Ruth

Nancy Springer

Description

Poet T. S. Eliot once noted that when it came to cats, naming them was quite the difficult matter. At the Haven for Life Animal Rescue, worker Xenia knows this all to well. Glad to have a position, regardless of the fact that she suffers from paranoia, developmental retardation and depression, Xenia wants only to give the best care to the rescued cats that live in the shelter. When Xenia realizes that the kittens are being adopted shortly after she gives them new names, she discovers a new mission for her own life, and a realization about what it really means to take care of something that may not be able to take care of itself. A short story.

Sujets

• Short story

Informations

• Publié par: Untreed Reads
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 0001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611874341
• Langue: English

Extrait

Ruth
By Nancy Springer

Copyright 2012 by Nancy Springer
Cover Copyright 2012 by Ginny Glass and Untreed Reads Publishing
The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

Previously published in print, 2000.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold, reproduced or transmitted by any means in any form or given away to other people without specific permission from the author and/or publisher. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Also by Nancy Springer and Untreed Reads Publishing
The Literary World of Nancy Springer: Alpha Alpha Gamma
The Literary World of Nancy Springer: The Third Silence

http://www.untreedreads.com
Ruth
Nancy Springer
The moment Xenia stepped into her assigned room, a dozen of her babies met her with their tails up like flowers, flowing and eddying around her ankles, meowing and rubbing and purring, the fluffy yellow one starting to climb her like a tree. Through her jeans Xenia felt his claws in her leg. The pain drove the demons out of her chest for the moment, letting her feel warm and at peace. “Oh, you angels,” she said, sitting on the floor, stretching out arms pitted with scars and scabs. Her babies wrapped her in a blanket of their living fur, white gray tabby black tortie calico, some in her lap and some on her shoulders and the fluffy yellow one with his back feet on her chest and his little arms around her neck, rubbing his velvety head against her cheek.
“Oh, honey child,” Xenia said, hugging him back. Knowing that her babies loved her was what enabled her to drag herself out of bed in the morning after another long night of devils in the dark either keeping her awake or giving her evil dreams. God bless Portia for saving the babies and giving her this job. Quitting school because she couldn’t stand it anymore, Xenia had never expected to find work at Haven for Life Animal Rescue. Portia was as good to people as she was to animals, giving a job to a Special Needs Emotional Support kid fresh off the short bus.
Thinking of Portia made Xenia remember that she should be working, and despite the yellow cat rubbing his nose in her ear, the devils recommenced their usual dance clamor hurt inside her, making her claw at her face to transfer the pain.