After Forever (5 page)

“I insist.”

“I can’t,” he repeated, taking a step away
from me.

I caught up to him, grabbing his hand. “I
want you to,” I replied as he turned back to me. “I want to make
you better. People fear you.”

“Why?” he asked hesitantly.

“Because you’re only out in the woods,
always running and hiding. No one knows what you are.” I tugged on
his hand. “I insist you come with me to my house.”

After a little more pursuing, he agreed to
do so. I took him there, cleaning and addressing his wounds; I fed
him as much as I could, a smile lighting my face as I watched him
eat. It felt wonderful knowing it was my assistance that helped
him. My heart was filled with joy at giving him new clothes, food,
and a place to sleep. I gently kissed his forehead, murmuring a
soft good night as I turned out the light and went to my own room,
the young boy on my mind all night as I tried to close my eyes and
go to sleep.

(c) 2013 Heather Kirchhoff

Cinder

By: Kate Marie Robbins

©2013 by Kate Marie Robbins

For as long as I can remember, cats were off
limits in our house. When I was young, I didn’t understand why. I
whined for days, months on end, because I wanted one. The answer
was always no. Well, now I do.

I always thought the stories my parents told
me were just make-believe. That they just didn’t want to tell me
the real reason I couldn’t have a cat, which was silly, to me. Why
couldn’t they just tell me the truth? Was dad allergic? Was mom?
Was I? They would never discuss it when I asked though.

Once I became a teenager, I had simply given
up. There was no point in fighting them on it any longer. And
besides, I had other things on my mind; school, friends, boys, and
finding an after school job. But I swore that once I moved out of
my parents’ house, that I would get a cat of my own. There was
nothing they could do to stop me once I wasn’t living under their
roof any more.

I thought about getting a job at the local
animal shelter, but knew that might make things complicated at
home. I could just not tell them, but eventually they would find
out. That was a conversation I was reluctant to have, under any
circumstances. I could just visit the animals sometimes. There
wasn’t any harm in that was there?

One day after school, I found myself headed
in the direction of the animal shelter. I never actually intended
to go there. It was just one of those fleeting thoughts, but my
feet refused to take me anywhere else. It was like I was possessed;
but yet, I didn’t feel like I was. I just had the strangest urge
that I needed to go to the animal shelter.

When I was standing in front of the
building, with my hand firmly grasping the door handle, I shook
myself, trying to shake off whatever had gotten into me. Briefly,
it worked. I let go of the door. But then whatever had taken hold
of me, grabbed me once again. It forced my hand back on the door
and I pushed it open.

There was a cheerful older lady sitting at
the front desk. She glanced up at me and smiled when she saw me.
“What can I do for you today?” she asked.

I looked at her, stunned. I didn’t know what
I was doing here. How would I even begin to explain that to her?
But somehow, words formed. “I was wondering if I could maybe visit
with some of the animals. I’m not allowed to have a pet, but I
thought it would be nice, you know, to just play with them for a
little while…if that is allowed. Is it?”

She nodded, still smiling at me. “Why yes,
of course. We are in desperate need of volunteers. I think the
animals would quite enjoy it.”

“I’m Crimson, by the way,” I said extending
my hand to her.

She took it gingerly in her own and shook
it. “I’m Branna.”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
do this,” I beamed.

With that, she led me back to the area where
they kept the animals in cages. Upon seeing them, I felt so awful.
How could anyone do this to a poor defenseless animal? I just
couldn’t comprehend it. Anger filled me, but I couldn’t let Branna
see that. It would make her feel very uncomfortable and then she
would more than likely ask me to leave. I just couldn’t allow that
to happen. I pushed the angry thoughts away and smiled.

“As you can see, we have several animals
here. Try not to have more than two animals out at once. A lot of
them don’t get along very well. Most are very shy and skittish,
with well good reason. They’ve all had hard lives. I wish more
people understood that,” Branna said with a sigh. “Do try to enjoy
yourself, but be weary of the time, we close at seven.”

