AAOOOSC! Exposed!

Later that night, Kale is snuggled in his bed, fast asleep. His room is extremely dim with the only light being the soft rays of moonlight seeping through his curtain-covered window. The atmosphere is still, cool, and quiet, making it a peaceful night.

Mew. Mew. Mew.

His eyes flutter wide open at the peculiar squeaky sound.

Mew. Mew. Mew.

His eyebrows scrunch with a frown of annoyance forming on his face.

Mew. Mew. Mew.

With a groan, Kale flips over to his stomach with his face against the mattress, snatches his pillow, and stuffs it on his head and against his ears.

Mew. Mew. Mew.

From underneath the large pillow, he growls: “Uggghhh…!”

Mew. Mew. Mew.

Kale promptly sits up, his eyes wide with a frown on his mouth as his hair sticks up in all directions. Yet in the still darkness, he still hears:

Mew. Mew. Mew.

He lets out a huge, reluctant huff, dropping his stiff facial expression. He then slips off his bed, rounds it, and shuffles out of his bedroom.

The meows grow louder as Kale stumbles through his dark hallway and into the foyer. He halts in front of the front door, half-mindedly fumbles with the door’s locks, and finally pulls the heavy door open.

Mew! Mew! Mew! the meows ring crystal-clear from below.

Kale lowers his eyes at the direction of the meows’ source.

By his feet is a small kitten with patches of tan, orange, white, and black covering its fluffy coat of fur and large, emerald-coloured eyes. It stares up at the person after looking ahead at the door and continues crying:

Mew! Mew! Mew!

Kale’s scowl instantly falls into a look of compassion toward the small animal that woke him up. He lets out a chortle before squatting down to meet its eye level.

The kitten looks down and continues its whining meows: Mew! Mew! Mew!

“Hey, little guy,” Kale murmurs to him with curious eyes. “What are you doing meowing in the middle of the night?”

The kitten peers back up at him. It waves a paw at him in a helpless motion and meows.

“You got no other place to be?”

The kitten drops its paws and continues forcing out meows.

Kale lets out a soft sigh, answering the questions himself. “Okay, you can come with me.”

With that, Kale reaches out each of his hands on each side of the kitten and gently scoops it up into his grasp. He brings it to his chest as he rises back to his full height; it continues meowing.

Kale perks down at it, cradling its head with one hand as he has his other hand pressed against its back. “Shhh, shhh, shhh, it’s okay, you’re safe, you’re with me.”

The kitten lets out one last squeak before nuzzling the crook of his neck and falling into silence.

A small smile forms on Kale’s face. “There you go, little buddy. Let’s go in.”

Kale turns around and steps into his house, kicking the door closed. He makes his way through the dusky living room and elbows the light switch by the kitchen to bring light into the kitchen.

Then he pulls one hand from the kitten’s head to be able to open a cabinet, pull out a rectangular container, and drop it on the island’s surface. He then places the kitten into the box.

The kitten stares around the unfamiliar surroundings with much confusion written across its small face. It looks up and spots the person exiting its sight.

Mew!

A few moments later, the human returns to its sight, picks it up, drapes a small blanket inside the container, and then places it back in the container.

Kale gazes at the kitten with thought. “Okay, you must be hungry…” He whirls around, steps over to the fridge, and opens it. “What do cats eat…?”

The kitten peers ahead at him with inquisitiveness in its large green eyes. He then cranes its head down as a bowl of water and a bowl of chopped cooked chicken is placed in front of it.

Kale has his eyes on the kitten’s options for food. “That’s all I have for now. I don’t have any cats myself, so I don’t have any cat food.” He looks back at the kitten. “Tomorrow, I’ll get some, that’s for sure.”

The kitten leans over to the bowl of chicken and begins to contently nibble on the meaty chunks.

Kale gazes down at the heartwarming scene with a toothy grin growing. “There we go.”

The kitten then moves onto the water and laps it.

Another thought pops into Kale’s mind: “What’s your name?” He scrutinizes the animal’s neck, spotting that it has no collar. “You don’t have a name.” His eyes then light up at a name. “You know what? I’ll name you ‘King.’” He smirks at it. “How about that?”

The kitten simply curls up in its container bed and purrs to himself with slitted eyes.

Kale happily gawks at the kitten’s response. “Aw-haw, you’re so adorable! ‘King’ it is!” He then pulls the dishes away from the cat, stores them in the refrigerator, and returns to him.

The kitten is now in a deep sleep with its eyes completely closed and a constant purr.

“Okay, you’re going to my room,” Kale tells it softly. “I don’t trust you here all alone.” He gingerly lifts the container back into his grasp and begins to leave the kitchen. “Well, thank you for not meowing anymore.”

With that, he elbows the light switch once again, flooding the kitchen back into darkness.

Notes

The kitten: