Myth of the Cougar

~ The Storm ~

Thankfully, I made it to work on time and even clocked in two minutes early. Letting out a sigh of relief, I hiked my bag higher on my shoulder and headed into the employee lounge.

After stuffing my overnight bag into my locker I proceeded to the next room where I drained half a bottle of water. My first task was feeding the various felines we housed. Feeding the cats wasn't difficult since someone else chopped up the meat and divided it into the correct portions for me, though it took a long time to get to every cat. I preferred working the snack shack, away from all the smelly animals. After several hours of carting around meat and hosing things down, I finally reached the last two cats on my list; Cassie and Luca, our resident cougars. I wheeled their potions of meat down the long, concrete corridor that led to the indoor portions of their enclosures.

Cassie, the female, lounged against the chainlink fence, facing away from me with tufts of fur poking through the holes. She seemed content for once, but as soon as she heard the whining of the cart's wheels, she whipped around to squeak at me. The tawny feline lept to her paws and chattered excitedly as she paced along the fence.

I shook my head at her somewhat fondly and muttered, "Good afternoon to you too, Cassie." As I prepped her metal dish with fresh water from the hose, the overgrown cat continued to scream and chirp at me every time I moved. After sliding Cassie's water dish inside, I grabbed a metal rod to drag out the heavy tile used for meat so I could clean it before I gave her a fresh piece.

Just as I plopped her portion onto the tile, I heard the clanging of Luca's metal door; his way of letting me know he's ready to come inside. "Hang on, I'm coming," I called out as I slid Cassie her meat, careful to keep my fingers away from her jaws as she snatched it up like a savage. I then stood and left to open Luca's door. A rope used to raise the hatch was tied around an anchor mounted to the wall beside his enclosure. I untied the rope and tugged on it to lift the heavy divider.

Luca bounded down the rocks in the back and trotted right up to me, purring urgently with a high pitched twinge sounding at the height of each breath. His whiskers twitched forward eagerly through the fence and his ears stood perched upon his head as he cried gently. He stood patiently and watched as I prepared his meal.

"Alright, Luca," I grunted, struggling to slide his meal onto the clean tile I had set next to the cart. "Here ya go, big boy," I said under my breath while shoving his meat through the small gate.

Unlike Cassie who practically attacked her food, Luca tucked in to eat with clean, efficient bites. His ears turned back as he ate and his purr quieted to a gentle hum, pausing each time he swallowed. Since I had gotten through this chore faster than usual today I decided to sit against the far wall and check the weather report again. He continued to munch away but flicked his ear in my direction; the only sign that he was paying attention to me. I wasn't fond of animals, much less predators, but Luca was different somehow. He still scared me half to death sometimes, and the thought of being in the same room as him without a dividing fence made my skin crawl, but he had a look of intelligence in his eyes that wasn't there in other animals. Through the doorway on the far end of Luca's cage, the beginnings of rain caught my eye and I thought, Perhaps there will be a flash flood after all. The report on my phone confirmed my worry.

I shrugged off any concern and opened a different app to call Meg.

She answered immediately. "Heyo! What's up?"

"Nothing much. You?"

"Just got home from dropping you off so not much either."

I heard her unlocking her front door over the phone. "Hey, since you're home and you haven't settled yet, wanna bring me my umbrella? I left it on the post by-"