Rainy Days

Rainy Days

She was chilled to her bones and was looking for a place to settle down for the night.

Shiloh Adlar
Writer, Ravenclaw

Maisie wandered through the downpour, her fur soaking wet. She was chilled to her bones and was looking for a place to settle down for the night. She had been the precious cat of a family for a long time and then one day, they upped and left, leaving her to fend for herself in the outdoors amongst all the other cats on the streets. She knew she could not go to them for shelter. Street cats never looked well on her kind.

Eventually Maisie found an old box that had been set outside of a building and used her nose to lift it up. Once she did, she slipped inside and curled up, shivering while trying to stay warm. At least she was out of that dreaded rain. Not long after she had started to drift off into sleep, she heard little footsteps coming her way. She tensed not knowing what to expect until a little boy picked up the box and peered down at her.

She took notice of the boy, probably no older than seven in human years. She did not move but watched. The boy reached out with his hand and put it on her head. She let off a low growl of warning, but the boy proceeded to pet her instead. Her growl turned to a purr, and the boy moved in closer. She stood up and snuggled up to him, and he eventually took her into his arms. Maisie was not very comfortable being held the way he was holding her, but what could she do? He was only a child and maybe he would bring her to a warm place inside.

The boy ran up with her to a door where a woman stood. The woman looked down at them and shook her head at the boy. “But Mama,” the boy said, “the kitty is wet. She’ll get sick.” The woman sighed and eventually caved, letting the boy with Maisie in his arms come inside the house.

The woman grabbed a towel and helped dry Maisie off while the boy got a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and poured it as best he could into a bowl, spilling some on the floor while he was at it. The woman could only laugh watching her son try so hard as she helped him clean it up before giving Maisie the bowl of milk.

Maisie lapped up the milk gratefully as the boy pet her fur once more. “Can we keep her, Mama,” the boy asked. “She doesn’t have a collar.”

The woman could not help but smile at her son and the cat he was caring for. It made her happy to watch her son so enthused by this small creature. “I suppose we can.”

Maisie looked up from drinking her milk and rubbed her head against the woman’s leg. “I think she’s thanking you, Mama,” the little boy said in reply.

“I think she is, too.”

Maisie once again had a home where she knew she would be loved, and she was happy.