❝ Hey, little one, ❞ Iris murmured. She crouched down, opened a packet of cat food, and couldn't help but smile as the orange tabby ate. Iris felt satisfied at the way the stray cat seemed to trust her一even just a little, so she did not realize that she wasn't alone until she heard a soft voice behind her. ❝ You found him too? ❞ someone murmured. Startled, Iris looked up to see a woman standing a few feet away. She was watching her with a small smile. She had dark, black hair一as opposed to Iris's strawberry blonde. The stranger's eyes held warmth that Iris found oddly comforting. ❝ Oh, uh一yeah. I just noticed him yesterday, ❞ Iris replied, flustered. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Through the eyes of a stray orange tabby, two strangers crossed paths when a simple act of kindness blossomed into a relationship neither of them expected. For Iris, it meant confronting the scars of a painful past relationship she thought she had left behind. For Elena, it was a chance to heal from the grief of losing a loved one who was once her closest companion. Together, Iris and Elena gradually removed the layers of their guarded hearts, and was drawn together by their shared love for the stray cat. However, the shadows of their pasts grew stronger as their relationship does. While Elena battled her own issues, Iris had to face the dread of allowing her heart to open again and letting it linger with the grief of lost love. As they learn to accept life's challenges, Iris and Elena must decide if they are prepared to take the risk that love offers. But can their flourishing romance withstand the challenges that threatened to tear them apart? A wlw short story. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ (CURRENTLY EDITING!) Date Published | October 30, 2024 Word Count: 7,803