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 Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:57 pm
"Mr. Kitty needs a kiss before we go!"
Ahili held out the old and worn down dog plushie, sticking it right at her mother's chest (seeing as she wasn't quite tall enough to push it under her nose). The young woman chuckled, plucking the plushie from her daughter's tiny hands and giving it a kiss on the forehead. Ahili was extremely childish, even at her age, and the young mother had no idea why her daughter insisted on carrying around a plushie when every other kid she was friends with thought of it as immature.
It didn't seem to bother Ahili, and she was quite comfortable with the fact that Mr. Kitty was her best friend. Really, who wouldn't want a better friend than a stuffed animal who never argued with you? Besides, Mr. Kitty was the only who didn't complain about his name. He said he liked it, and that he was very glad that Ahili was his friend.
"Are you sure you don't want a kiss too?" Her mother asked sweetly, and the girl pressed the stuffed dog to her cheek, a goofy grin on her face.
"Nope! Mr. Kitty passed your love onto me!" The girl gigggled, turning around and skipping out the pet store. "By-bye!" She called to her mother, and probably the little kitten that was trying to follow her out the door.
"Be safe, and come back by five o'clok!" Her mother said softly, though it was very clearly a demand. She may let her children run about, but she did not let Ahili be out too late. A child needed freedom, and that was what she was giving her daughter.
Ahili skipped away down the streets, recognizing nearly every corner, and every alleyway. This was her home, although it was on the poorer side of town. It was perfect, and her mother's and father's pet shop was doing amazingly well. It gave Ahili the chance to bring home abandoned animals to be sold and given to good homes. That's what Ahili spent most of her days doing, finding cute adorable animals to bring home to her parents. It made some kids jealous, because their parents would ground them for bringing anything home.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:19 pm
Uzoma tapped the edge of an index card against his gloved palm with the other hand, whistling to himself as he walked down an alleyway. He had another "shopping list" today. Nothing terribly important, though; it was just a few things he had decided to seek out on a whim so he could play with them. That, or things that were useful for just about anything, of which he never quite seemed to have enough.
He knew the back streets best, since that was where the trash was easiest to find, but there were still treasures to be found on the main streets. The boy gave his list another quick glance before looking back out along the walls, in the gutters, anywhere something useful might be hiding.
People generally did not catch his attention quite like a discarded lamp or worn-out washing machine might, but Uzoma did take notice of the girl with the stuffed animal as she skipped along on the other side of the street. He paused a moment by the curb to wave to her.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:14 am
Ahili had almost not noticed the friendly wave. She was concentrating too hard on finding lost animals or abandoned ones. But, what came with this concentration was the recognition of things that went on around you. Her eyes would catch every motion made, hoping that it would be an animal that she could bring home. Mr. Kitty would be so happy if she managed to save another life. One life each day... and by five years she'd have saved thousands of lives! Ahili would be a hero!
Her eyes snapped to the wave, and the largest of smiles was upon her face in an instant. Her arm shot up in the air, waving enthusiastically back to him. Then her arm was followed by the other, who waved Mr. Kitty around in the air as if making sure that Mr. Kitty was polite as well. The girl suddenly realized that Mr. Kitty didn't like it, and began cooing to him softly. She was such an odd child... but though, admittedly cute.
With a small little idea sparking into her mind she skipped across the street (which luckily no cars were traveling on it at the moment), and over to Uzoma. "Hello," she said breathlessly, and then repeated the same thing so Mr. Kitty could greet him. "I was wondering if you have seen any animals around... I'd like to take them home."
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:12 pm
"Animals?" Uzoma repeated, instinctively checking his shopping list before remembering that she meant something different. "No, I haven't seen any yet," he admitted.
He glanced her over quickly, taking in only the most obvious things like her pink hair and plush companion, before looking away again down a nearby alley. Suddenly feeling that his previous answer to his question was somehow insufficient, he added after a moment, "Sometimes animals hang out in the dark alleys and stuff. If... you want to come with me an' look or something."
He glanced up at her and smiled a bit awkardly. The company was certainly not mandatory, as Uzoma was quite content to go off on his own all the time, but he felt like it would be rude /not/ to offer, at least.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:45 am
A sudden look of disappoint was upon her face when he told her that he had not spotted any animals. How could he have missed seeing an animal without a home? Oh... she was going to be in for a long day of searching. But, at the same time she did not mind that too much. Doing what she loved was always a reason to be happy.
But, Uzoma was about to give her another reason to be happy. "I would really like to come with you and look! It's really dark in the alleys and Mr. Kitty doesn't like the dark." She pushed the plushies head back and forth, making the stuffed dog nod.
Her smile widened, as if she was pleased with herself for being able to make Mr. Kitty nod. "I'm Ahili, by the way, so you know how to address me in case Mr. Kitty gets lost and I have to go find him." Ahili was more than pleased to accompany Uzoma anywhere, basically because Mr. Kitty couldn't entertain her forever, and Uzoma's company was more than welcomed.
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:17 pm
The boy blinked and shifted his feet a bit, somewhere between pleased and startled that his offer had been so eagerly accepted.
"I'm Uzoma," he told her, glancing down at his gloved palm and brushing it off on his coat for a moment before holding his hand out to her.
