Renewal; A Tale of Katrina's Kitchen

Strange Meeting

Jonah stepped outside. The cramps increased their intensity as he hurried across the parking area. There was a wooded area several yards beyond, instinct led to the cover of the trees. Entering the woods, he doubled over in pain.

It had been weeks since he'd felt this way. Tears streamed down his face. Only partly due to the discomfort, more because he knew this meant he was undergoing transformation. The stress of reliving again, the nightmare of Tammi's death.

It shuffled through the trees, sniffing, exploring. It wasn't hunting, it felt no hunger. It inspected several trees that had been scent marked by various animals. It marked over those scents.

It listened to the sounds of the night around it. The scurrying of small animals, the mostly silent wings of an owl. It knew it was safe from any predators. It rolled in the dust in an expression of security and contentment.

Suddenly a new sound came to it. It was a sound of pain and fear. Curiosity drew it through the woods to a clearing. It saw a small fire. The feeling of security began to recede. The sound of hurt came again, followed by laughter. A human at the fire, brandishing a flaming twig.

It changed its position, circling for a closer look. The human was shoving the flame at a small, furred predator. It recognized it to be a young animal trapped in a box. It growled and yelped in pain and fear each time the flaming stick came near. It moved just a little closer, strangely disturbed by the scene.

The little animal cried out in pain again. It answered with a growl of its own. The human jumped up, grabbing a larger stick, began peering into the dark woods. It growled again, louder this time, cracking twigs and shuffling leaves. The human began to smell of fear and back away from his entertainment. It growled again, moved a little closer, the light of the small fire reflecting in its eyes. The human dropped the weapon and ran the other way.

It listened to the retreating steps. Assured the human was unlikely to return, it moved to the spot the yowling had come from. In the bottom of the box was the small furred predator. It smelled singed fur. The tiny animal, though injured, arched it's back and hissed.

With a paw like hand, it scooped the tiny animal from it's trap. The kitten struggled, spitting and growling as the creature brought it up to its muzzle. It sniffed the fur, then licked the face of the young animal. The kitten answered with a paw full of needle sharp claws across its nose. It let out a yelp of surprise and pain.

It kept the animal encircled in its grip. It continued exploring the woods, holding the struggling kitten. Soon it came to the outskirts of town. It moved silently and carefully, not wanting to be discovered.

It found itself in an alley that smelled familiar. A trash dumpster stood behind a building that made it feel safe. Sniffing along the back of the building it came upon a door. A paw that was capable of grasping tried to open the door. It wouldn't open, the beast grasped the knob and pulled the door open violently, splintering the frame.

The noise startled it. It looked at the kitten, still held in it's other paw, and put it on the steps inside the doorway. As the tiny animal ducked under the steps, the beast shoved the door back into it's frame. Then it shuffled to the dumpster to examine the the odors coming from it.

It was still poking around the trash when it heard a yowl of pain followed by a scream of panic. It leapt from the dumpster and ran down the alley, back to the safety of empty fields and the woods.