I was looking my absolute worst. I was trapped inside a cage at a pet store, my long, black fur matted and covered in dander from stress. My tail, which is a magnificent plume of fur, was hidden beneath me. "Fluffy," the name given to me at birth (don't ever call me that) was extremely depressed. I'd been at the humane society well over the requisite number of days allowed for adoption, and my nine lives were just about up. As a last resort, we death-row felines are transported to public venues like pet stores in the hope that some poor soul will give us homes. Whenever anyone had tried to adopt me back at the humane society, I was brought into a room for "socialization."
Right before the prospective adopters made their decision, I would give them a sharp nip on their hands or fingers to let them know I was no pushover. Before I was brought to the homeless shelter by my original owners, I had to defend myself against two large, aggressive mutts, one very nasty cat, and several small children who liked pulling my plume. Now I'm labeled a "biter."
As I sat in my cage I noticed a tall woman with eyes the same color as mine—a light, shimmery shade of green—approach my fellow homeless mate in the nearby cage. He was outgoing, full of himself, and rolled over on his back, showing little self-respect. Why he hadn't been adopted yet, I do not know. He was a crowd-pleasing people-lover, something I cannot tolerate in others of my species. I noticed the woman had stepped away from him and was now staring at me. She talked to me for a while in a high-pitched voice that people think we cats seem to like (not true) and told me Fluffy was a terrible name for such a beautiful cat like me. I got up, stretched my front legs, and leaned my head into the bars of the cage so she could touch me. The next thing I knew she was petting me with two of her long fingers under my chin, looking straight into my eyes. I nearly purred. Just as I was about to let myself go into the first level of cat ecstasy, she moved her fingers to the top of my head. Oh how could she stop such pleasure? It was then that I realized there was no way I could get my teeth through those bars to sink into her fingers. Yes, I thought, this could be the start of something new.
