{"sf1_id":907644,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Rei","author":"Devfina","words":2858,"posted_at":"2015-09-07T04:54:00.000Z","tags":["Canine","Chidrean","Dog","Husky","abandonment","alone","orphan"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/907644-rei","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/907644","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=907644\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The droplets kept\ncoming, drip...drip...drip....its annoying but I don't feel the need to\nmove anywhere. Yesterday was tiring, running from the cops probably\nwasn't such a bright idea when you sprained your ankle the previous day.\nSigh ....I should look around for some sort of duck tape or gum to seal\nthat annoying leak in the pipe. Sitting up, I look around the dimly lit\nroom. The only illumination coming from the small window at the top of\nthe wall opposite me. It looks to be around 8 in the morning, judging by\nthe light streaming in and the constant clattering of shoes and paws\nwalking passed, disrupting the path of the light. I looked around my\nsurrounding, four grey walls, streaked with mold where the pipe leaked. A\nrotting wooden shelve I shoved to block the doorway in case of\nintruders. Not that it mattered, anyone can easily break down that\nshelve and charge in if they wanted to. Of course no one would do such a\nthing. No one lived in this building for the past 10 years. Let alone\ncome hunting for a runaway. I stood up and fold the thick fabric I found\nin a dumpster two nights ago. It was not a mattress but it was\nsomething. Looks like another day of prowling the streets for ignorant\nand oblivious tourists who are stupid enough to leave their wallets or\ncommunicators in shallow, easy to reach pockets. I tried to make a\ndecent living, offered to show them around. But no one would pay a child\nany head and usually just ask me to help them take a photo.\nLooking into the piece\nof metal I use as a mirror, I smoothed my head fur and adjust my\nclothes. My hoodie was a little crumpled but otherwise it was fairly\ndecent. I had it since I turned 11 last year. It was a gift from the\norphanage that I spent some time in. It wasn't an expensive hoodie, it\nwasn't even brand new. Someone donated it and they though I would grow\ninto it someday. Back there, they expect every children to grow into\ntheir clothes. We had to take good care of our clothes and learnt to\npatch them when there were holes. The people that ran that place always\nsaid that clothes were only as good as they are necessary. There was no\nreason to keep buying new ones when we can wear them for a long time if\nwe learnt to take good care of them. I rolled the sleeves up to my\nforearm and adjust the hood. I hated that place. I hated every single\norphanage that I was put into. Some kids grow into the orphanages and\nsome get adopted really quick. Well, its been 11 years and I have yet to\nbe adopted. I gave up hope a long time ago and I believe the people\nthat worked there too. No one wants \"a rebellious, good for nothing\nmutt\" they always say. I guess they were right.\nI chuckled at that\nthought. Since no one would adopt me and they were bound to kick me out\nafter I turn a certain age, I might as well leave first. At least, I get\nto leave on my own terms. I took a whiff of my pits, probably should\nhead over to the local pool to take a bath. I love community pools, they\nare meant for the people to enjoy but they are also where all the\ndistrict homeless go for a free bath. Honestly, those with a house would\nrather head over to their neighborhood pools instead. They pay a fee\nbut its cleaner and rid of free loafers of society.\nMy tummy made that noise\nthat I really dislike. I wish I could program my brain to know that\nfood is not going to happen anytime soon because I do not have the\nmoney. I lost whatever I made yesterday while running from the cops.\nCarelessness only meant you do not get breakfast in my line of work. I\npicked up the cup I left on the ground to collect the water from other\nareas of the dripping pipe and took a sip. One thing great about this\ncity was that water was always clean and drinkable. That will have to do\ntill I can get my day's work done. Its the weekend, hopefully I can get\nsome cash before noon and maybe a slice of bread. If I am lucky, the\nbaker might not be looking and I could get a free lunch! Gotta save for\nthe ship that would take me away from this city. As much as I think this\nis a real nice place to stay, word on the street is that if you can\nmake it to this island half way around the world, you can get shelter\nand meals in exchange for work done. Although there was no specificity\nabout what work was to be done, the fact that there was no age limit\nmeant that I can maybe, just maybe, see my 13th birthday.\nI walked the streets as\ncasually as I can. trying to pick out the easiest target I can find. I\nneeded someone who cant give chase if they caught me. Sprained ankle and\nrunning had shown to be a bad combination. Every developed cities have\ntheir fair share of overweight people and I am sure any moment now, I\nwill be able to find one that will provide me with lunch money.