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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 1:12 pm
Orin Verner, for all eleven years of his life (or so he claimed), had wanted a pet. His father, who had given him next to everything, had not provided anything beyond fish for the boy.
Fish just weren't cutting it (and not just because his father couldn't keep them alive). He had begged and pleaded and his father, and after a convincing, misty eyed conversation, his father had finally given in. There was no discussion on what animal, specifically, Orin was going to get, but for the next twenty minutes he was free to peruse the store. His father, overprotective by nature, had a difficult time even just being in another aisle as Orin, but a phone call had drawn him out to a bench in front of the store.
Which gave Orin a glorious moment of freedom. He had stopped near the guinea pigs, hovering near their cage. He wasn't quite tall enough to reach in and pet one, so instead he crouched, nose pressed against the glass as he watched, eyes fixated on a white guinea pig with a few black bands.
Its beady eyes transfixed him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:09 pm
Millicent had enough pets. Her two pigs took up a lot of her time, but still, she did like going to pet stores, both to get items for her pigs, and to look at all of the cute fuzzy animals. It didn’t hurt to pet them too. Her pigs, while being the cutest animals in the whole world…well, they weren’t the softest or fluffyiest. No, bunnies were though. And cats…but having a cat was out of the question, her mom would end up swelling up to the size of a balloon if she ever got a cat.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t pet the cats.
The girl bustled over to the cat cage and stuck her fingers in, wiggling them in front of the kitties inside. One of them mewed at her and came over, rubbing against the fingers. It was so cute! White with big black spots, kind of like a dalmation or something, but not really.
When it started licking her finger, Millie burst into laughter. Its tongue was rough like sandpaper, and it really, really tickled.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:20 pm
Laughter in such a drab little environment was enough to attract Orin's attention and he stood, looking towards the girl. Initially, he had no idea what she was so amused by—and then he saw them.
Cats.
Small, fluffy, and perfect.
Orin wandered over curiously, rocking on his heels as he stood before the cages. "That cat seems to like you! Are they all so friendly?" he asked, little smile planted on his face. He wiggled his own finger between two of the tiny bars, stroking a kitten on the head.
It didn't seem to have as much interest as the cat Millicent was petting, but probably only because it was curled up sleeping—and had probably already had far too many jabbing their little fingers at it.
Of course, Orin didn't want to show too much interest in the cat Millie was petting, but those spots were perfect. They would match his room excellently—and if his father wasn't going to let him have a cow…
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:32 pm
Millie looked at Orin and shrugged. “I don’t know, I’d like to think so though! They sure are cute…I’m not allowed to have one, ‘cause my mom gets really sick around them. She’s very, very allergic.” The redhead continued to pet the purring creature, grinning.
“They’re nothing like my pigs though. My pigs are super smart, and super cute…and super fat. I wish that the pet store had pigs to look at, I would be rolling around with them, I think.” She grinned at the boy and gave a sigh as the cat moved away from her and started rubbing against Orin’s fingers.
It really was a friendly cat! Maybe the most friendly cat in the whole world or something. “I think it likes you. But I think it would like anyone…it’s really pretty, isn’t it?” It had super pretty eyes, a bright green. Like Harry Potter’s eyes. She really did like Harry Potter now. Mmm…that made her miss Haven a lot. She would have to find the girl and hang out with her again sometime soon!
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:44 pm
Orin seemed immediately in awe of the cat that was nuzzling his finger. "It is pretty. Like a cow," Orin said rather wistfully, pleasantly directing his attention to the cat. A part of him felt bad that the cat had abandoned her, but—kitty…
"I like cows," he announced to her; it was no great secret, nor would he ever imagine keeping it from someone. With the hand not currently distracted by the cat, he waved to the girl, introducing, "My name's Orin. I want a cow but dad says they're too big so he said I could pick out something else. You have pigs?" he inquired, feeling no shame in jumping topics.
"Pigs aren't bad! But I just like cows more. How did you convince your mom to let you keep pigs?" he asked, immediately trying to devise a different plan to convince his father that he needed a cow and that he could definitely take care of it and love it and he'd even snuggle it and let it sleep in his bed at night.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:34 am
The cat continued to nuzzle Orin’s finger, purring loudly.
