After being rescued by two men from a notorious high kill shelter, tuxedo cat Bowtie wonders if he's finally getting a second chance at life. But little does he know of the dread, depravity and debauchery that lurks beneath the guise of shelter, an...
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VOICES. THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I HEARD WHEN I opened my eyes. Two male voices, one low and deep like a slow-moving, murky river and the other high and light like a clear, babbling stream as it made its way through a mountain glen. I could tell immediately from their tones that they were not part of the shelter, as the shelter people's tones were usually clipped, monotonous, and pretty much all sounded the same. It was a very surreal moment and I actually thought at first that I was dreaming the entire thing.
"What about this one? Or this one? Look, this one has such pretty fur, just like a tiger's stripes . . ." This was coming from the shelter worker.
The obnoxious Siamese a few cages down immediately started yowling away, his raspy voice echoing throughout the ever-present stillness so characteristic of an animal shelter. I heard the humans make their way over to him, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at all the oohs and ahhhs that were emanated. Of course the noisy nuisances would be picked out first.
The footsteps came closer and closer to my cage, and by then I was awake and alert, fully taking in my surroundings. At this point I could see the visitors more clearly. They were both men, just as I thought; one was large and well built with a completely bald head and various tattoos, and the other was slightly smaller with short brown hair and a round innocent face, giving him an almost childlike look. A flicker of hope started up in my heart. Could this be the new family I'd been dreaming of for so long?
Almost immediately I felt hands around me, and I looked up into the clear blue eyes of the shelter lady. As soon as I was taken out of the cage I felt a little rush of fright and started to squirm, protesting the fact that I had just been removed from the only sanctuary I'd known since several months ago. The lady shushed me and rocked me back and forth for a bit in her arms until I calmed down, and then began talking to the two men.
"And this is Bowtie. He's been with us for barely a year. He's a little shy, but he'll warm up to you pretty quickly. He's got only twenty-four hours before he gets put to sleep, so . . ."
Put to sleep. Whatever that was, I sure as hell didn't like the sound of it. I began to struggle again, this time a small noise escaping my throat. This place was a death trap, and I had to get out of there . . . and fast.
"Here, I'll take him." This was coming from the large man. The lady immediately handed me over and the minute that man took me in his arms, I completely relaxed. A family, I thought. I'm finally going to have a family of my very own.
The lady beamed. "Awww! I knew he'd be the right one for you!!! Hold on, let me get his papers."
The rest of the time went by in a flash. Papers were signed, a carrier was brought out, and the next thing I knew I was whisked out of the building and into a large black car. This is it, I thought. My new life begins now.
I was no stranger to car rides; in fact the motion of the wheels on the pavement was comforting to me, so I settled down (as much as the pet carrier allowed me to) and put my head on my front paws. The radio had some sort of jazz music playing, so I let that lull me into a very, very well-deserved stupor.
I was soon interrupted by the car making a sharp turn and instead of smooth pavement, there was hard, lumpy gravel. The car then came to a complete stop and both men got out, but not before picking up the carrier with me in it. I looked out between the bars to see a large, yellow house about three stories, with immaculately landscaped shrubs and a large locust tree in the backyard. It was beyond beautiful.
The two men brought the carrier I was in inside and set it down, and then opened the door. Hesitant at first, I finally came to my senses and took my first cautious steps outside my little prison. And oh, what a feeling! Smooth laminate hardwood floors were the first thing to greet my limbs that were so tired and aching from all my days confined to a metal cage. And the room was so bright . . . so bright! Golden sunlight streamed in, seeming to illuminate nearly everything and made the experience a lot more dreamlike than it already was. It almost made me wonder if I had indeed been"put to sleep" back at the shelter and had only just now entered heaven's gates.
But more than anything else, I was exhausted from my entire ordeal, and all I wanted to do was just sleep. So I made my way over to one of the couches in the room, used the very last of my strength to jump up, and made myself comfortable among the multicolored cushions. As I drifted off to sleep, my entire head was filled with three words: I've come home.
