kaden the irresistible | re-uploading in process

03 - KADEN THE IRRESISTIBLE

author's note —
i don't know if this is a meme reference i'm not familiar with but kaden's name isn't kayden; there's no y. it's kaden. sorry if that was unclear or i made a typo previously that confused you. thanks!

YES i forgot that friday was friday that happened (s/o to the anon who reminded me). there was an essay and well here we are on monday morning. was (am) high while checking over this so, if you're like ??? wtf this, the answer really is yeah i was (AM) high.

anyway. tell me a weird animal you want for a pet or an animal that'd be weird to have as a pet.

see you friday, bottoms

03 - KADEN THE IRRESISTIBLE
(first draft, unedited, 2016-18)

"So, you wanna go to this little racin' event later with me?" Deena Rodriguez asked over the phone, words spotty due to the barking on my end, "I've friends with the guy who organizes it, so it'd be free. I still feel guilty about that party the other—what is that? Is that Kit?"

The sixteen pound bag of dog food dropped between my hands, and the weight hit the floor with a soft thud. My phone was sandwiched between my ear and shoulder, and I grasped it in one hand. I covered the speaker as the barks became louder than before. With my two-finger whistle, a deafening echo, the noise ceased.

I adjusted the phone and pressed it lightly to my ear. "Hey." My voice was winded, and I took a stabling breath. "I'm feeding the dogs at the shelter right now. Some lady donated a bunch of cash, and we got the premium food, and they can really smell it. Um, anyway, the street race? Sure. Can you call me back though? I've still got thirty-two bowls to fill."

"Oh, OK. Sure," Deena replied. "Just text me when you're done, and I'll give you all the details."

The call ended. I surveyed the wide corridor, against both walls large cages were home to varying dog breeds. Many had their noses pushed against the steel links, eagerly awaiting to have their bowls refilled. There was an arising set of whines and yelping, but, this time, I didn't put an end to it.

I dropped my phone in my pocket. The bag of food was going to be a bitch to lift again, and I inhaled in preparation. That distinctive smell of dog drowned my nostrils. Despite how pungent, it no longer bothered me, being used to it for a long time.

"All right," I bellowed with authority, and the noise simpered which made me smile. "Who's hungry?" This time, there was an eruption of excited barks, whines, and whimpers, and it nearly blew my eardrum out. Nonetheless, I kept my smile and went on to finish my rounds.

Feeding time took a standard thirty minutes, however, for me, it took an additional fifteen minutes. I had no self control when it came to these animals—whenever they whined or barked for my attention, I had to give in. You'd assume four years of this, and there'd be some sort of resistance.

The summer before my first year of high school, I began volunteering at Humane Rescue. Initially, the days spent cleaning, feeding, and walking animals were to serve the purpose of keeping me busy while my mom worked. It was a few months after my father's death, and she had to become a workaholic in order to keep my sister and me supported.

Humane Rescue was where Kit was adopted from. My mom refused to get a pet after she deemed me too irresponsible to take care of a six week old puppy. It took a few weeks of working there and a little convincing from volunteer supervisor, she agreed.

Until my apprenticeship at the shelter, I wasn't aware how much I loved animals. What was intended nothing more than busy work, had turned out to be my future career. I always played around with ideas of what my future would be, I drifted from hobby to hobby, all meaningless inevitably because my passion for animals was unmatched.