The Adventures Of Callie: #5 | Animal Heaven!

Chapter 1

Hi, my name is Callie, and I work at an animal shelter on Saturdays, and since today was a Saturday, I went to the animal shelter! "Bye, Sunny!"

 I kissed my betta fish goodbye as I waltzed out the door. Glub glub, he seemed to say. I chuckled.

    "Don't worry, Sunny, I'll get you two friends soon!" I called.

I was thinking of getting two pets from the shelter

I like this cute little doggy named Albatross. His fluffy fur melted my heart. And there was a loyal husky named Trisha. She was super sweet. A lovebug, indeed. Plus, there was a German Shepard named Coco. His sweet, loud bark sounded like music to my ears. And there was another dog named Thunder. He was so furry and proud. 

. Did I forget to mention I LOVE cats and dogs? Well, I do, and Sunny always seems bored, like he wants to see new things, such as animals like him. I was planning to surprise him this month by buying a few animals from the shelter. 

I walked to the animal shelter, than said hi to my boss Maria. 

    "Maria, what do I need to do?" I asked her.

"Callie, dear, since you're building such a special relationship with Mango, I think you should help her, and maybe you can adopt her??" she asked me hopefully.

    "How much does Mango cost again?" 

"Oh, $75. Since you work here, I bet you can afford her. We'll also give you a free vet checkup for your first year of owning her!" 

I sighed. Maria was such a sweet person. 

    "Let me get to know her a little more," I said.

Mango was a tan she-cat, with leaf-green eyes, and a white underbelly. Her front-paws were a beautiful snowy white. 
Maria was correct when she said we had a special relationship. 

She always, and I repeat, always, kissed me, rubbed against me, and purred when I was around. 

She was also great with kids, dogs, and other animals. 
I did want to adopt her, but I wasn't sure if she would want to live with me. 

    I walked to the cat room, approached Mango, and lifted her off the ground into my lap. She purred, her breath smelling sweet. I grinned at her. 

"Mango, would you like to come home with me?" I asked her. 

Of course she didn't respond, but rubbed against me. 

"Ok, sweetie. Come with me!"
    She didn't have to be asked twice. She followed me to a private little room. 

I already knew what to do, I had been trained how to teach the customers. I asked my friend Andrea, and of course, being the nice friend she is, helped me. I instructed her what to do, making sure Mango didn't hear. My theory was, and is still, cats can understand human language, if taught. So I made sure to tell Andrea when Mango wasn't there. 
    "Andrea, so what you have to do, is take a treat. We're going to do multiple tests, and this is the first one. So, take cow tongue. I'm going to give her chicken.  We'll see which one she eats."
"Question: Didn't you say cow tongue was her favorite?" 

    "Yes, I did. I want to see if she eats the one that has your scent, because its her favorite, or if she eats her second favorite, because I fed her it. This is always test #1." 
I loved teaching Andrea, because she was a volunteer, like I was at first, who loved animals, and was a little less smart when it came to cats. But she was learning, and I was proud of her. 

    "We'll do the other tests in a little while, right?" 

I nodded. We took the treats, and sure enough, Mango came bounding over. She did not take the treats from me, and instead took it from Andrea. 

    "That's my greedy little girl," I said while petting her. She trotted over to me, and settled into my lap.

"Not so fast, Mango!" I said. 

She purred, and, opening one eye, then the other, got right up, and waited patiently. 

Mango loved Callie. She was always so, so, nice to her. She wanted to live with her forever. She never, ever yelled at her like her other trainers. Putting up with dogs and other animals was easy, because Callie always gently told her how to do it, always using the right tactics. She'd learned if she'd wait, she'd get rewarded. All because of Callie.

"OK, Andrea, test #2, is feeding her normal food," I said.

"Why do we do that?" 

"Because since its the same kind of food, she doesn't have to choose between taste, but who she likes better," I responded. 

"Interesting," Andrea said.

"I know! Animals are so interesting!" I told her.

We both laughed. I scooped up some cat food, put it on a little plate, and waited for Andrea to do the same. Once she scooped some up, I measured to make sure it was the right amount, so Mango wouldn't come for a bigger amount. 

    Once we were done, we sat them down, and sat next to them. Sure enough, she came to me. 

"You're such a lovely little girl," I said affectionately.

Mango purred. "Oh, sweetheart." I said.

Andrea glanced at me. "Callie, I think you should adopt her," she said.

I smiled at her. "Andrea, yes. That is a wonderful decision. And, would you like to help me organize my homecoming party for Mango?" 

"Of course!" she grinned at me.

Mango heard what sounded like music to her soft, silky ears. She was getting adopted by her favorite person in the whole, wide world. That was living, of course. Mango bounced into Callie's lap, and purred, meowed, kissed, and did every sweet thing she could think of.

"Oh, Mango, sweetie. Yes, I'm taking you home!" I announced. "Andrea, I have a question. Why did Mango have to come to the shelter?" 