\nPreferably a tourist because they usually carry large amount of local\ncurrency in their wallets. They usually aren't hard to spot. You can\nliterally smell a tourist. Its as if when you go to another country as a\ntourist, you gain this magical tourist scent that shop vendors, street\nlurkers and the likes can pick up and prey on. They also usually stick\nout like a sore thumb. The clothes they wore to the bags they carried\nusually would stand out from the local population. \nI wondered around for\nabout an hour before I spotted the round bellied Human man that radiated\nthat tourist aura. He wore a simple tee shirt that barely stretched\nover his belly and a pair of cargo berms that I wished I had a pair of.\nThey had a lot of pockets that I could put my tools in. I watched him\nfrom a far and waited for my opportunity. I spot it the moment he\nentered a crowded alley lined with carts and vendors hollering their\nwares. Moving as fast as my wounded leg would allow me, I moved towards\nthe alley and weaved among the people, closing the distance between my\ntarget and I In a matter of minutes. Sometimes, I am glad that I wasn't\nbig in size. Thank you malnutrition and older kids who always stole my\nfood. \nI calmed down and\ncasually walked up next to the man and bumped into him. I slipped my paw\ninto his pocket and slipped out his wallet. At that moment he turned\nand look over me. Ah, being short had its perks. I took the opportunity\nto slip away among the crowd and made my way to the fountain I knew was\naround the block. Looks like lunch and dinner was taken care of, the\nwallet felt substantial in my hoodie pocket as I skid left and right to\navoid the traffic. Motorist are idiots, trying to drive their\nmotorcycles among this crowd. \nI sniffed the air and\npicked up the scent of freshly baked bread. Looking around, I spot a\nbakery not far away. I made my way there and pushed open the doors to\nenter. The scent was so overwhelmingly delicious. My tummy grumbled at\nthat scent. The bakery was oddly packed. Its either they have really\nnice bread of the store floor wasn't really big. Maybe a combination of\nboth. I shuffled around the shelves and pocket a few small buns before\nheading to the door. As I was pushing the door to leave, I heard from\nbehind me, \"Hey kid! I saw you took those buns without paying!\" Shit! I\npushed the door and hobbled out onto the busy streets and made a mad\ndash away from the bakery. I didn't care who was it that called me out. I\njust knew that I had to run. I turned a corner and waited behind a\ndumpster. After a while, sure that no one was going to find me, I pull\nmy hood over my head and walked out from my hiding spot. I made my way\nto the the abandoned building I now made into my home. \nAfter pushing the shelve\nback into place, in front of the stairway, I took out the buns and\nstarted to munch on them. They were beat up but edible. In fact, they\nwere rather tasty. But dam, I wouldn't be able to return there. I was on\nmy third bun when I heard someone knocked on the shelve and the next\nthing I knew, the shelve was blown apart and the whole room was filled\nwith smoke. Men in combat gear rushed in and formed a semi circle around\nthe entrance. I covered my eyes and clam my muzzle shut. Dam it all\nthis for some buns? Are you kidding me? \n\"HANDS UP WHERE WE CAN\nSEE THEM!\" one of them shouted. I did as I was told. \"I didn't mean to\nsteal the buns!\" I managed to reply as men surround me pointing their\nweapons. Some was searching the room, looking for something it seems.\n\"Where are the others?\" The one who shouted at me to put my hands up\nasked me. \"I am not saying another word without a lawyer. I know my\nrights.\" With that, I clam my muzzle shut and kept quiet. Those\nsearching the room were tapping on the walls as if they may find some\nhidden door. What do they expect of me, hide buns everywhere? Sigh. \nI sat and wait in one of\ntheir interrogations room with nothing but a glass of soft drink. Soft\ndrinks were an upgrade to what I have had the past few weeks so I ain't\ncomplaining. There was no two way mirror in this room because why would\nthey need one? Unlike most of the interrogation room that I saw on TV,\nthis was entirely made of glass. The room itself was fitted in the\nmiddle of a larger room where many officers seems to sit around and\nworking. A show of wealth and power maybe? Arrogance, that's the fall of\nany sentient, disregarding their species. Canine, feline or humans,\nthey are all the same, coveting wealth and showing them off in an act of\narrogance. I cannot understand these people. All I want is to get by, a\nroof over my head and food in my stomach. I mean where else can you\npossibly bring your money too after you die right? But then many would\nsay I am young and do not understand how the world works. Ya, they are\nprobably right. I do not understand it at all. Maybe the room was\ndesigned to intimidate the people they are going to interrogate. I don't\nknow. I do not feel intimidated at all. \nA couple of the officers\nin suits stood outside my cell and was looking over some sheets of\npapers and occasionally pointing at me. I smiled and waved back to which\nthey frowned and continued with their study of those sheets of papers.