Lost Change

Chapter 38

Twenty-three sunrises to go.

I scurried down from the windowsill and ran towards the couch, then began clawing at the hard log that leaned against it.

I had finally gotten used to being outside the cage. I still didn't like it, but it was tolerable enough now that I felt comfortable wandering around the living room so long as the Kymari stayed on the couch.

If she got up and moved around I would run straight back to the dubious protection of my 'den', but if it seemed like she was going to be working on her tablet and listening to the screen for a few hours, I felt comfortable enough. Usually I would sprawl in the sand underneath the warm heat lamp - at some point Trenil must have clued her in that those things worked a lot better above the thing you wanted to heat, and she had placed it appropriately - but I also felt safe enough venturing out to eat and drink from the bowls left for me, or even shredding the log that rested against the couch.

The tray of dirt had gradually moved down the hallway and into the bathroom. I hoped that might have been part of some long term plot to train me to use Kymari plumbing - I doubted the other former humans were any happier using a litter box than I was, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that they had worked out some way of tricking the Kymari into 'teaching' them to use the toilet. I had already figured out how to jump from the toilet up to the sink without hurting my leg or jarring my wings, and had been washing my hands when I was sure the Kymari wasn't watching. I wasn't sure what the red dirt was made out of, but I doubted it stayed very clean for long, and I didn't much care for the idea of walking around in it and then using my hands to eat with.

If the Kymari had noticed or considered it odd, she hadn't said anything.

The plant in the corner was still hanging on, but only barely. I had taken to dumping my own water into the dry soil when the Kymari was out. It was a bit tricky to balance the bowl of water and climb up the side of the planter, and I usually spilled some into the carpet, but most of the time I managed to get the majority of the water into the dirt.

I had tried to drag the planter to the other side of the room, so the plant could be in front of the window where the poor plant clearly needed to be, but it was too heavy.

Oh well. I had tried.

I still wasn't sleeping that well, but I hadn't really expected that to change. I hadn't slept well since Susie had died, and I doubted anything here would make up for that. The Kymari would wake up a little bit before dawn to watch me sing, and then she would go back into her bedroom to rest some more. She still didn't seem to be sleeping well, either.

An hour or two before noon she would get back up and leave the house, then be gone for most of the day. I would have the run of most of the house - she kept the doors to her bedroom and to the office closed after that first day of running around - and she would return as the day wore on into evening. She would take care of a few chores - refilling my bowl of water, cleaning out the tray of dirt, and so on - and then she would sink into the couch. She would fiddle around on her tablet and listen to background noise on the screen for an hour... then she would put the tablet away and turn her attention to me.

Usually she just tried to get me to accept treats from her or chase the knotted rope around, and after a few nights I began to give in and accept the treats... but occasionally she would try to get me to do a trick of some kind for the reward. I didn't care how good the sunburst berries tasted, I was not going to 'sit' on command for her.

From time to time something would happen that would lead me to scratching and biting her, which also led to my ending up doped out on the sedatives for a while. And Ivy had been right - the worst part about lying limp in her lap and being pet for a few hours was that I found myself a little less upset with her the next day. I had even begun having the occasional thought of seeking her out for a backrub when my back itched too much, which bothered me.