Shh, part 6

“Goddamned cat, you're like a living jump scare.” Lenn muttered.

The cat meowed plaintively, tail up in the air. Matted fur clung flatly to its body outlining a starved frame.

“Yeah, I don't like this weather much either.”

Cautiously, the cat padded forward nose sniffing.

Lenn held out his fingers and after a moment the cat ran its face along them. Lenn had always liked cats thought he hadn't grown up with one. None of the many apartments his parents had moved through had allowed pets but there would always be at least one on the property. He liked fat fluffy ones the best. They tended to be like furry little Buddhas; good-natured and tolerant.

Lenn shifted his feet and water sloshed. The alley had been a drier spot but now thick rivulets of water streamed in from the far end, pushing into standing puddles and overflowing them. He didn't see any place for the cat to go.

“I don't think you can stay here, little buddy. You want to come with me?”

Putting his keys away, he gingerly picked up the cat.