Nine Lives

vii

In my seventh life I am saved.

I am being chased by men with dogs whose bark sends shivers down my spine as I run as fast as my legs will take me.

They corner me in an alley and my body shakes with fear as the dogs inch closer. The men close the exit and I know I am trapped.

With a signal from the owners the dogs leap on me and begin their attack and I scream out as I feel a tooth dig into my eye and my stomach. One of the dogs pulls painfully at my tail and I feel pain shoot through me as a good chunk of it is bit off.

I can hear the men cheering in the background but most of my mind is taken over by pain and the sound of the dogs snarling as they maul me.

I can feel the end nearing and I embrace the feeling of death.

"Hey!" A man's voice booms, louder than the others which stop their cheering.

I whimper when I feel the dogs teeth leaving my skin and I lay half dead on the ground, shaking with pain and fear. The cold weather of mid-winter doesn't help.

I am surrounded by blackness.

I can hear footsteps approaching my body and I slowly open my eye, squinting up at the figure before me. My vision is blurry for a moment before it regains some focus and I see a man kneeling down over me, his face clouded with concern. Some strands of his blonde hair falls onto his forehead and I howl in pain as he picks me up.

He cradles me gently in his arms and whispers gently into my ear as he begins walking with me.

"Everything's going to be okay, I'm going to get you all fixed up, alright?"

I nuzzle carefully into his jacket and his body warms me. Pain still coils heavily around my body and I wince as he walks slowly up some stairs.

He moves one of his hands and a door swings open. I cannot see what I am walking into and I begin to feel afraid again.

I can hear dogs barking and cats meowing all at once and my body stiffens with anxiety.

"We got another one." The man states, and I can hear sadness dripping from his voice.

"Damnit." A woman curses.

I am walked through another door and the man places my body on a table. I want to run away but it hurts too much to move and I can't swat away any of the humans advances.

They exam my body and touch it with careful hands and prodding fingers and I howl more than once when they touch something particularly tender.

"We need to get him into surgery quickly." The man says with authority.

"But-" A woman tries to speak but she is cut off.

"I'll pay for it." The man says, a layer of finality in his voice.

I am picked up once again in the man's arms and I feel an odd sense of security wash over me. I can still feel myself trembling but not as bad as before.

I'm placed on another table and a loud buzzing noise sounds close to my face and I flinch away but it causes me to move in a bad way and I cry out for them to stop.

The fur on my paw is shaved off and I feel a little pinch through my skin before calmness suddenly settles in my bones. I stop trembling and all I can feel is warmth. I slowly close my eyes and drift off.
—
When I wake I am weak.

My body feels heavy and I can barely keep my eye open. I can't see out of the other one or feel it. My stomach hurts and I ache all over. The, now shorter, tip of my tail has been bandaged and one of my hind legs is in a cast.

I hate the cage they've put me in. It's small and stuffy and I'd rather be outside, even with my body hurting the way it is.

The blonde haired man comes back. He takes me out of the cage and smiles at me and tells me kind things and I snuggle into his chest as he gently hugs my healing body.

I am grateful for what he has done. I only have two lives left and I already know that I'm going to spend them with him.

He pokes me and examines my body on one of the tables before he picks me up and puts me back in the cage. He doesn't leave me in there for very long though before he comes back holding a blanket that is soft to touch as he places me on it.

He's smiling down at me as he holds me in his arms once more and I feel him start to walk. I hope he's taking me out of this place.

He does. We go through a terrible car ride which I cannot stand because it's so loud and then we arrive at a little house with pretty flowers growing on the front deck.

He names me Levi.

It takes a little while for me to warm up to him but not too long for I am grateful that this man saved my life.

I spend the rest of my days with him, Erwin is his name, I learn.

He is the kindest man I've ever met and I grow to love him easily.

He feeds me plenty of food and plays with me and snuggles with me whenever I want. I don't feel deserving of his affection.

There are other pets that spend their time in his home but none of them ever stay. I am the only permanent resident.

He brings dogs into his home as well but he learns after a while to keep them away from me, for fear takes over every time one of them nears me.

I catch my reflection in the mirror in his hallway one day and I wonder why he keeps me for I am ugly. I am missing my right eye, my ears are mangled, I have patches on my body from where scars have formed that prevents my fur from growing back. My tail is shorter than any normal cat's and I never do fully regain balance when I jump from spot to spot around his home.

I don't understand why he loves me but he tells me he does every night before he goes to bed and every day before he leaves for work. I learn to accept his affections and I learn to love him too.

I die curled up on his bed, time taking its toll on my damaged and scarred body.