Friends By Fate

"Ah, this is life!"

Felix looked slyly at the fetid dumpster in front of him. He smiled and stuck his tongue out playfully. A loud whoop emitted from his mouth as he plummeted inside. 

He prodded his soft claws inside the pile of rubbish and pulled out the skeleton of an unfortunate fish. 

"Hmm ... fishbones? Nah, I don't think so."

Once again, Felix dug his paw inside the loaded garbage pail and this time, was able to grope out a stinky sock. He looked at it for a moment, hesitant and confused. Then, immediately stuffed it inside his mouth.

"Mmm ..." 

Felix made some funny faces -- which included his eye almost reaching down to his nose and his long eyebrows climbing his hair -- before finally swallowing down the whole thing. 

"It's a trifle bitter, needs a bit of salt, perhaps a touch of cinnamon would've worked." 

Felix grinned to himself as he drowned in the sea of waste and litter. What could be better than a cat enjoying life in a heap of trash? he thought, happily eating the fishbones he had cast aside just a moment before. It was the taste of his newly-found dish, socks-in-a-dumpster, that had changed his decision. Felix decided he didn't like the Sock quite that much and the sound of bones cracking inside his mouth told the rest that happened to the already-fossilized fish.  

Felix beamed with satisfaction.

***

"You let it come into our house! Mom! Why'd you do that?" 

"Oh, come on, dearie. It won't harm you. It's a beautiful little furball of delight."

"Oh, it's a furball of delight, isn't it?! This "furball of delight" has already made his way into my quarters and look! Just look! It peed! In my bedroom! On my bedsheet!" 

"Stop whining, Kate. It's not like it'll eat you or anything. It's just a hamster, for God's sake. Now, go! Get ready for school!" 

Katie looked at her Mom, fighting the urge to back away from the furry-brown hamster. She still couldn't overcome the fact that a hamster was sitting on her bed, creepily smiling at her. But, she wouldn't let the others find out her fear of animals just because of a dumb rodent! No! She will have to put up with that silly hamster and his stupid tricks.  

Katie Smith was 12 years old and absolutely despised animals. Her experience with a mouse on the roadside was the origin of this terror and it still haunted her to her bones. She shuddered as she thought of the mouse, who had climbed her shoulder and hissed, angrily. Of course, in the end, she did apprehend that this was because she had kicked the mouse in anger when it had -- by mistake, of course -- crossed her path. 

"Still, what was it doing in front of me?" she had said to her friend, trying vainly to defend herself. It hadn't worked and her friend had decided to keep Katie's fear of animals a secret. 

Katie sighed and looked at the hamster, who had climbed the dressing table and was tinkering with her jewellery box. She growled and shouted at the hamster who ran out of the room with fright. 

The hamster nosed its way to the kitchen and climbed to the top shelf. The kitchen was silent. No one was there except the mischievous hamster, who smirked as he peeked here and there. Ah, biscuits! Just what I want! he thought, and ran to the container marked with the word, "BISCUITS" Hamster squeaked in joy and ran to the small jar. 

That was when he realized, someone had already beaten him to it. 

***

Felix sighed. The cold wind rustled through the air, blowing the leaves with it. A gloomy sensation hung through the atmosphere. Felix looked up at the sky, deducing it was somewhere around 2:00 p.m. at the time.

He peeked his head out of his precious dumpster and observed the hoards of children roaming around, ready to go back home from school. He ducked as a few kids crossed the alleyway and went past, towards the main road. Felix grumbled. Kids can be mean at times, he thought, as he revived a bad event with youngsters from the past. They can throw rocks and pebbles all they want, but nothing's gonna make a dent in this furry body of a-- 

Two quiet voices interrupted his thoughts. Felix made the costly mistake of peeping his head out. He glanced to see two girls chatting to each other, a packet of chips in their hand.

A packet of chips in their hand.

Felix's eyes widened, and he rushed out of the dumpster with a loud screech. What came next, may just have scarred Felix for life.

One of the girls screamed. 

Felix, in his lonely life of living in a waste-bin, had only heard these shouts while sleeping at night. Hearing it up close was a totally different thing. Since he could do nothing physical in his temporary state of paralysis, Felix did what he thought was the best possible thing to do at the point:

He screamed, too. 

The Girl-Who-Hadn't-Scream, smiled at Felix and said, "Awwe, what are you doing here, you goofy little bundle of joy?"

Felix looked at the girl, unable to control his rage.

