The Winds of Change

The Cat

Seth picked me and Em’ up from school the next day and headed to the animal shelter. I was so excited I couldn’t stop talking about what I was gonna name it.

“If it’s a girl I wanna name it Zora; if it’s a boy I wanna name it Zane. I want it to be a black cat too, but any color will do because all kitties are so cute.” I rambled on and on, all the way to the shelter.

“Alright, we’re here, that means you can shut up now Lexi.” Seth said jokingly. I just stuck my tongue out at him.

We walked through the door and our ears were immediately bombarded with the sound of cats meowing and dogs barking. Seth walked to the front desk and knocked on the counter, attempting to get the employee’s attention.

“We would like to adopt a cat, please,” Seth yelled over all of the commotion of cages slamming around, and a man cursing from one of the back rooms.

“Yeah, whatever.” The woman got out of her chair, grabbed some papers from a nearby shelf, dropped them on the counter, and went back to typing on her computer. After I filled out all the paperwork, I gave it back to the animal woman- who pointed us in the direction of the cat division of the shelter.

“Well, wasn’t she in a peachy mood.” Em’ commented sarcastically.

I hesitantly pushed open the door and revealed a sea of chaos. An old man was chasing after several cats who had somehow managed to escape their cages.

“Don’t just stand there! Shut the dang door and help me.” the old man shouted.

We hurriedly closed the door, and attempted to capture the swarming felines. Every time we would get one back in a cage, another would fall off the shelf, freeing its inhabitants.

“This is hopeless,” Em’ wailed. “We’ll never catch them all.” (A/N: hehe, how many of you thought of Pokémon?  *jynxii just facepalmed*)

“Everyone, get out, there are too many people in this tiny space.” I shouted over all of the chaos.

They all stared at me as I shooed them through the door. I turned around and slumped against the door, taking deep breath. When I opened my eyes I found that the cats had stopped running in circles and were at sitting at my feet, staring at me. This was kind of creepy . . . and weird. So being the idiot that I am, I said the only thing that popped into my mind. “Good morning kitties, how are we doing today?” What happened next about knocked my socks off.

“Eh, not too good, my litter box is absolutely filthy.” a ginger tom to my right mewed at me. If I wasn’t leaning against the wall, I would’ve bet money that I would have fell over flat on my butt.

“I need fresh water,” a white she cat cried. “It hasn’t been changed in days.”

“I made the fat man run.” the grey tom that had tripped me at least twice purred. “You should have seen your face when Joey over there spoke up; it was priceless.”

“Why are you talking, animals can’t talk.” I stammered. I should be used to this already.

“Some can, they just choose not to.” a grizzled tom spoke from the corner to my right, scaring me to my wits end as he slunk out from under the table. He was the biggest house cat I had ever seen. His back was roughly a full sixteen inches off the ground.

“Can you all just get back in your cages? Please?” I sighed.

“No, not now that we are free we aren’t getting back in those cages and letting tubby out there care for us again!” vowed the white she-cat.

“Yeah, He spends all his time with those mutts on the other side of this prison,” one tom hissed- I think his name was Joey. “Dumb dog person.” he continued to mutter.

“How about this, if I promise to get a job and take care of ya’ll, will you please get in your cages?” I pleaded. I actually needed a job and what a better place than with animals?

“I think it’s a good idea,” the huge tom cat stated, “All in favor of this lovely lady getting a job in exchange for our cooperation, get in your cages.”

Instantly, over half of the furry buggers were back in their cages, tails curled around their feet. All of them except for the small black tom cat.

“Awwwww, Pimba, do I have to?” he questioned.

“Yes Spice, remember this is a democracy, you have been outvoted. Now get in your cage.” Pimba commanded. Who named the poor cat Pimba?

“Yay!” I bounced from cage to cage, closing the doors, giving fresh water and making sure the cages were no longer stacked haphazardly. After all of the little monsters were in their cages I stomped out the door. “I would like to apply for a job.” I addressed the so-not-peachy lady at the counter.

“What position?” she questioned as she peered over her glasses, still smacking her chewing gum.

“I don’t know, I just want to take care of those poor cats.” I admitted. There was a loud clatter from the other side of the room.

“You got the job.” the old man burst out. The chair he had been sitting in was now lying on its side.

“What?” Peach woman and I blurted out in usion.

“What, that means I don’t have to take care of those mangy creatures!” the old man exclaimed.

I squinted in attempt to read his rusted name tag. I couldn’t make it out but it looked like ‘Leslie’. Wow, the names of the people in this place.

“Okay then, I guess you’re hired. You start tomorrow at four. Did you happen to pick out a cat while you were in there?” asked Peaches.

“Well kinda,” I turned to Leslie. “Which cat started the kitty mob in there?” I inquired.

“Oi, that would be PIMBA.” He replied.

“Which one is that?” I asked innocently, like I totally hadn’t made a deal with the crazy creatures- and that his name was making my immature mind snicker. 

“The salt and pepper tom cat, the really big and devious one- you can have him.”

“Thanks Leslie.” I’m pretty sure Emili and Seth are dying on the inside right about now. “Well I would like to adopt PIMBA.” I announced.

“Why is his name PIMBA?” Emili questioned.

Leslies face split as he showcased a toothy grin, “It’s an acronym . . . it stands for ‘pain in my bimmmch mass’.” We couldn’t understand him clearly, as peach woman slammed her palm over Leslie’s mouth, masking his voice with her hand. Well, we got the gist of it anyway.

“Oh, can I change his name?”

“Sure, name him whatever you want,” Miss Peachy responded, still glaring at the poor old man.

“Well . . . I’d like to change it to Zane.” I giggled I was bubbling over with joy; I was finally getting a cat!

After all of the paper work had been filled out and I had loaded Zane into the car, Seth started spouting out questions. “So Lex’, what possessed you to ask for a job?”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but the cats talked me into it.” Their faces sent me into fits of laughter as Seth almost ran off the road.