Stray!

Ordinary Day

Christopher

My day began just like any other. I woke up alone, showered, and dressed myself to go to work. When I got to the office there was a kitten just in front of the entrance. It had a coat that looked like a cross between a Tortoiseshell and a Calico. As I approached, it took off into the shrubbery. I shrugged it off. Stray cats often wandered around this area anyway. I headed into work just like normal.

On my lunch break I sat outside and smoked a cigarette. I'd only half-eaten a sandwich from SubWay, the other half was sitting in the bag beside me. I hadn't paid it much attention since putting it down but part-way through my cigarette I noticed the bag rustling. The cat from this morning. It's dragging my sub out of the bag. I watched it struggle to unwrap it. I was about to do it for the poor thing but it scurried off into the bushes as soon as I extended my hand. I unwrapped it anyway and beckoned the cat to come closer.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. Look." I spoke softly.

The cat poked its head out of the bush, studying me carefully before slowly approaching again. It used its nose to open the sandwich and pulled all the pickle slices off.

"Well if that's all you wanted..." I started.

I stopped, chuckling to myself at the realization that I'm a grown ass man talking to a damn cat. It nuzzled its cheek against my pants legs and purred. I stroked its head for a second, feeling myself calming down from the stress of all the paperwork I've been assigned. Checking my watch, I saw that my break was over. I gathered my trash and put my cigarette out before walking back into the building. Only a few hours of paperwork left before I can go home.

}•{
8:30pm

I got home rather late tonight. The traffic was horrendous so I stopped off at a friend's place to wait it out. When I approached my front door I heard a tiny rustling from the rose bushes growing in front of my living room windows. I cocked my eyebrow in curiosity. No human could hide in them so it must be a small animal. The cat I fed this afternoon limped out. It was practically covered in scratches...probably from the thorns on the roses. It looks pretty injured. I frowned at the situation. This poor animal is hurt. What kind of person would I be if I just left it out here? I extended my hand to it. It looked me over, visually examining me to deem me trustworthy or not I guess, then slowly came closer. I picked it up gingerly not wanting to agitate any of the wounds. I brought it inside my home. It looked around cautiously.

"Go ahead and explore. I guess this is home now."

It took off upstairs. My bedroom and a couple guest rooms are all that are up there. I followed behind. I looked in each room because when it went upstairs it seemed to disappear. I found it on my bed, snuggling between my pillows.

"Down kitty. Not between my pillows."

It looked at me a moment then turned its head away like I hadn't even spoken to it. I sighed. I carefully walked over to my bed to remove it from my pillows. It meowed at me when I picked it up. I sat in my bed with it in my lap, petting it until it got annoyed and ran off into the house. I took this moment of freedom to strip out of my clothes and toss them into the hamper before showering for the night. A hot shower after work was always very satisfying for me.

After washing my body I stayed in for another 5 or so minutes just thinking. When I got out, the kitten was just sitting at my bathroom door...like it was waiting on me. I quickly got dressed for bed, settled in, and turned on my TV. It joined me in bed, making itself comfortable by curling up next to my thigh. I need to figure out its sex so I can give it a name. It didn't have a collar on so it doesn't have a real home that it's missing from. I mean...I guess I could figure it out later but I'd feel bad just calling it "it" all the time. For now...let's call it...Patches. I looked down at the kitten picking at my sweat pants.

"Yeah...Patches it is..." I mumbled. It meowed as to say that was fine.

}•{

About a week has passed since I found Patches...or rather, since Patches found me. I fixed all the scratches she had gotten the night I decided to take her in and she's more active than ever. I found out she was a girl when I took her to the local Vet to make sure she had all of her shots. She wouldn't come near me for the rest of that day...but it's all for her benefit. I wouldn't want her getting sick because she didn't have proper vaccinations. Currently I'm at work and Patches is at home probably between my pillows again. I smiled thinking about her. She's such a great companion to have considering my love life has been absolute shit for the past year or so. My last girlfriend broke up with me because she lost interest in me. She said I work too much and she wants a working man but not a workaholic. I never really understood what that meant. I loved her, though. I only loved her. It wasn't enough. Since then I had been really lonely and empty, working a lot of overtime so I wouldn't be forced to come home to an empty house. That's why I'm so glad to have Patches. She's always eager to greet me when I get home and she loves to play. She even loves to snuggle against my thigh right before bed when I'm watching TV. It's her favorite habit.

After work I headed straight home to my girl only to find that she wasn't waiting at the door when I opened it. That's odd. She usually waits by the door for me to get home or bolts downstairs when I come in. I wonder what she's up to. I lock the door behind me and set my keys on the coffee table on my way upstairs.

"Patches? I'm home!" I called for her. She didn't pop out in front of me or anything. I started to worry. I checked each of the guest rooms and she wasn't there. The only place left for her to be was my bedroom. I pushed my door open, afraid that she might be hurt or even worse, gone. What I saw before me...startled me.
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So this is one of the books I'm working on right now. It's kinda different. I hope you guys like it. Idk. Vote, comment, share? Love you guys.

—CaraBearr💋