We Are One

Chapter 7

*Will*

Will's favorite day of the week was probably Saturday, because he volunteered at the animal hospital. It really helped him learn more about medics, because he wanted to be a doctor after he graduated high school. He also liked that he could volunteer during the hours he wanted. He chose to help out from 12 to 4pm, so he could sleep in on Saturday.

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Sleeping in till 11h30 felt amazing. So much better than the last couple of days. Why do they have to start school so early? Will asked himself, getting out of bed. He wore his usual clothes, khakis and a t-shirt, and headed towards the kitchen. Eating a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast, he walked out the door, mounted his bike, and pedaled his way to the animal shelter.

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"Hello Will!" Mrs. Watkins greeted. "It's nice to see you here early today!" She smiled. She was watering the flowers that led along the path to the door of the shelter.

"Yeah! I just wanted to look at the animals in the back that were still recovering, you know, to see how they're doing?" Will said, locking up his bike.

"Of course! Of course! Feel free to look around! You know how the place works." She said smiling.

"Thank you!" Will said over his shoulder as he entered the building.

He walked inside and headed to the back, passing the waiting room, examination rooms, bathrooms, and the x-ray room. Opening the door to the animal housing, he was greeted by a flurry of barking.

The shelter had five rooms in this wing, one for dogs up for adoption, a room that held the dogs that were recently either brought in from the streets, or no longer wanted by their owners. There was the same system for the cats and one more room for the other animals up for adoption, such as; birds, rabbits, gerbils, rats, and guinea pigs. The recovering smaller critters were adjoined in the room for recovering cats. In another wing there were three smaller rooms for cats, dogs, and small critters that were sick and were required to recover at the shelter. The spayed and neutered animals that were adopted also stayed there.

Will passed by the dogs, glancing at them as he went. They all look nice and healthy, that's good. Will was thinking about adopting a dog, but he had a special golden retriever in mind. He opened the Employees Only door with his keycard, and it was much more quiet inside. Most of the dogs were laying down and sleeping, except for a couple who were on there feet and looking quietly scared at Will. They were scared that he was going to hurt them, for they were abused before they came to the shelter, and they didn't trust any humans anymore, yet. Will kept walking to the back of the room where the golden retriever lay sadly, her head on her paws. As soon as Will came into her view, she jumped up and growled, showing off her teeth.

Will sat down in front of her cage and looked at her sadly. "How are you feeling April?" He whispered softly.

She just growled in reply. April had patches of lost fur, that was slowly starting to grow back in fuzzy fur. Her right ear was clipped, and she had a very bony frame. She had a few scars on her back, where her previous owner had whipped her. Her treatment was reported by several neighbors, and the shelter picked her up and took her here. Will had come to the shelter almost everyday this summer to see how she was doing. Though she looked physically much better, her behavior toward him had been consistently the same since he met her, but he had been working hard to find ways for her to trust him and it has been a slow process. Nico sort of reminded him of her.

He fished a treat out of his pocket and poked it through the a hole in the fence of the cage, quickly withdrawing his hand, otherwise April would've most definitely bit it off. She stalked forward warily, and snatched the treat in her mouth, only to immediately back away. "I thought I would find you here!" Mrs. Watkins said, opening the door. "We have a patient and I thought you might want to help me examine their sick cat." She said.