"You must be hungry dear?" Ethel suggested as Christina began to slowly get her bearings as a cat in a strangers house.
And she was right, Christina was hungry. In all the madness of her day so far it wasn't something she'd had much opportunity to think about, but how was she supposed to eat while she was on this "assignment"? Or relieve herself for that matter? It wasn't yet 10 am and she wasn't due to finish her shift until 6pm. There was no way she could go eight hours without eating. Christina mewed, which Ethel rightly interpreted as her pet agreeing that she wanted feeding.
The old woman placed a glass bowl, which had been shaped with a pair of cat ears as a kitschy touch, on the floor in the kitchen and ushered Christina through. Christina sat by her bowl and waited to see exactly what she would food be offered.
Christina looked up to watch Ethel rummaging around in her cupboard for a while before locating a tin of cat food. Cat food, of course, what else was she expecting? Christina had hoped her owner might have selected something more appropriate to her still human palate, but apparently not.
Ethel used an opener to prize the lid off the tin and poured it's contents into the bowl in front of Christina. Instinctively, the transformed human wanted to retch. It looked like a kind of gelatinous mince and smelt like a particularly pungent combination of turkey and fish. But mostly fish. Still, it was this or nothing and if she refused her meal now she might not be offered another one. Eight hours would be a long time to go without eating. And perhaps it wouldn't taste as awful as it looked?
That question was quickly answered as Christina stuck her head into the bowl and began to gobble down her meal. This did not taste good. At all. But it was perfectly edible and would give her the energy she needed for the day. And, after a while, although it never came close to being tasty, the cat food did at least start to feel a little less gross.
"Good girl, Christina!" Ethel cooed approvingly as her pet stepped away from the now half full bowl, unable to stomach any more "Why don't you come through to the living room with me?"
As Ethel placed herself down in her favourite chair by the fireplace Christina obligingly trotted over and sat by her feet. She could sense Ethel was a good person and, as angry as she was at Jenkins for forcing her into this position, she may as well let one person get some enjoyment out of the experience.
"Aren't you a little lonely down there Christina? Come up here and keep me company if you like?" Ethel offered as she patted her lap invitingly.
Christina hesitated a moment. The idea felt a little weird, but then so did everything else about this bizarre situation. If it kept Ethel happy where was the harm? Christina climbed up onto the old woman's lap and curled herself into a relaxed ball.
"There's a good girl!" Ethel smiled as she stroked her cats fur and Christina purred contentedly almost despite herself "I think you are going to make a wonderful pet for so many people!"