Griffin was utterly lost in the wonders of being outside. He loved playing with the
funny looking flying things, chasing them until they got out of his reach, digging tunnels
that would end up going nowhere because the dirt was too hard. When he had had
enough adventure playing in the piles of leaves and digging tunnels in the ground, he
decided it was time to go back to his home.
He wandered aimlessly for what seemed hours, before he finally came across a
person. He did his happy bounce right up to her and rubbed his furry body against her
shoes as he had done so often to Tamara, the lady that feed him and gave him tasty
food when he was good.
When the lady noticed him she shrieked at the man with her, “Ugh, get that nasty
thing away from me, it is ruining my new shoes.”
Before he knew it, he was kicked in the ribs and sent flying, landing hard on his
front leg. He was shocked, Griffin had expected a pet behind his ear but not being
kicked away. A hissing noise of pain came from him when he tried to get up, his foot
hurting when he tried to stand. He looked up at the couple with his wondering eyes. He
had been so happy to have a person to interact with, it never crossed his mind that
they might hurt him. As he was lying there the man picked a stick laying on the ground,
jabbing it into Griffin and using it to push him away.
Scared, Griffin hobbled away as fast as he could manage. When he finally came
across a plastic bag he decided to take a nap in it and search for his home after he
was rested. He had been so excited to be able to get out of his cage and go explore.
He’d always wanted to get out and see what was beyond the room he was housed in.
It had never crossed his mind that on the outside he would be treated any different
than the loving care he had received at his home.
As he drifted of to sleep he wished that he was once again in the company of his
friends. Getting to play with Bentely, Piper, Tucker and Willow. When they played they
would jump on each other and bite the others ears. Sometimes they would even attack
the weird looking round animals that were at the other end of the room.
The sun was shinning in his eye when he crawled out of his plastic shelter. As he
stretched his long body, Griffin’s nose picked up the wonderful smell of food and he
went in search of its source, hissing at the discomfort in his foot and chest as he rose.
He was so hungry all he wanted was a single piece of the good smelling food.
Following the smell he came upon a busy place with people rushing in and out.
Most of the people came out of the big, colored things sitting around everywhere.
When someone came running up to the building, throwing the door wide open, Griffin
used that chance to run inside where the smell of the food was coming from. Carefully
working his way between the many feet rushing around, he came upon a piece of meat
that had dropped to the ground and started eating at it.
As he was nibbling at the meat someone screeched near him, “There’s a rat.”
As soon as that person said that people started running. Some ran outside and
others jumped onto the things they had their food sitting on. If those things weren’t so
tall he’d jump on one of them as well, the food up there smelled better than what he
was eating. Griffin looked around, searching for the thing that had made everyone run,
only to realize that they were all trying to stay far away from him.
He was wondering why everyone had run away from him, when someone came at
him swinging his favorite toy. He loved those bushy things on a long branch, and he
thought that someone would finally play with him. At home he would get to play with
one all the time, Tucker and he would always see who could pull it from the other. But
instead of playing, the person used it to push him and his piece of food into a corner.
He saw his piece of food roll under a counter, but even when he flattened his body
to the ground he could still not get to it. The person with the long bushy toy was still
waving it at him and, when he didn’t move used it to push him out the way he had
come in.
Somebody stopped the person with the branch and said, “Stop, that is not a rat. Let
me call a animal rescue to come get him.”
“I don’t care what that thing is, it is not supposed to be in my restaurant .” The first
man snapped, making his point clear by repeatedly shoving the bushy branch into
Griffin’s face until he was outside.
Griffin was shocked. All he had wanted was a some food and water. He couldn’t
understand what he had done to be punished, at least at home when he did something
bad he would only get a tab on his nose.
Griffin had never met so many mean people before, everyone back home was nice
to him. They would take him out of his cage and play with him, he would even get a
few tasty treats everyday. He missed being stroked behind his ear by Tamara, she
always knew where his weak spot was. He wished he knew where “home” was. If he
did he’d run there as fast as his feet would carry him and never leave again.
