Like You For Always

Prologue

"Here kitty kitty," I beckon to the skittish kitten hiding under the abandoned building.

The kitten gives me a terrified look and scampers deeper under the support beams. I had already blocked off all the holes I could find and was trying to corral the kitten to one spot to try and capture it. My aunt had told me about the feral cat that had given birth in her shed and she had already captured the other kittens and taken them to a shelter. She told me if I caught this last one, I could keep it.

Growing up I was no stranger to stray cats and was very good at capturing and befriending them. I grew up in the country so we always had male cats wandering onto our land and impregnating this one tabby cat who liked to hang around our house. I estimate that I have owned more than twenty-five cats in my life and I'm only nineteen. I could probably tell you all their names still.

I look up a video on the internet of cats meowing and set my phone on one side of the shed while I quietly hide next to the one open hole on the other side of the shed. After a few minutes of listening to cats yowling, I see a couple of fuzzy ears prick up out of the hole intrigued by the sounds. The tiny kitten sneaks out of the hole and slowly inches towards my phone. Once it's clear from the hole I drop a piece of wood over the hole which spooks the kitten who practically jumps into my arms trying to retreat into the hole.

"Shhhhh..." I soothe the poor thing trying to calm it.

The kitten burrows its head into the crook of my elbow trying to hide under the fabric of my hoodie. I walk back to the house to show my aunt the little rug rat. The kitten is speckled with orange and black and I instantly know it's a girl. Calicos and tortoiseshells are always girls.

"She's tiny!" my aunt exclaims, "The other kittens were much bigger than that."

"She's probably the runt. Must have gotten pushed out from the other kittens."

I thank my aunt and carry the kitten to my car. I didn't even think about bringing a cat carrier. My other cat always just sits in my lap when I take her places. Sometimes I take her for drives when I'm going to the drive-thru and she loves putting her paws up on the armrest and looking out the window.

I set the tiny fluff ball on my lap once I had the door shut and start to drive home. She doesn't move an inch the entire drive and eventually falls asleep. Poor baby is probably exhausted from running around and who knows when she last ate.

"What should I name you?" I asked rhetorically to the sleeping kitten.

Tortoiseshells are known to be feisty independent cats so I want something that resembles that independence. I think of all the feisty fictional characters I can, taking glances at the kitten every once in a while, for inspiration.

Katniss.

Mileena.

Trice.

Hermione.

Natalia.

Fiona.

Fiona.

That was it. A sweet-sounding name but a sassy character.

"What do you think, Fiona?"

Fiona stretches her paws above her head and gives a heavy sigh.