He didn’t like the rain very much; not that he liked anything very much. But the rain made his fur heavy and him cold, and that only made him move slower, which was even worse. There wasn’t much he could do about it though, but try to find somewhere to hide and wait out the harsh winds and heavy downpours. He longed for the safety he had once found in his previous home; the little cardboard box he had many of times found himself curled up inside, now nonexistent and nothing but a soggy mess. He longed for this home, and the one he had found before he was graced with the cardboard one; wedged between a dumpster and a water tank, on a pile of old newspapers. Neither of them offered much protection from the rain, but both of them hid him from the humans, and truth be told, they were worse than the rain and they frightened him much more than most everything else; they even frightened him more than the big scary dog that lived further down the street and howled most nights, growling through the wire fence whenever he rushed past.

Yet still, despite his nostalgia, his fear, and the numbing cold spreading up his legs, he continued to fight; still determined to find somewhere safe for him to sleep with what little strength he had left.

He moved his little paws as quickly as he could, hurrying – with some struggle –in search of a safe haven; somewhere safe enough for him to close his eyes and sleep without being afraid of being found, fighting the urge to fall asleep where he stood. He knew he had to find somewhere safe first, and that thought was probably the only thing keeping him from just laying down and sleeping on the side of the road; he knew what would happen if he was found, although he’d rather not think about it, and he knew that he probably didn’t have much time left either.

Sticking to the shadows, he made his way down the market, ducking under stalls and tripping people over as he rushed past them.

“Hey!” a voice called after him, chasing down the cat with a broom. His ears flattened and his fur stood, before he had taken off running. “Hey, get back here you filthy animal!”

The vo