Pup's Library

She waited in the lobby for everything to be done. She heard the yowling of multiple kitten hybrids before she heard the small mewing of the one she adopted. The woman smiled as she picked the kitten hybrid up, feeling her nails already digging into her shoulder blade as she carried her to the car. Her tail swished back and forth as they walked out, seeing her ears flat against her head as the door was opened. 

"You're okay," Sana whispered as she buckled the kitten into the backseat. 

The drive from the shelter was a bit lengthy with traffic, being closer to 45 minutes since it was a mess. 

When they got to her apartment building, it was a bit of a mess, but Sana didn't quite care. Mostly because she had a young kitten hybrid in her arms. 

"Welcome home!" Sana smiled as she set the kitten down on the floor. 

Mina was only a few years old, and barely came up to Sana's hip. She was smaller than most humans, but larger than actual animals. She wouldn't grow to be very large, but she would grow taller than she was now. 

"It's a bit small, but it's home," Sana explained as she stepped away from the front door. "This is the living room, that way is the kitchen and back here is the bathroom and bedroom!" She smiled. "I work a bit more than usual these days, but only because of a project I'm assigned. And I volunteer at the shelter... So, it's a bit much... But I plan on cutting back a bit since you're here!" She smiled. 

"Me?" Mina asked quietly. 

"Yeah! I only volunteered because I wanted some kind of companionship really," Sana shrugged as she pushed the bedroom door open. "When I saw the people keep going passed you... I thought you would need a forever home," She whispered before pulling out an overly fluffy hybrid bed for the kitten. 

Mina's eyes went wide as she stared at the bed on the floor. It was beyond perfect. An extremely fuzzy bed? Oh it would be heavenly. 

"And some toys." 

Mina's ears perked up at the sight of the toys bouncing against the rug and the flooring. A few mice and various other cute things that she could play with without getting bored. Oh, yes this was the life. 

The first day was touch and go, deciding that it would be best to occupy the space together and build trust that way. Sana watched her play with a few of the toys, watching her go from place to place chasing the little things before finding a perch on the arm of the couch to watch everything down below. It was only three flights up, which meant the kitten could practically see the world.

After a rather uneventful dinner, everything seemed to really mellow out. Sana went through her nightly routine and the kitten watched her from afar. Mina was entirely curious on how other humans operated. After being with someone so rich and clearly much older, it made her nervous to be with someone else. 

So, when the human lay in bed for the night... Mina sat in her bed, watching the human for hours. Just watching her breathe, making sure she was still alive. She would wander from place to place in the room, barely making much of a sound to make sure the human got her rest, but it made her worried. Worried that this human would be gone by morning. So, she stayed up. Refusing to sleep. 

The kitten eventually grew tired, her eyes drooping every so often as she found herself growing more and more comfortable in the overly fluffy bed. Her hands reached out as she slowly kneaded the plush cushion under her, feeling the nice soft fluff and stuffing. She couldn't help much of anything else as she started to purr, self soothing herself into being calm. The human was okay, which meant she could sleep. 

Until the sound of the human getting out of bed startled her awake. She lifted her head, eyes wide open as Sana stepped out of the bedroom so late in the night. Mina followed her, watching her step into the other room and shut the door. She frowned as she waited, hearing unfamiliar sounds before Sana made her way back out and back to bed. 

Sana climbed back into her bed, feeling the warmth of the covers and comforts of everything. Her eyelids were already heavy as she started to fall asleep, only to be met with the sounds of something jumping on her bed and crawling closer to her. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the kitten staring right down at her with worried eyes. 

"I just went to pee," Sana mumbled with a small yawn. "Go back to sleep... Or whatever kitties do at night," She murmured. 

"Can... Can I sleep here?" Mina whispered. 

"You want to sleep in my bed?" Sana asked, watching the kitten nod her head. "Yeah, you can sleep in my bed," She smiled. "Here." She lifted up the blanket, watching the kitten hybrid crawl right under the blankets and pop right back out before settling down next to the human for the night. 