"You... save animals, then?" he asked rather awkwardly after a moment. "Sounds like a fun job. I collect junk and build with it. I'm out collecting now, actually. Not sure what I'll do with it yet, but it's good to have certain things on hand, you know?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 10:56 am
Ahili eagerly thrust out her own hand, giving his a firm shake before her hand was replaced by Mr. Kitty's paw. With a little bit of strain Ahili managed to get Mr. Kitty to shake paw and hand with Uzoma, as if this was of the utmost importancy. "Mr. Kitty and I think it is a great honor to meet you, Uzoma."
She smiled widely at the mention of saving animals. She always loved hearing other people say that, even if it wasn't exactly praise. Ahili wanted everyone to know what she did, and that she was proud that she could save cute little kitties and puppies, and sometimes the not-so-cute animals as well. She was a brave girl and could handle everything!
A little bob of the head was given in reply to his question, signaling that she did indeed rescue animals. Oh, look, he rescued junk! That was helpful and kept the streets cleaner. He was like a super hero as she was too! "That's awesome, and it sure does sound like fun. You can collect your junk, and I can collect my animals when we go out searching."
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:46 pm
Uzoma was a bit perplexed for a moment as he shook the stuffed animal's hand- er, paw, but he quickly smiled again. He had had a pet for a while, a small scrawny cat he had found one day while searching for junk, but it had died a few years before. He had been quite young at the time, but that only made the death of the little thing even more troubling.
Junk never died, at least. 'cept batteries, but those did not count.
"Uh, sure, we can both look," he replied with a grin. This would be interesting, having someone along. The tinkerer desperately hoped he would not frighten away any animals, though. He had done so in the past, and he feared that Ahili would get mad at him if it happened again. She was a sweet girl, if a bit strange, and he did not want to upset her or anything.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 5:51 pm
He seemed a bit surprised, Ahili observed, and those were rare moments when she took the time to observe anything. Of course, if it was an animal she could observe it's health all day long. But, when it came to other things... they didn't quite catch her attention as animals did. But, Uzoma was catching her attention enough that she could put her mind to the task of guessing how he was feeling. Suprised, but seemingly happy for the company.
"Great!" She exclaimed with great enthusiasm, and then she was off, skipping down the street in her merry little attitude. "C'mon, we can check the next alley! I always find lots of animals in the alley, and you will probably find more junk than I will find animals." She looked back to him, that childish grin still upon her face. Afterall, she was a child, and perhaps the most childish of all the children. "Hurry up!"
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:55 pm
Well, she was a more fast-paced than he was used to, but Uzoma thought Ahili would be fun to join for today. "Right, that sounds like a good idea." His smile was still a bit shy and hesitant, but he happily followed her off down towards one of the alleyways.
"So, your friend's name is Mister Kitty?" he asked after a moment, glancing at the plush. Uzoma was a bit uncomfortable with the silence, so he thought he would just make a little small-talk while they poked about in the alley >.>;
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:34 am
Ahili contented herself with looking behind trash cans for any signs of animals that she could take home. Rats were out of the question, and mommy had warned her that they could carry diseases. So, Ahili never brought home the rodents that frequented the alleys. She was an enthusiastic girl, but a good one.
"Oh, yes, he is!" She put a lid back on the trash can, one hand immediately flying to her nose and plugging it from the stench. People were really dirty... and so wasteful. The rats liked it, sure enough, but Ahili didn't. "I got him when I was real young, and he looked like a kitty to me then. But, he's a doggie, but I didn't want to change his name so it is still Mr. Kitty." Another warm smile was given to him, urging him to look for his junk while she looked for her animals.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:14 pm
Uzoma laughed a little, and paused a moment beside a pair of cardboard boxes. He peered into one of them for a moment before sticking his hand in to rummage around a bit.
"I guess he does kinda look like a cat sort of," he told her as he went through the discarded metal and plastic things in the box. "And it seems like Mr. Kitty fits him. Good name."
With a triumphant smile, Uzoma withdrew an unbroken lightbulb from the box and held it up in both hands to examine it. "Sometime when I'm better at building stuff, I wanna try to make a toy dog that walks or something," he said, then sighed upon discovering that the bulb's filament was broken.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:13 am
It made Ahili more than happy to know that Uzoma agreed with her, if only slightly. Mr. Kitty didn't look like a kitty all that much, and often the other kids laughed at Mr. Kitty because of his name. Ahili would always have to comfort her companion, who more than often was deeply distressed by the kids hatred of him for being a dog plushie given a cat name. But, as long as Mr. Kitty had Ahili, Mr. Kitty was perfectly fine. They were friends, the best of friends, and Ahili would never give away the place Mr. Kitty had in her small, but warm, heart.
"Then Mr. Kitty could make a new friend!" Ahili exclaimed, happily gazing at the unbroken lightbulb that Uzoma had found. He was finding things more easily than Ahili was, for she was yet to locate any animal at all. There wasn't a whimper, or a grumbling tummy in the whole alley way. She'd just have to check another, after Uzoma had found all he wanted. Ahili wasn't eager to leave her new-found friend.
"There aren't any animals in here," she said in slight despair, and it seemed to be the only thing that could dampen her mood.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:38 am
Uzoma spent another minute or two looking through the trashboxes. He found a few items he thought would be useful and stowed them away in the deep pockets of his long coat, then stood again, smiling a little at Ahili.
"You can pick where we go next," he offered. Maybe she would better know where to find animals. Uzoma wondered how easy it was for her to find creatures. He certainly did not have much trouble finding garbage.
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