The more time Griffin spent away from his family, the more cautious he became
because he knew now that there were people that would hurt him. It was the first time
in his life that he was weary of people. The first time he didn’t trust anyone to pet him
or even scratch his favorite spot behind his ear. All he wanted to do was curl up and go
to sleep.
Griffin was woken by a rough hand pulling on his neck, lifting him up into the air.
“Mommy, look what I found.” said an excited voice.
Wiggling as much as he could and hissing to be let go, Griffin got desperate and bit
the boy that was holding him. The boy dropped him onto the ground and started crying.
But just as Griffin was going to run away, he was scooped up again, this time by a
gentle hand. Still it made his fur stand on end, in the last few days he had gotten
nothing but bad treatment, he wasn’t about to trust this new stranger.
“Marco, what have I told you before. You don’t mess with stray animals, and you
especially don’t pick up an animal the way you did. It’s no wonder this little guy bit you.
At least he didn’t draw any blood.”
“What is it Mommy?” Marco asked, gazing at Griffin with the curious eyes of a five
year old, the bite already forgotten.
“He’s a ferret,” she answered. Griffin flinched and hissed at her when she petted
him over his ribs, “and it looks like this little guy is injured. I wonder where his home is.”
Marco’s eyes held excitement in them. “Does this mean we get to keep him?”
Griffin tried to squirm his way out of the woman’s hold, but every time he started to
get free she would adjust her grip on him. She must have seen his intend to bite her
because she changed her hold on him and grabbed a bit of his scruff. He hissed a few
times to no avail, instead the woman petted him again, this time behind his ears, and
said, “It’s alright little guy, we’ll find out where your home is.”
The woman gazed at the him, laying at the bottom of a big box, and spoke to him in
a gentle voice, “Well, looks like you’ll be staying with us for today. But we’ll take you
back to the animal shelter where you came from tomorrow. It’s too late to go today, but
so long as you don’t bite us we’ll take good care of you.”
Griffin looked up at the woman, so far she had been kind to him, but after his
experience he wasn’t so sure he could trust anyone anymore. When the woman
reached into the box to pick him up, Griffin hissed at her and showed his canines.
The woman wasn’t scared and kept reaching further into the box, but made no
move to pick him up, instead she simply held her hand out to Griffin to sniff and talked
to him in soothing tones. When she didn’t move her hand any closer to him for several
minutes, Griffin gave in to his curiosity and inched forward to sniff at her hand for
treats.
“That’s much better, can’t have you show your teeth and bitting whenever we want
to pick you up or pet you.” she made to pet him, but Griffin quickly retreated against the
far corner of the box again.
The woman withdrew her hand and stood up, but when she spoke she was still
looking at him and her tone was gentle, “Maybe you’ll learn to trust me eventually, I am
not like the people that hurt you.”
Griffin lay in his room, not wanting to get out and join the others during playtime.
When he had come out earlier Piper had jumped on him and caused the injury in his
leg to hurt, he didn’t want for that to happen again. Tamara tried to get him to play with
the bushy branch, but every time she brought it to his face he shied away from it, in
fear that she may poke it into his eye. She was the only one, besides the woman that
had brought him back to his home, that did not take his bitting as a warning.
He was still in his room when the woman who had brought him home walked in.
She grabbed one of his favorite treats, and neared his area the same way she had
done every day since bringing him back. She stuck her hand out with the treat on it,
and sat there until he came out and took it from her. As he ate she stuck her hand
inside his room and gently petted him behind the ears, something he still loved even
though he was very cautious of who petted him now.
At first he hissed at her, but when she did not stop he stopped hissing and let her
keep rubbing the itchy spot below his neck. This was more than he had allowed her in
all the times she had come to see him.
The lady was talking to him now as she petted him, and at first the words made no
sense but after he listened closely he understood two important words, “coming home”.
He looked at the woman and wondered what she had said to him. Before he knew
what she was doing she had lifted him in her arms and carried him out of the room.