Did she just call me a "goofy little of bundle of joy"? Oh, I'll show her what this bundle of joy can do! You just wait, girl, you're going to enjoy this! and with these thoughts, he was just about to attack when he heard something else which destroyed his ear-holes. 

"This silly cat is wild, Cathy! And you're talking about taking it home! I can't believe you, I thought your Mom was allergic to fur!"

Me, wild! Felix thought, kindly. This young, innocent kitty wouldn't even harm a fly. Oh, how could you say that!

"Oh, Katie! I'm not taking it home! You are! You just got a hamster, didn't you? And anyway, you owe me one. I hid your secret from everyone, didn't I? Now, you'll take this kitty home. If you're so scared, I'll drop it off for you."

Katie grumbled and walked away, Cathy followed her with Felix in her arms, who slapped his head with his paw. 

***

"Hamstero! What are you doing here, old friend?"

"Good to see you too, Ratty."

"Up to no good, I suppose?"

"Oh, you know me well, just wandering here and there. Can I have a biscuit?"

"Yeah, sure. So, tell me, Hamstero. How did you get here?"

"The mom found me and decided to keep me. Do they have any oatmeal biscuits, chocolate doesn't suit me."

"Yeah, I think they should be around here somewhere. Oh, look--"

They were interrupted by a loud slam of the door and the faraway mews of a cat. 

"Oh, how wonderful, Katie! What a sweet little cat! He's adorable!" 

Hamstero and Ratty looked at each other, wide-eyed with amazement. 

"A cat! In the house! We'll be destroyed!"

"Oh, come on. It's a cat, not a lion, Ratty. What can it do? And look at it, it looks as if he hasn't eaten for days. Come on, let's go meet it."

"No! First of all, I would prefer lions over cats. Second of all, looks can be deceiving. It can just be fooling us. And I know Katie, she would never bring an animal home unless she was forced to. I've been living here longer than you have and--"

But it was no use, for Hamstero had already made his way towards the cat, and was nearing steadily. Ratty grunted and followed reluctantly. 

***

Felix looked around at his new home and frowned. It was nothing like a dumpster at all, in fact, he had seen nothing of this kind of a dwelling in all his years of living. He sniffed the carpet cautiously putting all might and intelligence he had in him, trying to figure out what it was. Soon, he gave up and shoved the thing in his mouth. It struck to him somewhat like the sock, so he spat it out again.

He walked over to the kitchen, the only place in which he could smell actual food. He peeked in warily and looked around. Felix followed the smell and soon spotted what he was looking for. He growled in delight and jumped into the small waste-bin.

"A bit stuffy," he said to himself, "but just what I want."

He heard the small scruffing of nails on the bin and sat up with difficulty. Felix frowned. 

"Who's there?" he said, "Speak up or I'll sit on the lot of you."

"Hello, there. I'm Hamstero," said Hamstero, crawling inside the dustbin. 

Felix stared at Hamstero and Ratty, who was trying desperately to stay out of sight from Felix. 

Unable to comprehend the figures of the two creatures, Felix gave a high-pitched yell and jumped out of the garbage-bin. It fell to the floor with a loud crash and the foul contents came oozing out. 

"Come back, we're not going to harm you!" shouted Hamstero, following the cat all around the house. 

Ratty stayed still for a moment, realizing he and Hamstero had made history at this very point. They had found a cat scared of rats! Ratty laughed and whooped happily, then ran towards Hamstero following the cat. 

Felix ran with all his might and stamina but soon arrived at a dead end. 

"Please, don't hurt me. I'm too young to die!" he said turning around to face the small creatures. 

Hamstero laughed. 

"We're not going to hurt you," he said, "We live here too. I'm Hamstero. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Felix looked tentatively at the rodents and frowned. 

"You're a hamster, aren't you?"

"Glad you recognized me. Indeed, I'm a hamster and this is Ratty, a rat."

"Hmm ... ok, so, where am I? Why am I here? When will I go away?" Felix asked eagerly. 

"That's difficult. You're in Katie's house, a beautiful and cosy place," said Ratty, holding out his arms in a welcoming gesture. 

"You are here as a pet and they," said Hamstero, pointing towards Katie's family, "will look after you."

"But, I'm fine with myself. I can live in a dumpster all my life. It's the best place there is!" cried Felix. 

"Not many people agree. And, well, you don't look so good. They're going to fatten you up and you'll have to get used to eating good stuff, rather than what you eat in a dumpster, dear friend. I'm sure you'll like it." 

