On Saturday morning, 10:00 am sharp, Daniel was already suited up in a tracksuit and ready to go. Today was the day he’d go get a new TV with Samantha. He double checked his pockets to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything – wallet, check, phone, check, keys... Wait, what did he need his keys for? Daniel put them onto the kitchen counter and patted his hands. That was everything, but he could’ve sworn he had forgotten something.

  “Daniel, what the hell happened to your door!?”

  Ah, right.

  Outside stood a young, brown-haired woman, in the same t shirt and jeans she usually wore. Daniel walked out the “door” to meet her.

  “Sorry,” he said, scratching his head. “I did tell you that vandals broke in, but I forgot to tell you they busted the door. I’ll be getting a new one soon.”

  “...The whole door?” She asked incredulously.

  “The whole door.” He nodded.

  “What happened?”

  Daniel shrugged.

  “I have no idea,” He lied. “The police said they had a shotgun, or something.”

  “...Right.” She said, scratching her head. “So, when is it getting fixed, then?”

  “Oh, Jason just got back to me the other day. Said he’s got the door ready, and he’ll get it installed soon.”

  “Just ‘soon’?”

  “Should be in the next couple of days.” Daniel said, shrugging.

  Samantha grabbed her face.

  “Alright.” She sighed. “Alright, alright, alright. Let’s just get out and get this over with.”

  Daniel nodded. He started to follow her as she walked towards the elevator, only to stop and double back. He hurriedly picked up the large chunks of his ex-tv before heading back out to join her. The young woman gave him a strange look.

  “Seriously, did those guys use a grenade? What the hell...”

  “I don’t know, I wasn’t there.” Daniel lied again.

  “Oh... whatever.” She sighed.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  They took the elevator down to the parking lot, and he loaded the tv fragments into her van before they started moving. They drove to a nearby garbage dump, dropped off the pieces, and started heading back towards the shopping center. The van stopped at a traffic light, and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Samantha suddenly asked something.

  “So, are you still keeping that... thing around?”

  “Huh? Yeah, kinda.” Daniel said, blinking. “It’s been living in my house for a bit.”

  “You’ve been letting that thing in your house?”

  “Well, I can’t exactly stop it from coming in...”

  “You need to grow a spine, Daniel.” She sighed.

  The light turned green and she drove on for a bit before continuing the interrogation.

  “What’s its name?”

  “Name?” Daniel said, blinking.

  Samantha was busy watching the road, but shot him a meaningful look.

  “If you’re going to keep it, you have to name it, don’t you?”

  He thought for a moment.

  “Tabitha, I guess.”

  “...Why?”

  “Well, I thought that if I ever had a cat, I’d name it Tabitha.”

  “But It’s not a cat.” She said, frowning.

  “A name is a name.” He said, shrugging.

  Her frown deepened.

  “Is it sleeping in your house?”

  “Yeah, it likes staying in the crack between the fridge and the counter.”

  There was an extra-long pause after that, and Daniel started getting uncomfortable.

  “Are you taking it for walks, at least?” She asked, her voice taking an icy tone.

  “Yeah, just went on one two days ago.”

  “And what are you feeding it?”

  “I’ve been giving it my energy gel. And eggs. Oh, but it really likes prawns. Goes nuts for them.” Daniel responded, smiling.

  They dropped into silence for about a minute.

  “Alright, that’s it.” She said, jerking the steering wheel suddenly.

  Daniel was pressed against the side of the van as the vehicle turned rapidly. She quickly flicked the indicator light quickly flicked on as she sent the van careening into a side street.

  “Uh, the electronics store is that way.” Daniel said, looking back as the intersection shrank from view.

  “Daniel, if you’re going to take care of something, you need to do it right.” She said as she stopped the van.

  She got out of the driver’s seat and Daniel followed her, looking around at their destination. They had parked outside some kind of department store. Samantha walked with vigor, grabbing a shopping cart just outside the stoor. He followed, somewhat apprehensive.

  “But I am taking care of it, I even gave it a bath yesterday.” He objected.

  “Maybe if you gave it a bed it wouldn’t have to be dirty, living next to your dusty fridge. Did you ever think about that?”

  “It was digging through the garbage-”

  “And why does it do that? Are you not feeding it enough?”

  “I... should be?” He said, unsure. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t give it lunch since he was at work most of the time.

  That got him an unimpressed look from Samantha. She knew Daniel, and she had a good idea of the reality of things.

  “Just follow my lead, Daniel. You’ve never taken care of a pet before, so you have no idea.” She said, walking briskly through the automatic doors. “From here on out, this is my world.”

  The white doors parted and he was blasted by the cool AC. Inside the warehouse-sized interior were piles and piles of items – colorful toys, cushions, bowls, strange filled bags, and even more strange devices with strange purposes. Right in front of that empire of items stood Daniel, basking in the air conditioning, feeling like a foreigner in different country.

  Samantha looked back and noticed him loitering with a dumb look on his face.

  “What’s the matter, Daniel?” She asked. “Never been in a pet store before?”