Gingersnap

Part 1

"GET THAT RAT OUTTA MY KITCHEN!!!" An angry chef yelled as he stomped his hind paw upon the linoleum floor. He was a burly anthropomorphic tiger with thick shaggy fur and the shortest temper in all of Silversprings, according to the townspeople.

Waiters, waitresses and line chefs scrambled around the kitchen, all preparing meals and  filling orders while desperately trying to please their executive chef. They swept their paws and tails under tables and behind appliances, reaching for the 'rat' that was scurrying around below.

"Please don't kick me out – I have nowhere else to go!" A tiny voice squeaked from a corner of the room. The voice belonged to Ginger Farrel, a shy young micro furry. She wasn't a rat or rodent at all, although the executive chef addressed her as such. She was in fact an ocelot, with light brown fur and small black markings. As a poor traveler without a place to call home, she wandered the countryside in search of a new life in restaurants and movie theaters.

"Where is she!?" The executive chef huffed as he scanned the kitchen floor with his cold, beady eyes.

Ginger's own, bright eyes widened as they darted all around the room. She had sheltered herself beneath the stove, where it was too narrow for any paws or tails to reach. How am I going to get out of here without anyone seeing me? She thought, crouching low when a waitress walked past her hiding place. Ginger had been living in the restaurant for two weeks, but she knew it was time to move on to find a new place. She stole food and slept in cupboards; hence the reason the executive chef wanted her to leave. His name was Bruno, as Ginger had learned during her stay. Bruno wasn't very nice.

"She's gotta be around here somewhere..." Bruno grabbed a broom and poked it around under a sink on the other side of the room.

Ginger spun around when she heard the sound of rapid paw-steps and watched as a waiter approached the kitchen's double doors. "Now's my chance..." with an anxious squeak, Ginger took a deep breath and ran out from under the stove. As she sprinted across the ground, loud cries of "There she is!" and "Get her!" rang out across the kitchen. Narrowly avoiding being crushed to death, she slipped outside between the paws of the waiter as he opened the doors.

Ginger burst out into the main dining area and took a sharp left as the waiter turned to the right. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one followed suit as she ran for cover beneath a row of seemingly empty tables. However, poor Ginger failed to look where she was running towards, and smacked into something large and solid. "Ouch!" Ginger yelped as she fell backward, landing hard on her back. She sat up and rubbed her head before she glanced up to see exactly what it was she had hit. Towering over her was a dark brown leather boot – it had thick red soles and was wrapped in a set of three connecting straps.  

"Huh?"

Ginger jumped when she heard the voice and fearfully looked up. She found herself staring up at the boot's owner; a teenage boy with long blonde hair and luminous golden eyes. He was sitting down in a booth, leaning over to get a better look at the little ocelot.  "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine..." Ginger replied before she stood up and brushed herself off.

All of a sudden, Bruno the chef emerged from the kitchen, brandishing his broom like it was a sword.

Ginger gasped when she spotted the tiger and quickly hid herself behind the stranger's left boot. To her avail, Bruno turned to the right and crept towards the front of the restaurant, away from Ginger's new hiding space.

"Is he chasing you?" the concerned voice of the stranger asked from above.

"Yes, and I have to get out of here right away or else I'll be in big trouble! I'm sorry to disturb you – !" Ginger exclaimed before she darted out from beneath the boy's table.