Bella lay on a blanket on the floor, beside the box of the shelter’s orphaned kittens. They were all fast asleep, except for ‘Blondie’. The orange tabby, sucking on a bottle of formula, looked sleepily at her caregiver. Bella wondered if Blondie missed her brother. Bella still couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. The little black cat had been the runt of the litter, but he seemed to be getting stronger. It was just a few hours ago that Bella returned to the room to find the kitten dead.
In addition to being in a crappy mood, Bella felt ill. She grimaced and moved a hand to her lower abdomen. She hadn’t felt the familiar symptom in a while, but it had chosen today of all days to make a reappearance. Bella placed the kitten back in the box with the rest of her litter. She then curled up on her side again, her eyes on the box. As she lay there, waiting for the pain to subside, her thoughts wandered back to the little black kitten they’d called ‘Red’ for the red string they’d tied loosely around his neck at birth. They all had so much hope for the little guy. Her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet voice. “Bella? What are you still doing here?” It was Gina. Bella glared at her colleague. “Well I thought I’d check the kittens before I went home, and it’s a good thing too because Red died while there was no one here to supervise him.” She was perhaps harsh, but pain plus grief only made her agitated. She grabbed her blanket and headed to the door. “Try not to let any others die on your watch?” she said. As she got her things and left the building, she felt bad for the way she’d spoken to Gina. It wasn’t the girl’s fault, but between Nathan having to euthanize a horse and Red’s death so close together, it had been a bad week. Death would always be part of Bella's job; not all animals could be saved, obviously, but knowing this didn’t make her feel any better. Not at all.
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Isabella Kaylee DwyerWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2017
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