Millie watched and giggled as the boy mentioned liking cows. He wanted a cow? Well, that was kind of neat! “I think if you want a cow, I think you’ll need to get your dad to buy a farm, and I don’t think there’s any farms anywhere around here, so I think that’s gonna be a problem. I have two pigs, actually, yeah. Jacen and Jania, and mom let me have them because I begged and begged and begged, and mom is allergic to cats so I couldn’t get one of those, and I don’t really like dogs, so I didn’t want one of those…but pigs…I just love pigs.”
She grinned, walking over closer to Orin, putting her finger back into the cage, petting the cat. “My name’s Millie. It’s awesome to find someone else who likes…uh. Farm animals!”
Most people just liked cats and dogs or bird or something dumb like that. She didn’t know anyone who had pigs or anything cool like that. And if this kid got a cow…well, that would be cool.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:28 pm
Orin was fascinated by the cat, and he decided that if he couldn't have a cow, he'd be devastated if he couldn't have a cat, instead. "I wouldn't mind a whole farm! I wanna be a farmer when I grow up, so I get to be around all the cows. Or maybe just a vet. A cow vet, though. That's where I'll specialize. But I like other animals, too," he insisted, not wanting to make any of the other animals in the vicinity feel bad.
"We'll see, it depends on how well I do in school. I heard pigs use a litterbox, like cats?" he was already attached to this cat and wondered how much pleading he'd have to go through to convince his father that he needed one. "What's it like? I mean, having a big pet. I've only had fish, and we didn't get along so well. Too boring. Pretty scales, but," Orin shrugged. "I want something to play with. You know, when dad is busy and I get lonely. There are no kids in my neighborhood, so it's just me."
He sounded so faintly disheartened—but it was hard to be too distraught when you were petting such a cute cat.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:13 pm
Millie nodded. “I think you’d be a good farmer if you wanted to be a farmer…one of my friends lives on a farm, she’s really nice! I can’t remember if she has any cows though, she might!”
The redhead watched Orin petting the cat, then nodded. “Yeah! My pigs do use a litter box…and cats are really nice…if my mom didn’t get so sick around them, I would beg her for one…or maybe I can tell my dad I want one for when I go to his house…that might work, don’t you think? Or…or if you get one, I could come over your house and play with yours! We could be friends, and when you get lonely, you can come to my house and see my pigs if you want! I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind, Orin!”
She was beaming and began to pet the cat again, seeming really pleased. Coming to the pet store today had been the best idea ever, it really had. It wasn’t often that you got to meet a new friend and have a good idea all at the same time, after all!
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:13 am
"Oh, I like that idea a lot!" Orin replied eagerly. "Dad's always saying I oughta make more friends, so that might make him as happy as it makes me! I'm sorry your mom gets sick—if I get a cat, you can come over for sure! I don't think my dad's allergic to anything. He works a lot, but I don't think he'd mind if I had company—and if I could go over some time, I know he'd be happy about that. He's always so afraid of leaving me home alone. He doesn't understand that I'm practically all grown up now," he said with an exasperated sigh. He shook his head and rolled his eyes playfully, and while sometimes his father was just silly about that sort of thing, it didn't stop Orin from loving him.
"So—your mom and dad, they aren't together?" he asked, not thinking it rude to ask such a question. "I live with my dad and don't really ever see my mom, so I kind of understand how that is. But my dad makes up for my mom for sure! He's the nicest guy I know, so I don't even miss not having a mom. Much."
He said it with a smile, though there was just a hint of sadness; what child wouldn't like to live in a normal house, with a mother a father—and a younger sibling, of course. And a cow.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:51 pm
“Oh, if you do get the cat, I’m going to want to come over all the time! It’ll be amazing.” She nodded, completely agreeing with him as he spoke of his father not wanting him to be home alone, and treating him like he was still a little kid. “My mom gets that way too sometimes. She used to be okay with me being alone sometimes, but lately she’s been making me go to a baby sitter’s place. It’s awful!”