"Are you really scared of rodents?" asked Ratty, smiling evilly. The moment had come. If he could hear the answer he wanted, Ratty will be rewarded. He'll become the king of rodents. Rats and hamsters and all rodent-kind will worship him. He'll be rich!

"No, I'm not!" exclaimed Felix, indignantly. "They're just really ... uh ... annoying and well, a bit too small for my size." 

"Why don't we test you?" asked Ratty and went and hid behind a table's leg. 

"Where'd he go?" questioned Felix, looking around, worry and caution shrouding his eyes at each passing moment.

A few moments passed in silence.

"Boo."

Felix screamed and ran towards the stairs, climbing up faster than his legs could go.

Behind him, he could hear Ratty laugh and stopped, realizing the prank that had been played on him. 

He came back, a dignified look on his face. Ratty smiled at him and said softly, "Yep, you're scared of rats." 

"Come on, we should go upstairs," said Hamstero, going for the stairs, hiding his grin with difficulty. 

"Why?" asked Ratty, lazily.

"To Katie's bedroom. After all, that's where we'll live, right?" said Hamstero, a naughty smile emerging on his furry face.  

Ratty laughed and went up the stairs. Felix looked around once more, trying to adjust to his surroundings. This isn't so bad, he thought. Maybe they have more than just Sock-in-a-dumpster.

***

Katie climbed up the stairs, exhausted after doing her homework. She opened the door of her room and found the animals sitting on the bed, snoozing softly. 

The sight of it disgusted and angered her, so she went to the animals and shouted loudly, "Get off my bed, you silly creatures and don't think of coming back!" The animals woke up with a jolt and looked at Katie with a frown on their faces. 

"I'm not sure that she'll actually look after us," said Hamstero, doubtfully.

"Well, if she doesn't then, we know how to look after ourselves," said Felix, "or at least I do."

"Hey, we do too." said Ratty, giving Felix a sharp poke, "Don't forget we were the ones who introduced you to this place."

Felix laughed at their sharp attitude and apologized.

"Come on, we'll find a place to sleep," he said and walked down the stairs.

"Or we can try and bother Katie in the night," said Hamstero, the playful one as usual. 

"No, that would not be very wise, ok? Let the kid sleep and we'll sleep too," scolded Ratty and they rested soundly in the kitchen, near the dustbin. 

***

Katie woke up in the middle of the night, sensing something was wrong. She frowned, got up, wore her slippers and went downstairs. 

A voice was coming from her parent's bedroom. She peeked in carefully and found a person with a sack in his hand, quickly stuffing all valuables and jewellery inside it. Dressed all in black, he turned around and his eyes met Katie's. With an evil smirk, he charged towards her. Katie couldn't move, a tight knot rooting her to the spot. Gaining control of her senses, she sprinted towards the only place where she knew she would find a suitable weapon. 

The kitchen.

Katie's feet made faint sounds but her breath was louder as she reached the kitchen. Her hands reached for the knife which she was about to grab when something soft touched her feet. 

It was Felix, the cat.

With a loud shriek, the knife dropped from her hand and landed on the floor with a loud clatter. Felix woke up with a jump, his hair standing on their end as he saw Katie's feet ... and then, the thief. 

By this time, Ratty and Hamstero were awake. Looking at the thief, both of them put on their business faces and shouted their battle cries. Ratty stopped to say a small prayer and then ... they stormed towards the legs.

Felix looked around, his ears pounding with epic music he had sometimes heard near the dumpster. He stood for a moment to enjoy it then, with a loud meow, he too, went dashing towards the thief. 

The pets were busy in fighting when Felix's eyes caught the shiny gleam of a knife. He turned around towards Katie and stood innocently, shaking his head. 

Katie looked at Felix, her eyes sparkling, ready to attack. Felix shook his head once more and jumped towards the thief, his claws scratching the thief's face. 

Katie dropped the knife, a pang of gentleness stabbing her heart. The fight stopped abruptly as they heard the sound of rising footsteps and Katie's parents appeared with a baseball bat in their hands. Katie's father hit the thief on the head, who immediately fell on the floor, already tired out, from the energetic beating he had got. Felix and the pets cheered and jumped at their victory and gave each other high-fives. Ratty soon had to run away, as Katie's mother had a huge fear of rats. Hamstero laughed and waved him goodbye. 

Katie looked at Felix, who meowed. He strolled towards her and winked at her. Katie laughed and petted Felix, forming the unlikeliest of friendships.