Andrea frowned. "Would you really like to know? It'll break your heart." 

    "Yes, Andrea. Thank you for your concern."

"Here's the truth; Mango got adopted by her owner, who was an old man named Drake. Drake and Mango were the perfect match. But one day, Drake's body fell limp, his body turning colder by the minute. He did not move, speak, or refill the water or food bowl. Mango was so depressed, she stayed outside of that house for days. But I found her their, all alone, no one to love. I brought her into the shelter, where she is now." Andrea finished her sad story with a long, deep sigh. Mango seemed to sense the sadness in her voice. 

    I asked Andrea a question. "Andrea, not trying to pry, but why were you there?" 

Andrea looked at me, her eyes full of sadness. "Callie, I know you. You're my best friend. I know you'd never, ever try to pry. But I was there, because I was his granddaughter. You see, I wanted to visit him. But I knew he loved Mango too much to leave her outside. I found his keys, and, with Mango walking beside me, I saw his body. I cried a lot that afternoon." She heaved a deep sigh. 

    "I am so sorry, Andrea!" I cried. I hugged her. 

"Mango, come on, girl. Let's get you into that carrier. Very sorry you have to crawl into that small space," Andrea said. I nodded.

"It'll be a short ride, Mango, but I'm going to order a few party decorations so we can get you there quickly. To the party space, I mean." 

A few minutes later, I had everything set up at my local park. I called my friends who showed up right away. I also asked them to bring presents. Conveniently enough, they showed up before I called them, and brought presents. I snuck a look at Andrea to see if she had anything to do with this. I hid Mango behind the rock I was sitting on, and when everyone arrived, I made a speech. 

"Ladies and gentleman," I began before I was rudely interrupted by my friend Lynn. 

"We're all girls here!" she called out.

I started again. "Ladies, I welcome you to my party about..." I was just about to continue, before LK interrupted me. 
"We got your call, so we know what its about!" 

I rolled my eyes. "Let me say my speech. NO INTERRUPTING!" 

They all nodded sweetly. 
"Ahem.. Ladies and gentlemen, may I please welcome you to my party about Mango! The schedule:

First I introduce you guys to her, than we open gifts. Thanks!" I said, reading off the script Andrea had given me. Everyone clapped. 
I bowed. "Thank you, thank you." They giggled. 

"This," I said, holding up Mango, "is Mango." The 'crowd' gasped. A mixture of, 'oh my gosh she's so cute!' and 'can I hold her' and 'why where can i get more' came up in the air.

"Please raise your hand to be called on!" I said. 

Lynn, Elizabeth, LK, Andrea, and more raised there hands. I called on Lynn first.

"Where is she?" she asked. 

"She's right in he-" I cut myself off. I looked into the carrier. Mango was gone.

Chapter 2

I looked in shock at the carrier for the third time. "Don't panic," I cried. I knew that she did not escape. I'd locked the door to the carrier. 

Mango was sad. Why was she all alone in this stinky, dirty car? It smelled bad. Why had she been let to run free in the car, but not been taken outside? Only the carrier got taken outside. Wow. Lucky carrier.

OK, I thought. Where did I leave her last? I remembered unlatching the door just before we came out. I held her in place, then locked it again. Why had I unlatched it? Oh dear. She must've been in the car. "No worries! The mystery has been solved! She's in the car!" I unlocked the car doors with a press of a button. Of course, being the good cat she was, she stayed where she was. I welcomed her into my arms. She jumped into them. "OK, guys, this is the actual Mango!" I announced. "And no, no one can hold her." Their were many whines in the crowd. "Okay fine, you can hold her," The crowd erupted in cheers.

"GIFT TIME!" 

Everyone gave me there gifts. LK wanted her gift to be the last. I shrugged. Everyone's gift was toys, bags of food, etc. I finally opened LK's gift. For some reason, it was making snuffling noises. And there were holes in the box. I opened it up, and what do you think was in there? 

Chapter 3

A dog was crawling around in that little box. Do you know which dog that was? OK, think back to the dogs I mentioned in this story. It's one of those. 

I had a brief mentioning of 4 dogs, Trisha, Coco, Albatross, and Thunder. It was....

ALBATROSS!!! 

Albatross the Golden Retriever was in that box. When he saw me, he perked up, and kissed me. I kissed him on his moist nose.

"Oh, LK, thank you so much! How much did he cost?" I asked.

LK looked shy for the first time ever. "About $15. Remember, since your a worker and you adopted an animal, you get a bunch of bucks off!" 

I grinned at her. "Oh, LK. You're soul is so sweet!"

We ate cheese pizza. It's gooey, cheesy delicious-ness melted me. Also, since I now had two pets, to celebrate, we ordered cake. Mint chocolate chunk, to be exact. The strong mint attracted Mango. I protected her from eating it, though!

See you in my next adventure, reader!!! Before you go, please follow this account!