home with comforts of her life. Lush couches that had designs that hadn't been seen in years, antique clocks that were hand carved, even multiple bookcases full of so many books that anyone would consider it a library. 

The woman never had visits from her children and if they did, it was to demand money from her or to ask if she was on her death bed yet. So, she did what all elderly woman did. She needed a companion. Someone or something that could keep her company since her awful children didn't feel the need to visit with their children. 

A little kitten hybrid was exactly what she got. She had a friend who was a breeder and was able to get a little kitten from a young age and raised her. The kitten brought her so much joy, watching how she explored the mansion that they were now calling home. 

"Mina, you are one curious little kitten," The woman chuckled, watching her climb up on the couches with ease, her ears pointed up at attention as she perched at the top of the couch, eyes fixed out the window as she watched the birds in front of the giant window. 

The kitten grew fast, going through all of her age markers with ease over the course of two years, getting up to her own little teenager years. Except she wasn't a mean kitten. She loved her owner, loved spending time with her. But what she never expected to happen, happened. 

She was seated on the windowsill of the bay window, admiring the outside world from the comforts of inside. Her tail slowly thumping as she continued to watch the birds in the tree across the yard. Her mind was blissfully blank as she relaxed. Only for it to be disturbed by the sound of someone falling and her owner shouting. 

Mina hurried to the sound, ears turning to find her owner and saw her laying on the floor and making sounds of distress. 

"Mina... Bring me my phone..." The woman groaned, feeling pain spreading through her body. 

"O-Okay..." The kitten's ears fell flat against her head as she hurried to find her owner's phone. 

Things hadn't been the same after that. 

Neighbors came through the front door, calling out for Mina before leaving little dishes of food. The kitten hid from them, afraid of what was happening in her world now. Her owner wasn't back. Her life was being turned upside down. Everything about it was horrible. 

After a week, her owner was home, but with more people walking in and out of her home. Her safe haven... It made her nervous and anxious. And at night, it was much worse. She barely slept, watching over her owner with sadden filled eyes. She could smell it. She could feel it. 

"I'm glad I got to have you in my life little Mina," The woman whispered one night. 

The kitten stayed laying on the bed, her ears flat against her head as she watched her owner. 

"You brought so much joy to me... Thank you." 

Her hand never stopped stroking the top of her head, finding peace and comfort with the kitten on the bed. 

And like that, the kitten had lost the only human she ever knew. By late afternoon, the usual person came to the mansion and found the elderly woman and kitten still in bed. By night, Mina found herself in a cage, far from her original home. 

"Poor thing must be starving..." 

"The home nurse said that the kitten ate last night. Her owner passed this morning." 

Mina sat with her back to the front of the cage, her tail wrapped tightly around her as she silently cried. She barely got to say goodbye and now she was far from home. So far that everything was incredibly unfamiliar and horrible. She hated the sounds of other kitten hybrids meowing and yowling for attention and to be free of their cages. Hated the sounds of the muffled barking of the puppy hybrids next door. 

Three weeks she stayed in her cage, never interacting with others who gave her the time of day. In fact, they tried very hard to get her to be adopted since she was still fairly young. Only for people to ignore her since she was a black kitten hybrid. Tail and ears showing the jet black fur that puffed out. People said they didn't want bad luck in their homes. They couldn't handle more bad luck if they adopted the black cat. 

Mina started to believe that was all she did. Black cat meant bad luck. She had been brought into her old owner's home and within two years the woman passed away. She must've been bad luck. 

After another two weeks of being in the shelter with barely any stimulation to keep herself from wallowing in her self depressed state, she heard the familiar voice of the shelter worker, this time talking about the different hybrids they had within the walls. Mina slumped her shoulders, deciding to not face the front of her cage. No one wanted a black cat. She would live the rest of her life waiting for her own death so she could reunite with her owner. 

"What about this one?" 

"Oh, that's Mina. She's been here a while... She was found next to her owner after a home nurse came to check on the owner..." The shelter worker frowned. "She's been a little depressed and lots of people have passed her up since she's considered bad luck." 

"How is she bad luck? She's just a kitten hybrid who needs some love..." 

"Are you sure? She's very shy and closed off... She's barely spoken since she's come here," The worker frowned. 

"She's perfect."