Lost and Found

Lost and Found

Tiff backed further into the small opening. It was tight, but that made it safer. When it got lighter he could sleep hidden away from the people. If only he had found more food.

He’d spent the night rummaging, but he must have wandered into a place where there was no food. He’d barely found enough to stop the grumbling; certainly not enough to stop the hunger. Yet he knew from experience that when daylight came, it was dangerous to be out.

Pushing back further, a loose stone rolled back out, and then he heard someone shout, “Over here!” Staying as still as a statue, he could hear people now, whispering outside. Suddenly a huge face looked in.

“There you are,” someone said softly. Tiff closed his eyes, trying to be invisible, but as the face moved away, hands reached in and before he could do anything, grabbed him, pulling him out. “We’ve been looking for you.”

The man carried him across the park to a truck and put him in a box with bars across the sides. Then, another man said, “No, he’s too scared. I’ll just hold him.” And he lifted him up, cuddling him close to his warm chest. The truck pulled away.

The man held him softly. Tiff stopped being so afraid, it had been a very long time since he had been touched, he had forgotten people could be kind. Maybe it wouldn’t last, but Tiff decided right then and there to enjoy every touch of these big rough hands. He looked up into the face of the man. The man smiled down at him, so he reached up and licked his face.

By the time the truck got to the shelter, the man holding Tiff didn’t want to let him go. And he didn’t.