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Story: Mini Chapter 1
The wind was only a faint reminder of the moisture that would fill the air later in the afternoon and evening. Zach trudged along the still dry sidewalk, weighted down by his backpack, and the bordom that dragged at his consciousness. He took a glance at his digital watch. 3:25pm, Thursday the 20th of December. At least tomorrow would be Friday, and the last day of school before winter break. He left the small residential neighborhood around the high school, and turned onto a larger street. Medium and small stores attempted to capture his interest, but he'd seen most of them before. Ok, whatever, so this small one was going out of business, well so was that one. So that's what's coming in next. Ok, so? He rolled one shoulder, cracking it comfortably. Slowly, the small spaces betwixt the buildings became alleys, and then small, weed infested yards. A couple of deserted lots popped out, nondescript, their parched dirt about to be refreshed by the coming rain. Zach shook his slightly-too-long brown hair and looked up. The residential houses were encroaching on the abandoned lots again, but one small building caught his eye. A ramshackle building, with shingles slowly drooping towards the edge of the sagging, weather-blackened roof, is looked rather old and defunct, but there was a peculiar....aura about it. Also, Zach couldn't remember if it had been there the day prior. He shifted his backpack, which had been slipping unheeded towards the end of his shoulder. Then he slowly, hesitatingly made his way up to the window in the front of the building. As he approached, he began to realize that it was some sort of shop. Finally, 10 feet away from the door and display window, which was cracked and dirty, he realized it was a pet store. Pfft. The animals in there, if there are any more, couldn't be very healthy, he thought derisively. He peered in, and a couple of cages materialized out of the gloom. A cat, orange tabby, flicked its tail and did not deign to acknowledge his presence. Perched upon a branch near the top, some sort of indistinguishable bird peered at him, and then hautily turned up it's beak, clearing it's throat with a hiccupping squawk. In one of the cages at right about eye level, on the right side of the widow, a youngish rat, solid smoky gray, ran on it's wheel. At the noise from the bird, issued rather like a harrumph, the rat slowed, and stepped nimbly off of the still-swinging wheel. It stretched, then turned, and looked directly at him. Climbing through the brown papery chunks of bedding on the bottom of it's cage, the rat paused before the side of it's cage. For a moment, Zach and the rodent simply stared at each other. Then, the rat raised onto two legs and slowly placed it's forepaws on the glass that made up the walls of it's home. It sniffed and twitched it's whiskers, as if trying to identify Zach by some nonexistant scent that couldnt possibly have made it's way past two walls of glass. With a squeak, the rat dissapointedly slid it's paws off of the glass, and turned it's head dejectedly to the side, still twitching it's whiskers. That last move started Zach, and he pulled himself away from the window, instead pushing open the door, which graoned loudly in protest. His footfalls did not disturb the thick dust on the floor, but to solidify it more thoroughly into the wood planks below. Once inside, his adjusting eyes made out dozens of other cages, although a very few were occupied. As he made his way to the cage that held the rat, he vaguely registered that some large lizard, a chocolate-brown cat, and another bird, this time a grisly looking parrot, all watched him hungrily. After only a moment, he stood over the rat, who had been waiting for him. It blinked, placed one paw on the glass again, this time on the opposite side of the cage from the window. He crouched, balancing on the balls of his feet, and placed one finger on the glass, where the rat's paw lay.
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