I nodded in understanding and walked the
length of the room, looking at all the caged animals. Who did I
want to see first? There were so many cute animals, big dogs,
little dogs, and a few cats. I told myself no. No cats. Mom and dad
would freak out if they knew, and they would. I didn’t know how or
why, but I knew they would be able to smell it on me. So I settled
on a cute border terrier. The card on his cage said his name was
Biscuit.

I had to giggle, that was an awfully cute
name. Maybe mom and dad would let me have a dog instead? The
thought had never crossed my mind before. I decided I would ask
them when I got home. They couldn’t say no to a dog. It wasn’t a
cat. That gave me a little hope.

Over the next few hours, I managed to give
attention to a handful of dogs. They were all very happy about it.
Lots of slobbering and kisses. I was giggling and breathless by the
end of the afternoon.

I glanced at my watch. Ah, crap, it’s 6:45.
I quickly ushered the last puppy back into her cage, washed up in
the sink on the back wall, then grabbed my coat and backpack and
headed towards the front. I expected to still see Branna sitting at
the front desk, but she was nowhere to be found. I called out to
her, but got no answer.

Where could she have gone? I had just come
from the back. There was nowhere else for her to be. I scratched my
head. I couldn’t wait around for her though. I noticed a notepad on
the desk. I quickly scrawled a note, thanking her for allowing me
to visit with the animals and that I might be back in the near
future. Then I headed out the door and quickly sprinted home.

I was going to be late for dinner and I knew
it. When I finally walked into the kitchen, mom looked up from the
stove. “There you are. Where on earth have you been? Dinner is
getting cold.”

“Sorry mom,” I muttered as I took my seat at
the table.

Days went by and I found myself itching to
go back to the animal shelter. I realized that I had never brought
up the idea of getting a dog either. Why hadn’t I done that? I
meant to, but every night at dinner, the thought never crossed my
mind. Maybe I didn’t really want a dog? That had to be it. It was a
cat that I wanted.

I did my best to not think about it, to not
go back. I knew if I did, it was only a matter of time before I got
the urge to give attention to the cats. If I did that, I wouldn’t
be responsible for my actions. For a while, I did well at not
thinking about the animal shelter. I suppressed the urges. When I
thought about it, I immediately forced myself to think of something
else, anything else. It seemed to be working.

About a month later, the urge was getting
too hard to suppress. I was even beginning to dream about it.

I woke up on Saturday morning, and couldn’t
fight it anymore. I practically flew out of bed and into the
shower. Quickly threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, hoodie, and my
tennis shoes, and then sprinted out the door. Mom and dad weren’t
home, thank goodness. I didn’t want to have to come up with a
lie.

I was panting by the time I reached the
animal shelter, hoping they were open. I pulled on the door, it
opened. Thank goodness.

Branna smiled when she saw that it was me
who had come in. “I didn’t think you’d be back. Glad to see you
again. The animals sure have missed you.”

I stifled a laugh. How could she know that?
Besides, I had only been here once. I shook my head. “I’ve been
pretty busy with school and whatnot. I always meant to come back
and visit, but I just couldn’t find the time. I’m here now though.
If it’s okay, I’d love to visit with the animals again.”

“Absolutely,” Branna beamed. “You know the
way, so I will just let you get to it.” The phone rang; she picked
it up and said, “Hello, metro animal shelter, how may I help
you?”

I knew that was my cue to leave. It felt so
right being here again. Why had I waited so long? It didn’t matter
now, I was here. And it felt right.

Hours went by without my noticing, because
when I looked up from where I had been sitting, Branna was standing
over me. “It’s almost noon,” she said. “I was about to close up for
lunch. I had almost forgotten you were here, but then I heard
Biscuit barking. Good thing. Otherwise I would have locked you in
here accidentally,” she continued, with a laugh. “Say, if you’re
not doing anything, would you like to have lunch with me? There’s a
diner just down the block that has amazing burgers and
milkshakes.”

“That sounds amazing.” My stomach was
growling, since I had neglected to grab breakfast before I left the
house. “Lead the way,” I sang, as I put Biscuit back in his cage.
“I’ll be back soon boy, I promise,” I said to him, then quickly
washed my hands. “All ready to go now,” I replied, as I pulled my
hoodie back on.

