The sleeves of her shirt got all wet as she pushed the plastic cage with the cat down into the bathtub. The shrill cries from the animal ceased as the water drowned all sounds.
She saw the horrified look on Mitchell's face as he realized what she was doing, and he made a move to stop her but something made him decide not to. Maybe it was easier for him, not having to make the decision. Easier just to leave the hard choices to someone else.
Tears ran down her cheeks and she bit hard on her lip to keep from making any sobbing noises. They waited.
The footsteps could once again be heard, moving slowly, carefully away. Time dragged while they waited for the footsteps to completely disappear. Jenna's hands shook violently as she, inch by inch, lifted the cage out of the water, trying her hardest not to cause the water to make a sound as it drained from the cage.
Mitchell finally moved in and looked into the cage.
2 comments:
I fixed the grammar and word choice a bit...I also named the girl (but only to help the flow of the story...please feel free to change the name!).
This is already making me sad.
Do you want me to add stuff? Do you have an idea of the direction this will go, so that I can stick close to it? (If you want me to contribute, that is.)
"He's not dead!" Mitchell whispered and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jenna opened the cage and pulled the cat's limp body out and hugged it to her chest. Her squeezing was enough to start the cat coughing and wheezing, water spraying out of its lungs. The cat flailed and fled Jenna's grasp, and cowered behind the toilet, coughing and shaking the water out of its ears.
Mitchell fell to his knees and held Jenna, rocking her. She was so relieved, not just for the cat, but also for the fact that they evaded the Nuovo-Gestapo. For now.
* * *
Jenna held the cat in her lap, towelling him off while Mitchell made some sandwiches in the relative safety of the abandoned tenement building.
"We can't stay here anymore." He looked dejected. Jenna knew he had hoped this could be a more permanent refuge.
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