Lucky 13

“Welcome back.” Dr. Death smiled at me.

     I nodded, glancing up at my twelfth owner. She marched up to the desk and began telling Dr. Death why she was abandoning me.

     “She has a bad attitude, and is mean to my other pets,” she told him.

     I stopped listening after that; it was the same thing every time. By now I bet you’re wondering why I had been to the pound so many times. Well, I liked it here. They gave me free food, and I had little mini soap operas right next door. There was always some pet in here crying.

     “What cell?” I asked, even though I knew the answer; I was always in the same one; he even made a name tag for me.

     “412,” he answered. Then he led me away to my home.

     I sat in the exact center of my cell; I always sat there, and I thought that there was even a little dip in the ground from it being worn down. I wrapped my fluffy blue tail around my paws. To tell you the truth, I was afraid to be back. I was a little superstitious, and me being a little blue Xweetok, lots of people adopted me. So after my twelfth just dumped me in my favorite place, my next owner would be my thirteenth. Unlucky thirteen, I thought. The door from the main room opened and a pink Aisha came in sobbing her head off. She was led down the hall and put into the cell next to mine.

     “Hey, guess what?” I said. “You’re just in time for dinner! It’ll be here in exactly three minutes,” I said, trying to cheer her up. It didn’t work. I sighed and turned my attention back to the front door where dinner would be appearing at any moment.

     I lay in the center of my cell, curled up and trying to fall asleep, but it wouldn’t come. I listened to the familiar noises of the pets around me. I could hear snoring, and that Aisha was whimpering. I laid my head back down on the cold floor; it was in an odd way comforting. It was odd. I like the pound more than living with an owner, I thought, as I finally dozed off.

     I woke to the creaking door that led to the main entrance to the pound, and the pink Uni walked in with a girl that had long blond hair. I made a face; Dr. Death called it my grumpy face. I definitely didn’t want this girl to be my next owner. She was too girly for me... I glared at her as she walked by. I saw her stop at a cell farther down from mine. It had an Usul in it. She smiled and picked it up and marched past us all with a look on her face that said the sooner she was away from us, the better.

     It was around lunch when Violet walked in. She was with a royal Uni who carried herself like she was a real princess. I smirked; these people would never want me. I breathed a sigh of relief when they walked past my cell. After all, I was a little blue Xweetok; who wanted something as boring as that? My heart started beating faster, like it always did, when she approached again. But this time she didn’t walk right past like she was supposed to. This time she stopped at cell 412 and promptly announced that she would take me. The pink Uni smiled at me. She knew me too; after all, how could you not know someone after adopting them out twelve times? She slid open my door and as my owner, Violet, carried me down the hall, I turned to look back at my name tag hanging on my door.

     Colette_12.

     I could see the royal Uni rolling her eyes at me, like I was some kind of bug she wanted to squash. At least you won’t have to deal with me long, I thought, as the creaky door was opened and I was carried through for the thirteenth time.

      Violet and her snotty pet, Kiki, lived in a nice house in Shenkuu. It was like all the other houses on the block, so there was no point in describing it because it had no unique features. Violet set me down on the dirt path that led up to her and Kiki’s house. I crept along it, suddenly nervous.

     “Go along,” Violet encouraged me

     I padded more confidently along the path now, reaching the front door in good time. I sat on the front porch, waiting for Violet and Kiki to catch up. They were still walking up the path, whispering. About me, no doubt, I thought as Violet finally opened the door for me. The front room was richly furnished, but not too over-crowded. I liked it immediately. Elegant lamps rested on even more elegant side tables. The whole room reminded me of a palace.

      “We have a room upstairs, next to Kiki’s. That will be yours,” Violet said to me.

      I dashed up the stairs and peeked into the first room. It looked like Violet's. Maybe because there was purple all over. So I ran to the next room. It was at the end of the hall. Two doors were right next to each other. I decided to try the one on the right first. It was pretty empty: it was mine. I walked into the spacious room, and in the right hand corner at the back there was another door leading to the bathroom. I had my very own bathroom! I stopped dead. I wasn’t supposed to like it here. She was my thirteenth owner; it was bad luck. I walked around the room a little more slowly, like something might jump out of the walk in closet, or surprise me from under the sleigh bed.

      “Like your room?” a voice sneered from behind me. It was Kiki.

     “Yes, I love it,” I replied, holding my head high, trying not to show that I was a little disappointed that it was as nicely furnished as the rest of the house.

     “I’m not surprised; it suits you. Bland, and like it doesn’t quite fit in.” She was referring to the amount of furniture too.

     I stormed out past her, and made a sharp right turn to her room. It was frilly pink and so crowded with accessories I couldn’t see the floor. It was disgusting.

     “Oh,” I breathed. “Your room suits you too. Shallow,” I said then, clutching to my pride. I forced myself to walk slowly down the hallway to go check on dinner.

     We were all sitting at dinner when Violet broke the silence. “I heard what happened up there,” she said, “and I’ve been seeing those looks, Kiki,” she added sternly.

     “I’m sorry,” I said, and I was. I didn’t like Violet mad at me.

     Violet turned to me; she looked surprised that I said that.

     That night I was sitting in my room. The emptiness was beginning to grow on me. I liked the way I could look at the wall and not see anything but what was inside my mind. It made it easy to think and wonder. It was a long time before I fell asleep, but I slept soundly.

     Violet made French toast for us the next morning. It was my favorite breakfast.

     “I thought we would go shopping today,” Violet said once we were all eating.

     “Yes!” Kiki shouted. “I get an allowance to spend every month,” she bragged to me.

     I rolled my eyes. I never had been to the NC Mall before, but I didn’t think I would be buying anything.

     “Kiki will go clothes shopping, and Colette and I will go to the furniture department. Her room is lacking stuff,” Violet finished, pretending like Kiki hadn’t had her outburst.

     “Th-thank you,” I stammered; I wasn’t used to having people buy me things.

     At the mall I bought a lot of things; all of them were different styles. When Violet commented on it, I simply said, “I want all the styles and this is the only way to get them.” Every time we met up with Kiki she made faces or made rude remarks. Violet never said a thing. It was started to ruin my day.

      At the end of the day Violet said, “We have one more stop.”

      She led us out of the mall, and... toward the pound. Inside I was crying. I liked it here! Here I had my own room; here I had a nice owner. But Violet had to think of her first pet, and clearly Kiki didn’t like me. Kiki noticed too and started giggling. She giggled all the way through the front door. For a second I had a brief hope we were adopting, but no, Violet went straight to Dr. Death’s desk.

     The Doctor smiled at me and I glowered back. “Who are you abandoning today?” he asked Violet, still smiling.

     “Her,” she said, and I heard her hand swish along with her jacket and I didn’t look up.

      “Okay,” Dr. Death replied. “Fill these forms out please.” Violet did and soon Dr. Death was stepping behind the counter to take-- wait, something was wrong. I knew that because Kiki was screaming and Dr. Death was dragging her through the door. Then it clicked; I looked at Violet and she smiled at me.

     “Thought I was taking you home?” she asked, and then laughed. “No, wait, this isn’t your home.”

     “Thank you,” I said; it sounded weak, but I knew Violet knew what I meant. Then I ran after Dr. Death.

      “Don’t put her in my cell!” I said, panting, when he stopped to let me catch up.

     “Of course not,” he said. “It’s yours.”

The End