Collective Surprise
When he saw the look on the vet’s face, he knew he wasn’t overreacting. The shock was evident on the faces all around him.
People whipped out their phones and snapped as much proof as possible. There was no way others would believe this unless they saw it with their own eyes.
Clean Freak
Nathen ran a tight ship, at least when it came to cleanliness. There was nothing worse than seeing garbage pile up around the neighbor's yards.
However, when the sanitation workers went on strike, and the stinky bags started to multiply, he felt like he would have a heart attack. But his problems were just beginning.
Trash Strike
The rotting food stench was mostly held back by the hefty layer of plastic, but some still oozed out and filled the garage with a pungent stench.
No amount of air sprays or scented candles could make the smell go away. It was a week into the strike when he began to notice something furry - and moving.
Imagining The Worst
Immediately, he imagined the worst-case scenario. What if the trash was hiding a family of raccoons that were waiting patiently to jump out at him and make his life hell, or even worse, rats.
A number of rodent-infested scenarios came to mind as he avoided confronting his trash for as long as he could. But things always have a way of coming to the surface...
Speculations
Nathan knew no kind of mold growth could bloom and take on sentient life. But considering the evidence before him, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that something very unusual was buried inside his trash.
Given the lack of noise, Nathan speculated that the dirty fur that peeped through the trash pointed to the nightmare of a rat infestation. However, he wasn't even close to identifying the real culprit.
Problems Everywhere
Nathan asked his neighbors if any of them were struggling with rodents, and as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one suffering. Even the cleanest neighbors had noticed the increase in vermin.
The best solution, at least for him, was to pepper the area with mouse traps. He was hoping that would be enough to lure them out for good, but that’s where he ran into a problem.
Setting Traps
He took out an old cardboard box where he stored his mouse traps. All he had to do was grab them but it was a box full of random junk.
Taking out an old doll his niece was to love, he wondered why he kept hold of all these useless things. Finally, he found a bunch of traps and started to get to work. Completely unaware that this would be a wasted effort.
Out Of Control
Nathan wanted this mysterious creature, he hoped was just a rat to come out on its own accord. He really didn't want to wrestle with the trash.
So, he set up an intricate network of traps and laced them with cheese and any other tempting food he could find. He was barely in bed that night when he heard the first snap. He dreaded what the morning would bring.
Anxious Breakfast
That morning, he hoped he'd wake up to a garage restored once again to its former glory. Sure, the trash would still be there but the unsettling living thing in there would be gone.
He poured himself some coffee and tried to eat breakfast but the anticipation of what was to come made his stomach queasy. Soon, the mystery behind the trash was to be revealed.
What's Going On?
Nathen gripped his old baseball bat and opened the door. But what he saw scattered around the concrete was confusing.
Plenty of traps had been set off, but no rats were insight. In the middle of the large pile of sweating bags, he heard a strange sound. But this time, it certainly wasn’t the squeak you would expect from your everyday vermin.
Strange Sounds
It was a muffled, gurgling growl. Nathen hoped the sentient trash hadn’t fused with a rat to make some new monstrosity.
He pulled each bag away as slowly as he could, otherwise, the disturbing growls would start up again. When the last blockage fell away, he jumped back and braced himself for an attack.
In Plain View
The pile of fur was now left exposed in his garage. Nathan's eyes squinted as he realized it wasn't a rat. This thing was way too big. For a second he wondered if it was actually just trash. But then it moved.
Nathan could just about make out that it had a snout. It was definitely some kind of animal but he had no idea what. He had never seen anything like this before.
Dirt And Fur
Now, the grey and black matted fur twisted and twitched as it tried to get away.
Every part of Nathen’s neat-freak personality screamed to run away. There was no way he would pick up whatever that was. It was disgusting! But then the sounds changed to something he recognized.
What was it?
The confused ball of dirty fur attempted to run circles around Nathan but it was no use. Its big and heavy fur covered its entire body.
Nathan plugged his nose at the stench before realizing that he had to catch the thing. Without further thought, he reached down his hands and quickly snatched a handful of fur in his hand. What was it?
Drive To Vet
Nathan lay out a bunch of towels in his backseat, rolled down his windows, and made his way to the vet. Whatever this creature was, it needed to get checked out.
As he drove, he wondered how long it had been living in his trash. Certainly, since the strike, he thought. He couldn't wait to see the vet shave off all its fur to reveal its real form!
Professional Help
It wasn't long before they reached the vet. And now, the long, high-pitched meows became stronger. It was the sound that instantly changed the scene.
Instead of calling pest control, he quickly dialed the closest veterinarian. It was perhaps out of his own curiosity, but he wanted to see what they were going to do with it. Was it a wild animal?
Street Animal
The vet team gaped and snapped photos of the growling cat. The enamours mass of fur was mostly comprised of common fur matts.
Nathan’s face went slack as they clipped away over seven pounds of fur and revealed what the cat actually looked like. It's appearance left nathan stunned.
True Self
It was clearly a street cat, and a beautiful one at that. The easy food and warm surroundings in Nathen’s garage must have attracted it.
But when the last layers of fur fell away, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The feline was pure white! The transformation took another step after a thorough bath.
Friendly Cat
The vet had never seen anything like this. The story was truly hard to believe. What was also perplexing was the cat's relaxing demeanor. It's like it knew it was getting help.
Usually, stray cats are aggressive and wild but this cat seemed to have a liking for humans. Nathan asked the vet to check it for a microchip. Perhaps if it actually had an owner, he could reunite them.
The Search
However, when the vet checked the cat for a microchip, there wasn't any. The vet speculated that perhaps this cat used to live in a home but had long since been abandoned.
Nathan refused to give up just yet. He put up a post in his local area and asked if anyone had been missing a cat. But no one responded. The search for the potential owners of this stray was coming to an end. That's when Nathan began to think of something else...
Grumpy Face
The cat had a resting grumpy face that made it look perpetually angry, but the moment Nathen reached out to it, the cat jumped in for every scrap of attention.
It seemed the little thing wasn’t only starving for food but also, love. A sudden, shocking idea popped into Nathen’s head, something he would have never thought possible.
Helping Hand
Pets meant stray fur and weird smells. It went against every fiber of Nathan's neat freak soul. But with each passing day, he was finding this cat harder and harder to resist.
There he stood, cuddling the now-white cat and wondering if he should just take it home himself and give it a better life. It had gone through life so dirty, maybe he could help in his own weird way.
Good To Go
Nathan spoke to the vet about his idea of adopting the cat and asked if there's anything he needed to worry about. This cat had just come from the streets after all.
The vet checked if the cat was neutered and gave him some flea medication and said he should be good to go. He also gave him a leaflet called, "My First Cat: An Essential Guide".
Driving Home
The vet held onto the cat for another couple of days and then he was good to go. Nathan got a crate and the vet packed in the adorable cat with a sweet goodbye.
Before he knew it, Nathan was driving home with “Sinbad” nestled in his new, shiny crate. He couldn't quite believe the way this little cutie arrived into his life.
Better Together
Yes, things wouldn’t be pristine at home anymore, but since he was getting something special in return, it was totally worth with. Sinbad would never know that dirty life again.
They quickly became the dream team. Nathan had no idea how lonely he actually felt before Sinbad came into his life. And as it turned out, he wasn't actually that dirty after all!