An extremely tired Kris made the slow trek back to his small apartment. It was freezing outside and, of course, it had started raining and Kris hadn’t brought his umbrella. The sleet stung his exposed skin as he tried to get to the warmth of his home as quickly as possible. As he stopped and waited for the light to turn so he could cross the street, Kris heard a strange noise. Looking around, Kris saw nothing out of the ordinary. He only saw the sad faces of people as unlucky as him to be out in this kind of weather. Shrugging, Kris crossed the street as the light changed. Once he crossed the street, Kris heard the noise again. He shook his head, now certain that he was hearing things. As he started walking in the direction of his apartment, he heard shuffling and then a quiet mew. Confused, Kris turned back around and saw a small box set against the wall of an old abandoned building. Kris peeked inside and found a black, soaking wet, kitten. Kris sighed. He knew he couldn’t leave the cat out here, so he quickly scooped up the mewing cat and continued heading home. He opened his jacket and placed the kitten inside, sheltering it from the cold and the ice that continued to rain down.

            When Kris finally reached his apartment, the cat inside his jacket was shivering. He quickly took off his shoes and headed toward the bathroom. He the hot water in the sink and stopped the drain. As he shrugged off his jacket, Kris picked the kitten up by the scruff of the neck and inspected him. Aside from being filthy, the kitten seemed okay. It wasn’t injured, at least. Sighing again, Kris prepared himself for what was about to happen. He knew that cats hated water, but it needed a damn bath.

            “Sorry, but it has to be done,” he muttered to the kitten, who just stared at him with wide eyes. Kris grabbed him by the scruff and gently set the kitten into the warm water. Its eyes got even bigger and he started mewing while trying to escape. “I know, I know,” Kris said softly as he squirted some shampoo onto its fur. It was extremely hard trying to give a kitten a bath with only one hand, but somehow, they both emerged unscathed from the ordeal. Kris wrapped the kitten in a towel and set out to look for his hair dryer. When he found it, he set the cat on the counter. The second he turned the dryer on, the kitten tried to bolt. “Whoa, it’s okay,” Kris said to him, petting his wet fur gently. The kitten squirmed and turned, only to bite down on Kris’ hand with a vengeance that came straight from the depths of hell. The second Kris released the cat with a loud curse, it scampered out of the room, leaving a fuming Kris in its wake.

            After twenty minutes of searching the apartment, Kris finally found the shaking kitten under the couch. He tried to coax him out, but it didn’t work. Kris sighed and went to get a can of tuna and some water out of the kitchen in hope that food would lure the cat out. A few minutes later, Kris saw a tiny paw emerge from under the couch and, hesitantly, the rest of the kitten followed. Kris chuckled to himself and waited for the cat to come into the kitchen. The second he was in the kitchen, Kris shut the door behind him and set the food on the ground in front of the refrigerator. The cat stalked his way over to the food and started eating. After he finished, Kris snuck over and scooped the kitten into his arms. The cat mewed pathetically, but otherwise stayed pretty much still. Kris grabbed a towel and plopped down onto his couch and set the kitten in his lap. As he began to towel dry the cat’s fur, it softly began to purr. When Kris was done drying it off, the kitten snuggled closer to Kris and fell asleep.

           The next morning was a Saturday, thank God. Kris woke and started getting dressed. He didn’t know where the kitten had gone, but he wasn’t too worried. He needed to go to the store and pick up a few things for it anyway. He strolled into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast before he left. A bowl of cereal would have to suffice. With his bowl of cereal in hand, Kris turned from the counter to go sit in the living room. The bowl slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor when he saw a strange, man standing in the middle of his kitchen.