Chapter Text
Freedom at last! It took quite a lot of doing, but eventually Delia managed to chew through that wooden barrier and free herself from the confines of that horribly lonely house.
She flopped onto the grass, hungrily breathing in the fresh air and bathing in sunshine as she rolled around the sweet greenery for a moment. It felt glorious to be outside! However...where were her humans? She thought maybe they'd gotten stuck out here but none were to be seen. She was getting hungry and they were super late to feed her.
Delia walked around the side of the house, eventually heading down the driveway toward the curb beside a pair of garbage cans the neighbors set out. On top of one , awash in sunlight, was a large golden-orange tabby cat. His eyes were half closed and he seemed quite peaceful. Delia seated herself next to him and looked up the street one way, then down the other way. Then she looked up at the cat.
"Are you waiting too?" she eventually asked the dosing feline.
"We are all waiting for something, pup," came his somewhat cryptic response.
"But..." Delia, clearly not understanding, looked around at the largely empty neighborhood. "There's just us."
The cat issued a deep sigh and opened his eyes, which were partially rolled. He would not be getting his nap right now.
"No, I am not waiting for anything," he clarified dryly, much to her confusion.
"Oh..."
Now Delia was at a dead-end again. She looked down at her paws, a deep frown on her muzzle. The cat side-eyed her and was content to leave her be initially, but his curiosity was peaked by the strange anomaly.
"And, what is it you are waiting for?" he asked gently.
"I dunno...food?"
Which was true. She was waiting to be fed but, also, she was kind of at a loss about what to do in general. She looked at him with a tilted head and no confidence. The cat however, was humored by her response.
"Well pup, it will not come lay itself before you if that's what you are insinuating," he advised with a chuckle.
"Uh...oh." She seemed disappointed, also uncertain about the word 'insinuating'. "It used to, I mean, someone brought it but. Yeah." And that was the truth. Food was always just brought to her...why would it be different now?
"Then go back inside, where someone will bring it to you," the cat offered coolly, adjusting his front paws and preparing to be done with the interaction.
"But I can't!" Delia yelled, causing the cat to snap his head to her with wide-eyed alarm. She recoiled guiltily, knowing she'd startled him. Her voice was quieter now. "I mean...there's nobody there anymore."
"Maybe if you employ a bit of patience they will return," he responded, a little less patient this time.
"But its already been a long time and I'm so hungry!" Delia complained, her head drooping again followed by a loud whine.
"And exactly how many sunrises have passed?" His question was sarcastic. In the cats mind this was just a young spoiled house pet who escaped their yard and had no clue how object permanence worked.
"Iunno..." Delia looked at her paws, using them to count how many times she'd seen the sun rise. She put two front ones out, and then slid one of her back paws out so it was sort of next to them. "This many." Three sunrises.
"Oh!" The cat was alarmed. He expected the answer to be zero, not three of all things! That could only mean... "Oh I see...that is a situation then isn't it."
She was abandoned. He'd been abandoned once too.
"I thought maybe if I wait out here, they'll see me and give me my food," Delia added miserably, disappointed they hadn't shown up yet.
"My dear sweet pup," The cat began gently, wearing a look of empathy, "I do not think that is going to happen."
"Oh no, really?" Delia looked up at him, her eyes glossy and threatening to spill over with tears.
"Yes I'm afraid so," he added with a nod. "It seems you must now get your own food."
"Oh what?" From sad to surprised, Delia didn't think that was a thing! She'd always been given her food! "But I dunno how to do that! Can you bring me food?" she asked the cat with a hopeful wag of her tail. After all if her mom used to do it why couldn't he? He was an adult!
"Certainly not!" The cat tried his best not to laugh but it was difficult. The idea of him feeding a puppy? When he was already so busy? "I must feed myself, and you and I pup, we eat very different things."
"Heck," Delia grumbled, trying to think of what she was supposed to do now but coming up empty. Everything she'd do normally involved people, and there were no people anymore. "So...what do I do then?"
"What all your kind does when they have no human. You wander. You find your ilk and make a life out here with them."
Though he wasn't a dog himself he'd seen his share of strays both born and created. The outcomes normally ended up the same.
"Wait so...I can go wherever I want now?"
Delia had never been given that kind of freedom before. All she could think of initially was the many times her humans tugged her around on that long vine thing, keeping her from exploring all the cool smells and animals she saw on walks.
"Yes. You are free," he said, then added aside mostly to himself with some bitterness, "if this can be called freedom."
"Okay..." Delia's brows furrowed as she tried to form a plan of action. It seemed simple enough so far. "Okay I think I can do that. Just...find other dogs and they'll feed me?"
"Well I cannot guarantee that." The cat would have laughed again if that wasn't such a miserably adorable mistake to make. It inspired a sense of empathy and he wanted to help her. But also being a cat, he was used to the harsher truths of life. "Dogs like you are often hungry and less likely to share what they manage to find. You will have to take care of yourself, even among them. You must find your own food and your own place to sleep at night. Nobody can help you, however, you may be able to glean more from others of your own kind than from a cat."
"I guess so," Delia admitted with a deflated sigh as she slumped down again. "You talk funny anyway so I don't even know if I'd understand everything you tell me."
"Of course..." the cat responded dryly.
"You are really nice though!" she quickly added, not wanting him to feel bad about speaking weird.
"Well, thank you for that then," he smiled, knowing she meant well. "I find no point in wasting my ire on the innocent or...ignorant." She was certainly more the latter.
"Cool!" She had no idea what he said again. "So...I guess I just...go in any direction?" Delia stood, looking up and down the street again.
"Well yes, however," The cat now stood, then sat, and extended a paw in one direction, "the one bit of advice I can give you is that you'd have more luck finding the things you're after heading that way - toward the town center."
"Oooh! Do you know a lot about town centers?" she asked with a head tilt.
"With regard to locations and current events, yes, there is no source better than a cat. And there are indeed quite a few dogs there, as well as food. It would make for a good starting point." He seemed proud of his knowledge, puffing up a little.
"Okay, thanks mister cat!" Delia called as she started off in the direction he'd suggested. "Hope you have a good day!"
"You as well pup, good luck!" he called out to her with a smile that faded the further she went. "Such a pity. I don't suspect she'll survive long out here."
And with that, he curled back on the dumpster to resume his attempted nap. He'd done his good deed for the week, the rest was up to her.