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Sapphire: A Life That Almost Wasn't
By Lorrie Blitch, Mark Ruben Abacajan Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2015 Lorrie Blitch
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-6345-3
CHAPTER 1
It was a cold windy night with temperatures well into the thirties. The cold temperature was not typical for this time of year, thought the janitor as he made his nightly trip to the trash bin behind The Magellan Academy. He had been cleaning the private school for a little over a year and his nights had been routine and uneventful. However, tonight was to be different from other nights.
Walking to the large trash bin, he could feel the cold wind cut through his jacket that chilled him to the bone. Opening the gate to the trash bin brought to his nose that familiar smell. The trash bin was large, cold, and dark. He opened the lid and began pouring the contents of the activities of the students for the day into the large dark cold bin. "Mew! Mew! Mew!"
He stopped pouring the contents into the trash bin. What was that sound? Where was it coming from? "Mew! Mew! Mew!" He listened intently. A cold silence with only the rustling of the trees all around him enveloped the moment. He no longer heard the faint noise. Had he imagined it? He continued emptying the trash containers into the bin. "Mew! Mew! Mew!"
He again stopped emptying the trash cans. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" The weak sound was close. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" He could hear the faint noise, but could not locate the sound. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" Perplexed, he looked over, under, and around the trash bin. "Mew! Mew! Mew!"Where was the sound coming from? The rustling of the leaves on the trees prevented him from locating the sound. He turned and walked outside the gate. "Mew! Mew! Mew!"
He could not get the sound out of his head. He turned and walked back to the gates and entered where the cold dark trash cans stood. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" The sound was closer and a little louder this time. He turned his ear towards the noise. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" The sound would not stop this time as if to signal the janitor that he should not leave. He looked inside the large dark cold trash bins. "Mew! Mew! Mew!" The sounds now took on a different tone: One of desperation. He looked left and right and noted that the sound was louder from his right. As he rummaged through the trash he saw a small taped cardboard box. He found it! This is where the noise was coming from.
He picked up the box and a slight movement was felt from inside. The sounds were faint but constant. He carried the box back to The Magellan Academy. Inside, the school nurse and the school administrator were completing their chores. The janitor walked quickly into the nurse's office. In a hurried excited voice he exclaimed, "Look! I found this sealed box in the trash bin and it is making noises."
As the nurse and school administrator opened the sealed cardboard box, the lives of two little tiny kittens unfolded. The janitor asked, "How old do you think they are?" The nurse replied, "Probably a day old. Look, their eyes are still closed from birth." The school administrator picked up one of the kittens, so small that they comfortably in the palm of her hand. Both kittens were cold and shook like leaves on a tree from the cold night air. "These kittens would not have lasted the night in this temperature, said the nurse. "Who would do such a horrible thing to a little innocent life?" remarked the administrator.
The shivering, hungry and tired kittens looked up with their closed eyes desperate for affection, food, and warmth. Concerned that the kittens would not survive much longer, the school administrator quickly ran to the kitchen and warmed towels and milk in the microwave. The school nurse pondered how the kittens could be fed. "Ah ha. I've got it. We can use a syringe from my clinic to feed them." The school administrator returned with the warm towels and warm milk. She gently wrapped both kittens in the warm towels. The nurse and administrator filled two syringes with milk and feed the little kittens. The kittens liked the touch of their new human parents.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Sapphire: A Life That Almost Wasn't by Lorrie Blitch, Mark Ruben Abacajan. Copyright © 2015 Lorrie Blitch. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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