Something slams into the front of my cage. Looking up, I see a toddler, banging his sticky, jam-covered palms against the front. I can hear his mother as she pulls him away from the glass, because "No, that one is deformed."
The woman and her some move on, eventually selecting a female Miniature to my immediate right. We only ever spoke a few times, but she was a sweet, gentle soul. I feel like she will survive at least three weeks with that toddler before she cracks.
I sit cross-legged and return to my thoughts, happy to ignore what's going on around me. I have figured out an escape plan, but it will need to wait until after dark. I have memorized plans of the pet store, from seeing them laid out for repairmen to fix it. I know the opening and closing times of the shop. I know where the store is - Seattle. And I know where I'm going - Isle Royale. I quietly began listing some of the herbs I know that will help me.
"Borage - g-gives e-energy. F-feverfew - r-reduces fever. Daisy - "
"Are all of them this intelligent?" someone asks. I look up and open my eyes to see a blue-eyed boy with floppity black hair staring at me. One of the employees comes over and tries to guide the boy away.
"This one is damaged - defective. You see the scars? It's probably spouting nonsense. Now, over HERE - "
But the boy refuses to leave. "No, all of that information is right. And he's not defective, although he could use some TLC by the looks of things. How much for him?"
"There's no set price, we didn't think he was gonna get sold. How much you got?"
The boy digs around in his pocket and pulls out a few crumpled notes and some quarters, counting quickly. "Um . . . Twelve dollars, seventy three cents, and two Canadian dollars."
"Gimme nine - normal price is twelve, but the defect can have a 25% off."
The boy pushes a crumpled ten dollar bill into the employee's hand. "If you wanna go get him, I'll get your change."
The boy inlatches my cage and pulls me out. I feel absolutely crushed; I can't escape if I'm not on the pet store!
The boy pushes his bangs out of his face. "My name is Lewis. I hope you're alright with me? I promise to take good care of you! You're a person too, you know."
The employee returns and hands Lewis a fresh dollar bill. "Thank you for your purchase."
Lewis puts me into a pocket of his messenger bag and heads out into the bitter Seattle weather.
We stop in a small coffee shop, and Lewis sips at a peppermint hot chocolate as he cuts pieces of an old woolen glove and works at them with a needle and thread. I munch on crumbs of cinnamon shortbread that he periodically crumbles from his cookie.
"It isn't much, obviously, but I'm hoping it'll be okay for now, until I can get something better."
Lewis shows me a tiny outfit made from the grey wool of the glove - a shirt, pants, socks, a hat, a jacket, a scarf. I pull them on hesitantly, surprised to find that they fit reasonably well.
"Th-thank you. I-I've n-never really h-had a human t-this n-nice before," I stammer.
Lewis smiles sadly. "I don't have nice humans either. I guess we'll just have to be each others' nice humans, hmm?"
He holds out a long skinny index finger. I reach up, cupping it with both hands, and shake it. Even though I have to save Justin and Hannah, I feel like this human might need saving too. And if I save him, maybe he can help me save Justin and Hannah too.
[A/N: I'm not dead. Merry Christmas.]
