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Post by capella on Nov 3, 2008 18:59:09 GMT -5
The barred door of the cage jarred and rattled against the rest of the plastic carrier, meant for a much, much smaller feline. Jace had shoved Rufus in that morning, strapped the carrier in the front seat, and taken a long and silent car ride that stretched long into the afternoon. Rufus could see glimpses of the scenery from the window if he peeked through the little holes of the carrier, and the sky was beginning to darken. He didn’t like dusk.
“This is it.” Rufus let his gaze travel to Jace, who said his words with a sigh, as if he didn’t want to say them. He wasn’t happy about it, but he wasn’t entirely sad about it, either. He had a frown on his face, and his shoulders were slumped forward, his big hands gripping the steering wheel with little enthusiasm. Rufus wiggled his nose a little bit, trying to readjust his mass within the little carrier that had the scent of another cat all over it. Jace’s little cat, the annoying chirpy little thing who always wanted to play and tackle him when he came in to eat. Rude little thing he was.
Then, the car stopped. Rufus could feel the carrier lurch forward and then fall back down on the seat again, and Jace opened his door and got out. What was going to happen? Rufus’s heartbeat quickened, and he worried that he would get hurt. ‘Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please let’s just go home, please let’s go get Annie and be happy again, please, please, please…’ The door closest to Rufus opened, and he felt himself being lifted. He saw Jace’s rugged face that was in terrible need of grooming, and then the carrier door was pulled open. Before he knew it, he had been dumped out onto the roadside. ‘Oh no.’
“I guess this is it, Big. I know Annie wouldn’t be happy with me if she knew I were doing this, but… it’s for the best. We both need space. We both need to start over again.” It was like a stake through the poor cat’s heart. He could see the water building up in the man’s eyes, and watched his fists clench and tremble. What did he want him to do? Rufus looked around and sat up straight, curling his tail around his paws, twitching his nose a little bit. “Don’t just sit there and stare at me! Go!” Go? Go where? Rufus looked around again, and there was a single winding road admist bushy woods. Who knew what kinds of things lingered in those woods! He had to be joking if he expected this cat to go out there. But, Jace got in the car, sniffling and fuming, and within seconds he disappeared down the road in the opposite direction. Rufus sat there beside the discarded carrier.
Wait, what had just happened? The emptiness that came upon him was so quick that it hurt. He meowled into the air, taking off in the direction of Jace’s car, memories of how many times he had slept on, in, or under it and all of the kitty paw prints he had left for him flashing through his mind. He meowled again, memories of Annie taking naps in her bed and letting him curl up at her feet going through his mind, next. She was so little and he was so big that he would only ever sleep on her feet. How he missed her. What was he supposed to do? Rufus was somewhere he’d never been before, he had no idea where home was, where he could find the apartment, where his food was…
Jace had let him go. Let him go…
Rufus meowled one last time, ending it in more of a cry, and slowed down to a halt. Sadly, he slumped down on the road, tucking his head between his paws. He was alone. For real, this time. What was that word? That horrible, horrible word…
Stray. He was stray.
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