Chapter 1

Fog was curled up in his fluffy bed, sound asleep. He loved his human very much, but he had always wanted to explore. Each night, he would dream about running out in the wild, catching prey and sleeping under the stars. Every day, Fog would sit on the windowsill, watching the birds fly and swoop through the sky, and he would sometimes see his friends, who were loners, walking past his human’s house. Fog would wish that he had the same amount of freedom that they did. But he was a pet, and pets belonged with their owners.

Each time, another part of his brain would state that it’s dangerous to be outside, and that he should be grateful for the safety his human gives him. Fog perked his ears when he heard the sound of his human’s alarm clock. He heard his human bustling around upstairs, trying to get ready, and Fog knew that it was time to get up. He pushed himself to his paws and stretched, slightly twitching his tail. Once he was done, he slowly made his way up the stairs.

When Fog walked into the room, his owner bent down to pet him, and Fog purred, relishing the feeling. Fog walked his human over to his foodbowl. “Food?” He asked, pointing at the empty bowl. Fog’s human nodded, seeming to understand before pouring the small, round pellets into the bowl. Fog smiled before shoving his face into the bowl, chewing each pellet thoroughly before chomping on another. When he was finished, he walked over to his favorite windowsill and watched the sun rise.

Fog’s human stared at him for a few seconds before ordering something in its own language. Fog did not know what his human was telling him, but he nodded so his human knew he had heard. His human smiled and walked out the door, gently closing it. Fog smiled as his human left. Some pets panicked when their humans left, but not Fog. He knew his human would be back. Fog averted his attention to a gigantic butterfly that had fluttered by his window, not noticing until it was too late that a large brown bag had been thrown on top of him.

Chapter 2

Fog did not know how long he had been in the bag. He was being taken somewhere, but he did not know where. He felt himself being lifted, then was set down. The ground under him started to slowly move forward, gradually speeding up. Fog knew he was in a vehicle from the times his human would take him to go to the vet or let him visit his friends.

Fog thought of his human, and all the times his human had taken care of him, feeding him and taking him to the vet when he was sick. Fog felt a small flame of sadness light in his heart as he thought of how sad his human would be when it got home to see him missing. He did not dwell on that thought for long, for the vehicle he was riding in jolted to a halt. He heard a door slam closed, and felt the bag he was in being lifted up. Fog was carried away from the car, and he felt his heart sink when he realized he was being carried farther away from his human.

The bag was set on a table, and the human carrying it stopped to talk to another human. Fog could not understand the humans’ voices, and they were also muffled because Fog was in a bag, but he could tell that when the other human replied, it was shouting. Fog covered his ears with his paws, trying to block out the noise. The human who had shouted grabbed the bag Fog was in and marched away, swinging the bag back and forth. Fog clung onto the bag with all his might, trying not to get thrown around too much.

The human set the bag on another table, and opened it. Fog saw his chance and dashed out of the bag, but was stopped when the human grabbed him. Fog struggled to get free, but the human would not let go. Fog stopped struggling, sensing defeat, and the human loosened its grip. The human gently sat Fog onto the table, and he looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

He looked down at the floor, and gasped with shock as he saw that the floor was covered in machinery. The table Fog was on started to move forward, and he sat down, trying to avoid slipping off the edge. As the table moved, a large machine fell into view and Fog gulped, sensing that this was the end. He tried to escape, but walls surrounded him and he had no exit. He was trapped.

The machine grew closer and closer. Fog covered his eyes, hoping it was just a dream, but it was very, very real. As Fog slid into the machine’s large, chomping jaws, he wailed in terror. The machine did not care about the noise, and continued to consume Fog, roaring in glee. Fog curled into a ball, hoping that it would just end, and that the machine would suddenly stop devouring him.

As he lay, curled up, a weird sensation went over him. He started to feel tingly, and didn’t really feel like himself. The machine made a ding sound, and Fog popped his head up, wanting to know what was going on. All around him there were piles and piles of stuffed animals. As he looked around, trying to understand the situation, he just got more and more confused.

“Why are there plushies here?” he wondered, tilting his head. All of a sudden, he heard a rustling noise and jumped.

“Who’s there!?” He hissed. A small, tattered kitten plush uneasily creeped over to him, its ears flat in fear. Fog instantly softened, sensing the young cat’s fear.

“I’m sorry,” he meowed, apologizing to the kit. The little kitten, though still afraid, squeaked at him, almost as if it was accepting his apology.

An older cat dashed out one of the plushie piles. “Chervil!” It called. Seeing Fog, the other cat stopped.

“I’m sorry about her.” The older cat told fog hastily. “I’m Oran, and this,” He pointed at the kitten. “Is Chervil. You must be new.”

“What do you mean, ‘new?’” Fog asked.

“New to here. Do you know where you are?” Oran asked.

“No!” Fog exclaimed.

“Look at your paws,” Oran replied. Fog obliged to his command, glancing down at his fluffy paws.

They were abnormally fluffy and grayish blue. Fog was not blue.

Chapter 3

“Ack!!! What’s this?!” Fog screeched. He immediately grabbed at his tail, alarm shooting through his body when it was also blue.

“What. Is. Happening?!!?” he wailed.

Chervil took a step closer to him, but stepped back when Oran touched her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Everyone is like this when they first come.”

Fog was hyperventilating now, his whole body in panic mode. His head was spinning, and loud alarms sounded in his ears. He staggered, legs buckling under him as he fell to the floor in a confused heap. Dazed, Fog’s eyes slowly closed as he passed out.

…

“Urrgg…” Fog groaned, his drowsy eyes flitting open in the drab sunlight that shone through the miniscule window in the corner of the bland room.