“We have to find you a home for you” Sambla said.

The rain had stopped and they were back on the road. Cali was still confused, trying to get used to the new world.

From time to time, people would stop in their hurried footsteps and when they saw Cali, they would bend down and try to pet him. Frightened, Cali immediately ran under a car. When he felt safe, he coolly found himself next to Sambla, who had his back to the car.

“What was that?”

“Some people, but not all, are animal lovers and like to pet cats.”

Cali, slightly embarrassed by his earlier escape, picked up where they had left off.

“I already have a home.”

“In Kittelfdora, yes. But you need a home here too. For that you need to adopt a human.”

Quite surprised, Cali said, “But I’ve always heard bad things about humans. Now I’m going to live with them???”

“There are good and bad people in the world. We cats can usually figure that out with our instincts over time. Then you start to learn who to let you pet on the street and who not to. But in this world, you need a warm home that will feed you, brush you , play with you and take care of you.”

Together they came to a green lawned garden, full of trees, between 4 blocks of appartments with no visitors. They jumped on one of the benches.

“Whenever I miss Kittelfdora, I usually come to this garden. The silence, the trees, the lanscape reminds me of there. Anyway, I did some research. Choose one of these options”.

He handed Cali a file. The file contained photos of some people, information about them and pictures of their homes.

On the first page was a photograph of a handsome man. He was dark-skinned, hazel-eyed, stubbly-bearded, and it was obvious from the thickness of his neck and the visible veins that he worked out. He was rich, had a villa, was a womaniser and enjoyed the nightlife.

On the second page there were two photographs of two middle-aged blonde girls who looked very much alike.
They are sisters. They lost their parents. Not married. Middle class. They lived in a flat.

On the third page there were four photographs; a man and a woman in their 50s. And two little children of 3 and 4 years old, a girl and a boy, resembling the ying-yang symbol. The boy with red-hair seemed to be distracted, looking off to the right rather than at the lens. The girl posed with a sullen face. The woman, apparently her mother, looked tired, while the man in the photo was caught picking his nose.

“We narrowed it down to three. There are fewer and fewer animal lovers in the world. You have to choose one of these three.
And remember. Once you’ve made your choice, you can’t change it. But the choices don’t stop there. In Kitttelfdora, we have a tradition of ‘doing good and finding good.’ So the person you adopt will now be your mission. Each of them has a problem. You must identify it, solve it and heal it...”

Cali looked at 3 pages in turn. Then he went back to the first page because he could not decide.

The first option caught his attention. The villa had a big garden. He could run and play all day long. He would not be bored on cold winter days or in rainy weather because the house was spacious.

Unsure of himself, he noticed that Sambla’s smily face expression changed when he said, “The first o…..,” and added a question mark at the end with the tone of his voice, “…one?”

Sambla, “Hmmmm, so… Single and a womaniser. Yes, the house is nice. But if he’s a womaniser, he must have a night life. He’ll come home drunk sometimes. He’ll forget to feed you.”

Cali visualized the situation in his head… A man and a woman come home in the middle of the night. Cali is purring on the couch. Man and woman stagger towards the sofa. The man and woman start kissing. Then they lie and continue to foreplay, the man’s hand hits the wine glass on the coffee table by accident . Wine spills on Cali anndddddd…
Cali, who hates being wet and loves to eat , said “Oh no, no way…”

Then her eyes fell on the family on page three. “Page three?” he asked, his voice weak and uncertain.

“Children under 5? They think pets are toys and do experiments on you?”

Cali’s imagination worked again. The children were holding their mom’s make up and holding Cali in their arms, trying to apply lipstick. Cali shook his head right and left…
“Nooooooooooooo…” He yelled

“That leaves only one option, Sambla. The blonde sisters?”

“I would choose them”, said Sambla. “They grew up in a loving family, they have a lot of love to give. They adore staying indoors at home. They seem like good people.”

“I’ll live in an apartment!!!??????!!!!”

“Better than living in a mansion and starving.” Sambla replied.

Cali sighed. “Well, let’s go then”, he said unhappily.

“Not so fast, dear Cali, You can’t just walk into their house. First I have to teach you the art of seduction, This is a choice for life. You won’t get to change your home till the rest of your life.”

Cali wondered for a moment if the new skills he was about to learn would have any effect on Dora…