I hate a word like "pets": it sounds so much Like something with no living of its own.

By taking care of the animals, he's great.

You bite the hand that feeds, Speedy said.
Humans don't like that.
They view it as a sign of ingratitude.

I never asked anyone to feed me.

That doesn't seem to matter to them.

My blood was boiling, which is not a good thing for a coldblood.
Dracula was dead. Rex was dying or dead.
Breakfast was dying.
And I was caring about it all. Meanwhile, that blasted Gunnar did nothing but sit and stare at his teevee all day.
He was the reason we were all here, the reason we were suffering and dying,
and he barely noticed us.
I hissed so hard it hurt.

She thought about how it was so simple with animals. They gave their hearts without question or fear. They had no expectations. They were so easy to love. If people could only be like that, no one would ever be hurt, she thought. No one would ever need to learn how to forgive.

Do they know they're old, these two who are my father and my mother whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?