Cupping my hands around my mouth, I exhaled. Feeling my warm breath make contact with my ice-cold hands, I sighed in content. It was exceptionally chilly - downright freezing today.
I'm not sure what caused the sudden drop in temperature, since it was considerably much bearable a few hours before. Shaking my head slightly, I pulled out my phone from my back pocket.
11:45 AM
Hm.. It was almost time for lunch. I wonder what I should make for today. Slipping my phone back to where it was, I continued on my walk. Turning around a corner, I caught sight of my target. The supermarket.
Thank god, a little longer here in the cold and I swear I might get frostbite. Quickening my pace, I walked briskly towards the shop.
Meow..
I perked up upon hearing the sound. What was that?
Meow...
I heard it once again, this time it sounded more distressed than the previous one. It must be a stray cat.. But where was it?
Turning around, I faced a small alleyway - squeezed between two apartment buildings. It was narrow; fitting one person in there would prove to be a challenge.
Meow!
There it was again! This time it was louder - as if the cat knew I had noticed it. "Kitty? Please come out if you're in that alley, it's too narrow for me to go in." I called, positioning myself at the opening of the alleyway, in hopes of my voice reaching the cat's ears.
Moments later, a ball of fur with eyes surfaced. It stared at me with caution, reflected so clearly in its crimson red eyes. Bending down, I held out a hand for it to sniff. "It's okay, my name is (Y/N) (L/N). I'm not going to hurt you." I whispered, watching it slowly inch closer to me.
Taking a whiff of my scent, it thrusted its head into my hand as I chuckled. "You poor thing.." I hummed as I rubbed under its chin.
It meowed in response, the same meow I heard just moments ago. This was indeed the same cat, thankfully. I would hate to accidentally abandon the cat I was calling for earlier.
I unzipped my jacket and showed it to the cat standing before it. "It's okay. I'll wrap you up here, and you'll be nice and warm." I motioned for it to come closer, as it approached me - still with the same amount of weariness as before.
Once it stood close enough to me, I grabbed it and wrapped my arms around it as softly as I could. The poor cat squeaked in surprise as it initially struggled. Wrapping it under my jacket, I quickly zipped it up, preventing it from escaping.
"It's okay, it's okay.." I said as calmly as I could, as the cat stopped struggling against me. It stared back at me with its large doe-like eyes, it's pupils fully dilated. I put a hand to it slowly, letting it sniff me once more before I gave it a small pat on its head.
"We're going to the supermarket, I'll pick up some food for you." I said to it, as it mewed softly in response - as if understanding my sentence.