"Thanks so much Alice." I said again.
"I've told me about a hundred times." Alice said.
"I know, but I want to tell you again." I said. "Thank you so much."
"I didn't know you would be this excited to go and volunteer at an animal shelter." Alice said.
"I'm so happy to." I told her. "I've been getting lonely at home alone all day long." I admitted.
"I know you have, that's the only reason why I agreed to this. I'm still not feeling the whole, I just drop you off thing." Alice told me.
"Come on Alice. I'm fourteen. Fourteen going on fifteen. I'll be in high school this year." I reminded her.
"I know, but you're still my little baby brother." Alice said as she ruffled my hair.
"Hey, hey. Leave the hair alone. You can do that to Max." I said as I pushed her hands away. Alice laughed.
"Funny thing is, that bothers Max too." Alice told me.
"We'll do it to him." I insisted. We drove down the dusty roads, until we reached the small town. Alice pulled up into the parking lot of Pet Paws Animal Shelter. I hoped out of the car quickly and walked through the door after Alice.
"Hello!" Said a friendly lady up front. She had a blue t-shirt that said: Paws Volunteer. "You must be Alice, we talked on the phone yesterday."
"Yup that's me." Alice said.
"And you must be Kyle." The lady said looking at me.
"Yes." I said shortly. I looked around the room. It was painted a light blue color. A small waiting room was in the room, with coaches and magazines. The desk was to the side. I didn't see any animals.
"Well I just need to ask you a few questions Kyle and then you can start working." The lady said. "Oh, I'm Ann by the way. I'm usually around here."
"Nice to meet you." I said.
"So, what's your full name?" Ann asked.
"My full name is Kyle James Forest, but I don't think you need my middle name." I told her.
"We could put it in, but it's not necessary." Ann told me. "How old are you?" She continued.
"14 years old." I told her.
"Have you ever worked at a pet shelter before?" She asked.
"No." I said.
"Ever work with animals before?" She asked.
"No." I told her.
"Ever have a pet?" She asked, trying to get somewhere.
"No." I answered again.
"So, why do you want to volunteer here?" She asked, realizing she was getting nowhere.
"I have a will." I told her.
"Of what?" She asked, looking at me strangely.
"A will to work here. I want to work with the animals, to get to know them, see what you all do, and so one. I want to be a part of this." I told her.
"You're hired!"
I turned around and saw a older looking man. Maybe around his 60s.
"You haven't even met him!" Ann debated.
"Kid what your name?" He asked holding out his hand.
"Kyle." I answered. "Kyle Forest."
"Nice to meet you." He said. "I'm Tom. Now I know the kid Ann. He's hired!" Tim told Ann.
"But-"
"No buts Ann. Get him a t-shirt and teach him the ropes." Tim said. "Besides he sure can give a speech."
"Ummm thanks?" I said.
"Sure thing kid." Tim said. Ann pulled out a t-shirt from behind the counter.
"Here you go Kyle." She said.
"Thanks." I said. I pulled the t-shirt on over the black t-shirt I was wearing.
"I'll show you the pets." Ann told me. I followed her through the door in the back. A large room was in the back. Small cute little fences were around making a path way. Dogs were on the other side of the fences. Puppies and dogs barking and yelping. About twenty of them.
"You have this many?" I asked Ann.
"We have 22 dogs and 15 cats." Ann said. "These numbers including puppies and kittens."
"Is that a lot for a shelter?" I asked her.
"Actually, I'm not sure." Ann told me. We went into the next room, where cats were smuggled in sunny spots. There were some on pillows, others playing with small toys, most of them sleeping.
"We only have three kittens. The other twelve are cats. Not many people want cats, but the kittens go quickly." Ann told me.
"So, do you want to work with the dogs or cats mostly?" Ann asked me.
"Dogs." I said almost immediately.
"Great, I'll show you what you have to do." Ann told me. She went over the rules and what I would be doing. Cleaning after the dogs, and playing with them individually.
The hours pasted my quicker than I ever thought they would.
"Well, it's 6:00 PM already. You might want to get packed up." Ann told me hours later. I washed my hands and waited for Alice up front. Alice pulled up a few minutes later. I ran to the car and jumped in the front seat.
"How was it?" Alice asked.
"Amazing." Was all I said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note
Hope you guys liked it. New characters are coming up in the story.
Thanks for reading!
Written: December 6th, 2016
Word Count: 888
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Broken Silence ✔️
Teen Fiction~Second Book To Mr. Nobody~ Kyle Forest has been through a lot these past few months. 8th grade has finally finished, on a happy note. He's in Michigan and couldn't be happier. When even the summer seems to have a slow start, with Melody being gon...