\nHow rude. Not long after, a middle age lady, a little on the plump side,\nwalked into the larger room with another male. The lady was Human while\nthe man was a Tiger. Of course a Tiger, they seem to love being in the\nprofession of enforcing the law, along with the Lions. I rolled my eyes\nthinking how stereotypical these people are and took a sip from my\nglass. \nThe two entered the\nglass cell and the lady took a seat to my left while the Tiger took a\nseat opposite me. The lady proceed to introduce herself to me. I nodded\nand just kept quiet while she address the man. She was state appointed\nand would be representing me. They went on to talk about the legal\nmatters pertaining to the matter at hand and the man left after a moment\nand the lady started asking me questions. I told her everything I knew.\nApparently, the man I picked pocketed from was an undercover cop. They\nwere trying to crack down on a syndicate movement that use children to\nsteal money from tourists. I told the lady everything I knew and that I\nhave never heard of something like that. She seem to believe me which\nwas good because I did not want to end up in some home for something I\nnever do or am a part of. When the man return, they had a heated\ndiscussion about my involvement in such a syndicate. They were almost\nshouting at one another when a knock came and a Retriever entered with a\nstack of papers which she handed to the Tiger. After a moment of\nlooking at the papers, the Tiger nodded towards the door and the lady\nwent out with them. From my seat, I could see that they carried their\ndiscussion outside the cell and soon the Tiger and the Retriever walked\naway. \n\"You are free to go but\nbecause you did picked someone's pocket and steal from a bakery, you\nwill have to go through counseling and stay in a home for juvenile\ndelinquent until your counselor deems you fit to leave where you will\nthen be send to an orphanage.\" She told me as an officer took my prints.\nI nodded obediently because I know that any argument or hint of\nrebellion and they will put me in cuffs. Worst, they might tag me. They\ntag their most dangerous criminals. Its a topic that's always up for\ndebate in the public sphere but I think its good. Because I don't want\nto be sleeping under some bridge and have some crazy lunatic kill me in\nthe middle of the night. But I don't want to be tag either. Not so much\nbecause I don't have freedom as many would argue but more of because\neasier to get jobs when one is not tagged. Sometimes, I work for the\ngangs, minor hacking and such and they usually don't hire those who are\ntagged because it can put their whole operation at risk. They pay good\nmoney and I want their money. \nThe lady took my hand\nand led me to the elevator that would take us down to the first floor.\nShe was going to drive me to the home herself. I played the pitiful and\nremorseful card and kept alerted for moments that I could escape. Being\nin a home is nice and all because of the food and shelter. But there are\nbigger and more terrifying kids in these homes. I am not made to handle\nsuch people. She led me to her car which was parked about a block away\nand I knew this would be my chance to escape. She opened the door and I\ngot in, as she was about to close the door, I pushed on the door hard.\nShe stumbled backwards, lost her balance and fell to the ground. I got\nout of the car and made a run for it, turning back only once to shout an\napology before running for my life down the streets. As it was in the\nevening where most people finished work, there were many bodies moving\naround on the streets and in no time at all, I was lost among the crowd.\n\nI can no longer return\nto the building I woke up in this morning. I decided to make my way down\nto the docks where there were many warehouses. I knew a few that were\nabandoned and scheduled for demolition next week. But tonight, tonight\none of this warehouses will serve as my bed. Tomorrow I will go and look\nfor another hole to live in. I took out the money that I had slipped\nout the wallet on the way to the police station before returning them\nthe wallet and counted them out. It wasn't a lot but there were enough\nfor food for a couple of days. If I am lucky, dinner will be free\ntomorrow.   \n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thank\nyou for reading this short snippet into Rei's life. Next chapter would\nbe a snippet into Lev's life. As mentioned in the description, all these\nsnippets happened before the events of Home. These snippets are a way\nto help readers understand a little more about the character. Future\nsnippets would revolve around characters that are either slowly\nintroduced into Home or characters that are tied to this Universe but\nare to be introduce in other future books. \nIf you enjoy this chapter, please consider giving this a vote. \nConstructive criticism and comments are welcome! :D "}