Mr. Fluffyboots

Mr. Fluffyboots let out a long hiss as I nudged him off the table. He leaped to the floor and trotted off with his tail in the air indignantly. I sighed. Switching to working from home wasn’t easy, I knew Mr. Fluffyboots must have been confused. 

Usually, when I was home I would give him all my attention, but now? As much as I wished I could spend time with him I couldn’t have him disturbing my specimens. My work was very delicate. Luckily I had collected the necessary specimens before this crisis started, but I still had to examine them properly. The last thing I needed was Mr. Fluffyboots stepping on them or rubbing against me while I had a sharp scalpel. I didn’t want him to get hurt.

I was thankful I was one of the few who could bring my work home with me. Despite the cramped environment, I was getting good results. I had just discovered an interesting anomaly inside one of the specimens. I turned around to grab my notebook when I heard a soft thud behind me. I spun around to see Mr. Fluffyboots batting his paw at my specimen.

“Fluffers, no!” I cried, scooping him up. He mewed at me gently, I sighed. “Fluffers, Daddy has to work right now. You can’t be in here. Just wait outside a couple hours and then we can play, okay?”

He tilted his head at me in confusion. I gently placed him outside the door and closed it. I guess I should have done that in the first place. I went over to examine the specimen. Luckily, it seemed Mr. Fluffyboots was gentle, I didn't notice any visible damage. I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to my notebook. I started documenting the anomaly.

Subject H-3 was dissected today. Results pending, H-4 might be dissected tomorrow. Upon opening the chest cavity I noticed an unusual black coloring around the lungs. It seems as if the subject was near an area that resulted in heavy smoke inhalation over a long period. The fact that the subject was able to move around normally at the time of capture is fascinating given this finding. Although the researcher will note, the specimen did become easily tired and gave up running quite quickly. Further observations to come shortly.

As I finished writing this sentence I heard a faint scratching at my door. Mr. Fluffyboots mewled sadly from the other side. I almost felt guilty for kicking him out. I tried to ignore the sounds, but he only scratched more furiously. I was beginning to worry about my door. It was at that moment I caught sight of the clock.

Was it really that late? It was almost half-an-hour past Mr. Fluffyboots' dinner time, no wonder he kept bothering me. I rushed to the door and scooped him up. He looked at me expectantly.

“Sorry Fluffers,” I said, stroking his head. “Daddy didn’t realize what time it was. Let’s get your din-dins.”

I carried him to the kitchen and grabbed his food from the refrigerator. I suppose things would have been easier if I had just stocked up on the canned food like everyone else, but I couldn’t. My sweet Mr. Fluffyboots deserved better than that processed junk. After all, I knew the kind of things they put in there. I scraped some meat into his bowl and he rushed over happily and started chewing on it. I chuckled. He must have been very hungry.

I put the rest of the food back in the fridge and walked back to my office. I still had more work to do on the specimen before I slept tonight. It would be better if I took a closer look at the internal organs. I put on a mask and a new pair of gloves before continuing. I removed the organs carefully and began to weigh them. After doing so I cleaned up a bit before grabbing the notebook again.

Continuing with the examination of specimen H-3. Besides the condition of the lungs everything else seems to be in normal condition. Subject is slightly overweight, but this seems to be a growing condition amongst the species in this region. All other internal organs seem in average health and average weight for a specimen of these specifications. I will take a sample of specimen H-3’s lungs to compare against future specimens, as well as pre-documented conditions that may explain the discoloration. This will conclude my observations of specimen H-3 for today.

A strange noise alerted me at that moment. I looked around but wasn’t sure where it came from. Suddenly, I heard it again. It sounded like a muffled sneeze. I walked around looking for the source until I reached my specimen closet. I heard the sound again from the other side, the door was open. As I opened it I discovered the source of the sound. My specimen H-4, with Mr. Fluffyboots rubbing against him. 

I whipped my head around. Oh no, I forgot to close the door when I came back, and I must have left the closet open when grabbing H-3. I ran over and grabbed Mr. Fluffyboot. Specimen H-4 looked up at me. His skin had developed red splotches, his eyes watered uncontrollably, and it seemed as though he had swelled somehow. He sneezed again. I removed his gag.

“Please, please!” He begged. “Let me go. I promise I won’t tell any other humans you guys are real, just let me go.”

I ignored this. Humans always made these little pleads whenever they were captured. It was a little upsetting, but I knew my research was far more valuable to my species than a couple small humans lives. Still, his physical reactions intrigued me.

“Why do you look this way now?” I asked him. “You didn’t look this way earlier.”

“I-I’m not contagious or nothing!” He shouted desperately. “I’m just allergic to cats, that’s all. Please, let me go!”

“Allergic? What is this?”

“Cats make me feel sick, that’s all! Come on, please just take me back to Earth!”

I looked at Mr. Fluffyboots in my arms. What an interesting reaction! Humans could become sick from such a common Earth animal? Why? How did it affect their bodies exactly? Specimen H-4 was still babbling his nonsense so I replaced the gag in his mouth. These humans were always so noisy. I nuzzled Mr. Fluffyboots head.

“Mr. Fluffyboots! You really are helping me work,” I said happily. “That’s my good boy. You’re going to help Daddy work all day tomorrow! We’re gonna do a whole bunch of experiments with H-4 before we dissect him. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

H-4 started screaming from behind the door as I closed it, but I didn’t care. Mr. Fluffyboots’ content purrs helped to drown it out. I originally took in this creature as an experiment, but now I could see why the humans cherished them so deeply. I loved Mr. Fluffyboots and the joy he brought me each day. Maybe working from home wouldn’t be so bad after all.