The woman never had visits from her children and if they did, it was to demand money from her or to ask if she was on her death bed yet. So, she did what all elderly woman did. She needed a companion. Someone or something that could keep her company since her awful children didn't feel the need to visit with their children. 

A little kitten hybrid was exactly what she got. She had a friend who was a breeder and was able to get a little kitten from a young age and raised her. The kitten brought her so much joy, watching how she explored the mansion that they were now calling home. 

"Mina, you are one curious little kitten," The woman chuckled, watching her climb up on the couches with ease, her ears pointed up at attention as she perched at the top of the couch, eyes fixed out the window as she watched the birds in front of the giant window. 

The kitten grew fast, going through all of her age markers with ease over the course of two years, getting up to her own little teenager years. Except she wasn't a mean kitten. She loved her owner, loved spending time with her. But what she never expected to happen, happened. 

She was seated on the windowsill of the bay window, admiring the outside world from the comforts of inside. Her tail slowly thumping as she continued to watch the birds in the tree across the yard. Her mind was blissfully blank as she relaxed. Only for it to be disturbed by the sound of someone falling and her owner shouting. 

Mina hurried to the sound, ears turning to find her owner and saw her laying on the floor and making sounds of distress. 

"Mina... Bring me my phone..." The woman groaned, feeling pain spreading through her body. 

"O-Okay..." The kitten's ears fell flat against her head as she hurried to find her owner's phone. 

Things hadn't been the same after that. 

Neighbors came through the front door, calling out for Mina before leaving little dishes of food. The kitten hid from them, afraid of what was happening in her world now. Her owner wasn't back. Her life was being turned upside down. Everything about it was horrible. 

After a week, her owner was home, but with more people walking in and out of her home. Her safe haven... It made her nervous and anxious. And at night, it was much worse. She barely slept, watching over her owner with sadden filled eyes. She could smell it. She could feel it. 

"I'm glad I got to have you in my life little Mina," The woman whispered one night. 

The kitten stayed laying on the bed, her ears flat against her head as she watched her owner. 

"You brought so much joy to me... Thank you." 

Her hand never stopped stroking the top of her head, finding peace and comfort with the kitten on the bed. 

And like that, the kitten had lost the only human she ever knew. By late afternoon, the usual person came to the mansion and found the elderly woman and kitten still in bed. By night, Mina found herself in a cage, far from her original home. 

"Poor thing must be starving..." 

"The home nurse said that the kitten ate last night. Her owner passed this morning." 

Mina sat with her back to the front of the cage, her tail wrapped tightly around her as she silently cried. She barely got to say goodbye and now she was far from home. So far that everything was incredibly unfamiliar and horrible. She hated the sounds of other kitten hybrids meowing and yowling for attention and to be free of their cages. Hated the sounds of the muffled barking of the puppy hybrids next door. 

Three weeks she stayed in her cage, never interacting with others who gave her the time of day. In fact, they tried very hard to get her to be adopted since she was still fairly young. Only for people to ignore her since she was a black kitten hybrid. Tail and ears showing the jet black fur that puffed out. People said they didn't want bad luck in their homes. They couldn't handle more bad luck if they adopted the black cat. 

Mina started to believe that was all she did. Black cat meant bad luck. She had been brought into her old owner's home and within two years the woman passed away. She must've been bad luck. 

After another two weeks of being in the shelter with barely any stimulation to keep herself from wallowing in her self depressed state, she heard the familiar voice of the shelter worker, this time talking about the different hybrids they had within the walls. Mina slumped her shoulders, deciding to not face the front of her cage. No one wanted a black cat. She would live the rest of her life waiting for her own death so she could reunite with her owner. 

"What about this one?" 

"Oh, that's Mina. She's been here a while... She was found next to her owner after a home nurse came to check on the owner..." The shelter worker frowned. "She's been a little depressed and lots of people have passed her up since she's considered bad luck." 

"How is she bad luck? She's just a kitten hybrid who needs some love..." 

"Are you sure? She's very shy and closed off... She's barely spoken since she's come here," The worker frowned.