Lunch was great, just as Branna had
promised. The conversation was lovely as well. She had such
interesting stories to tell. I listened intently to everything she
said. There was something about Branna. She was captivating. I had
never met anyone quite like her.

We then walked back to the shelter. “Thank
you for lunch. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s not a problem dear. I usually eat
alone, so it was nice to have the company.” She gave me a warm
smile.

“I should really be going now. I do have
other things I need to do today.”

Branna nodded in understanding. “Please come
back and see us soon. Both I, and the animals would like that very
much.” She waved to me as I walked down the sidewalk and around the
corner, back towards my house.

After that day, I spent every weekend there,
and almost every day after school. I just couldn’t stop myself. I
never saw my friends any more. They were starting to worry about
me. I told them they were crazy, that I was just volunteering at
the animal shelter. They really thought I was crazy then.

“The animal shelter!?” my best friend Rania
exclaimed. “You know better than that Crimson! Do your parents
know? Because if they don’t, they should know about this. How could
you?” She shook her head at me.

“I just can’t help it. You know how much I
love animals. Since I can’t have one, this is the only way. Please,
please don’t tell my parents about it. You know what they would do
to me if they found out.” I looked at her, my eyes pleading her to
keep my secret.

“Oh, alright,” Rania said with a sigh. “But
this has got to stop. You can’t be spending every waking moment
there. Promise me that, please.” She gave me her trademark Rania
look, the one that meant she means business.

“Yes, yes, I promise.” I would have said
anything at that point, just to get her off my back. “Maybe one of
these days you could come with me?” I asked, hoping that maybe if
she spent some time there, that she would understand.

She looked at me, skeptically, but then
nodded. “Alright, if it will make you happy, I’ll go with you this
weekend.”

I was beaming. I couldn’t wait for Saturday
to come. It was going to be great. Or so I thought.

Rania met me at my house Saturday morning.
This time, I had enough sense to eat something before we left.

As we walked down the street, I was happily
chattering away about all the animals that were there. I don’t
think she was actually listening to me, but I didn’t care. I was
too excited to even notice.

When we walked in the door, Branna looked up
at us. “Hi Crimson, it is always a pleasure to see you.” Then she
saw Rania standing next to me. Her smile faded. “Who is this?” she
inquired, trying to hold back her anger.

“Oh, this is my best friend Rania. I asked
her to come with me, since she was upset I was spending all my time
here. I hope it’s okay,” I replied, trying not to show my
nervousness.

Branna then put a smile on, that was
obviously as fake as they come, but I made no comment. “Of course
it’s alright. The animals will get twice as much attention now.
I’ll leave you to it; I’ve got some paperwork to do. Enjoy
yourselves girls.” She didn’t look up at us again.

“What was that about?” Rania asked me once
we were out of Branna’s earshot.

“I have no idea,” I remarked. “I’ve never
seen her act like that before.” It had me beyond perplexed.

“Well, I don’t like her. She makes me very
uncomfortable. I don’t want to be here any longer than I absolutely
have to, so let’s get this over with.”

I tried not to let Branna’s peculiar
behavior ruin our morning. After a while, I had forgotten all about
it. When I looked at my watch, it was almost noon. I was surprised
that Branna hadn’t come to let us know, but then I remembered her
rudeness from earlier. What did she have against Rania? I mean, I
know she could be arrogant and cranky sometimes, but still. There
was no way she could have known that. I shrugged it off though, and
started getting ready to go.

Rania was captivated by Biscuit, so she
hadn’t noticed. I cleared my throat, trying to get her attention.
She looked up at me, beaming. “Goodness, he is the cutest thing I
have ever seen. I just want to take him home with me!” she
exclaimed.

“Someone seems to be enjoying herself. A lot
more than she said she would.” I giggled. “But it’s almost noon. I
think we should go get some lunch. Branna showed me this amazing
diner. How about we go have lunch there?”