Millie nodded. “Yeah, they’ve never been together…and actually until Halloween I hadn’t seen my dad for the longest time. I thought he stopped loving me, it was horrible!” She sighed. “He just forgot about me is all. Work was too important to him or something. I don’t know. I’m still a little m ad at him…but I don’t know if I could live without my mom. If you want, I could share her with you. She’s a good mom. I think she might be the best in the world, honestly.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:28 pm
Orin nodded understandingly when the girl was talking about a babysitter; on one hand, he enjoyed having someone to spend time with and play games with—on the other hand, he was sometimes disappointed that his father didn't think he could take care of himself. Orin considered himself to be highly capable, and the older he got, the more he wanted to prove himself. "Stopped loving you? That is horrible," he exclaimed, leaning over to hug Millicent quickly before returning to his original location. The cat, for as adorable as it was, was momentarily forgotten. "I don't think my mom loves me. She used to write, but I don't hear from her anymore, and she never wants to come visit me. I have a picture of her under my bed, but I haven't even looked at it in so long that I don't remember what she looks like."
He shrugged; it wasn't something he'd ever really dwelled on or let affect him. Sure, the movies painted having a mom as some great thing, where the house would always smell like cookies and she would hold you if you had a nightmare—but he had a dad for that sort of thing, and so far he'd never been let down. "But if you want, I'll share my dad if you share your mom? I mean, if she's nice and stuff. My dad's nice," he reassured. "A little busy—always working. I guess all dads must be like that. But he's always around when I need him! And he could take us to the park, we could play baseball or soccer—soccer!— or something. I mean, if you want?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 6:47 pm
Millie seemed surprised, but pleased with the hug, and returned it quickly. “I think that’s horrible too! Parents should always love their kids…it’s stupid when they don’t..” She sighed. “What is this world coming to, I wonder.”
She stuck her fingers back into the cat’s cage and began petting the creature once more, grinning now. “I would love to share your dad with you! I do like going to the park…maybe we could play soccer for some of the time, and lightsaber fight for the other part of the time? I love teaching people how to use them. It’s a lot of fun. I can give you my house number so you can call sometime and we can plan when we can hang out, if you want!”
The girl laughed as the cat began licking her finger then looked at Orin, a serious expression on her face. “Are you going to get the cat, because I really think you should!”
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:15 pm
Orin eagerly nodded. "If Dad will let me, I want to get it!" He looked at the cat again, smiling broadly. "I want to give it a home—and if I do, you can come over and play with him. But I actually…" he looked around. "…Oughta find my dad. I thought he was gonna be back by now. Huh."
He wasn't one to be worrying for long, however before he was looking at Millicent again. "Anyway, I definitely want to hang out. I have a light saber, but it's no fun to play by yourself, so maybe one day we can go to the park and play! I have—hold on,"
He jammed his hands in his pockets and fished around before he found a wrinkled piece of construction paper and a broken crayon. Still, this was enough for him and he grinned, presenting the items. "If you write down your number, we can make plans! And I'll tell you if I got the cat or not!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:21 pm
Millie nodded eagerly, taking the crayon and paper and scribbling her name and number down on it. “You go and find your dad, and I’m going to go find my mom! It was awesome to meet you! I hope we can go and have some adventures together soon!” She took a step back, then handed the paper and crayon back before laughing.
“Take care of the kitty when you get her, okay?” With that, Millie skipped away, leaving the pet store and going to find her mom, excited to tell her all about her new friend—and perhaps tell her about plans to live on a farm when she grew up. Maybe.
Pigs would always be better than cows though. Always.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:24 pm
Adventures were all Orin could really ask for; when she finished, he took the paper and crayon, jamming them into his pocket. While Millie was on her way out, he called, "I will! Take care, see you soon!" before giving the cat one last pet through the cage. It didn't matter how many times his father told him not to run in stores; when Orin was excited, he just couldn't help it.
Bounding through the aisles, he didn't calm down until after he'd found his father, made a heartfelt plea, and left the pet store cradling the box holding his new kitten.
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