---------------------------------Chapter1A: High school Hijinks--------------------------------

It was just like any other day for Sarah, a quiet, 5 foot 5 inch tall, eyes that could melt any man. As she herself wondered why she was single, her somewhat annoying friend blurted out

“You know the “light” you see at the end of the tunnel when you die Sarah?”

Her friend, Jake was captain of the football team. “what about it Jake?” Sarah sighed with indifference

“what if that’s us passing out of our moms you-know-what into another life” Jake never looked that smart, or acted it. But he occasionally had a deep insightful thought. This wasn't one of them,

“its called a vagina” as Sarah spoke the word Jake cringed, but Sarah kept going on anyway “who cares? Its not like were going to die any time soon anyway.”

It was at that exact moment in Sarah's life that the hands of fate decided to interfere. Because the city they were in was so small, they had to put the school beside the federal penitentiary. All the students were warned about “Whacky Jacky” the criminal that always smacked her kills with the gun she killed them with. As Sarah finished her sentence whacky Jacky broke into the study hall of about 5 kids (it was the lunch period. Study hall was optional) and fired off 3 bullets. The first lodged itself into the brain of the teacher, the second into Sarah, and the third into her own brain.

“Someone get help! Sarah are you OK?!?”

Jake laid Sarah onto the floor, her head in his lap

“hey Jake...” Sarah's voice was weak

“yes Sarah” Jake’s eyes were filled with tears, his arms shaking ever so slightly from the shock

“ I guess I get to see whats at the end of the light” Sarah smiled

“Sarah no don't say that were getting help!!!” Sarah knew that Jake was just trying to convince himself of that fact, because they both knew that she was shot through the heart.

“Jake...” Sarah felt that these were her last words so she made them count “Tell my family I am sorry for leaving them” Sarah closed her eyes as the paramedics came in. She tried to hear what they were saying, but their voices kept fading until atlast she saw nothing

Sarah felt her whole life flash before her in her final moments. And as they passed they were erased.. all except for the bare necessities we need to survive.

--------------------------------Chapter 1B: The Kitty Chronicles--------------------------------

Sarah woke groggily from her slumber and she felt weird. She was in pain and felt like she was struck by lightning, but didn’t know why so she continued her regular routine of finding a place to sleep for the night. She walked over to the water she was sleeping by to admire her reflection. She gazed at her feline figure. She looked like a tiger cub but was your ordinary house cat. Nothing fancy. As she looked she wondered why she couldn’t remember anything before today so she shrugged it off and spent all day looking for a new location. She finally found one in the backyard of a nice family. She decided to sleep in this house looking thing that had weird markings written on it she couldn’t make out. As she drifted off to sleep she curled in a ball and the last of her old life left her: her name and her age.

------------------------------Chapter 2: Quite a Rude Awakening--------------------------------

WOOF!!!

I screamed and rushed to a back corner of the box thingy I was in, ears down and tail tucked in meowing in fear of a big scary monster thing and the loud noise it was making.

“what did you find boy?” a human girl's face filled the opening of the box. She looked tiny, like one of their kids. When she sees me I fearfully make Eye contact back with her. “aww Rex its a cat” she moved the monster and he went away, but she was coming for me! I hiss at her trembling and crying Because she is scary. “Why do you hate me leave” I thought, until her delicate arms lift me close to her and I feel the warmth radiating from her.

“your soft” she keeps holding me and I start to purr, realizing that she was friendly.

“mommy look a cat!” Jessie, the little girl, ran inside to show her parents and 3 year old brother, max.

“Jessie we told you no pets” [her mom sounded scary I don’t like her] I thought as I buried my ears into the girls arms. I hear them arguing, about me I think. The scary mom pointed to me and said Sarah a couple times and I heard the little girl say it. [I must be Sarah] I think to myself, and as I thought Sarah I said it making everyone to be quiet, I then promptly yawn and fall asleep.

[OW!] The word ran through my head as a stabbing pain exploded in my left leg waking me up [where am I?] I think scared to myself [its dark and scary its bad]

I start meowing before the girl comes and holds me. [yay I like her shes safe] I smile thinking this.

--5 Years later: Sarah:6 Yo. Jessie:11 Yo. Max: 8 Yo.--

“Then what mommy?” I am laying in my bed, listening to my mom tell me of how the family found me.

“well” she cleared her throat before continuing “The doctor said that your DNA test showed you are a 50/50 mix of cat and human Sarah, and that we should raise you like we would our own daughter, so we are ” mom finished talking with a smile on her face.

“is that why I’m furry? Because I’m a cat?” I poked my tail out of the blanket, it was getting too hot and I waited to hear my mom finish talking.

“yes dear that is why you are furry. Now I know you don’t like being alone, or going out , so max will stay here with you, but the rest of the family has to go to Jessie’s dance recital” She hugged me good by as max walked in. “keep your sister safe please max”

“OK mom” I smile at my brother. We usually ruff house and play with each other that way its so fun so I’m super happy. “drive safely”

Max and I follow the family out of the room. I’m walking on all fours and I shift my bones back again to stand on just my feet to hug my sister good bye. “do you have to leave Jessie?” She smile and ruffles my hair.

I should explain, I shift my bones, mostly my spine hips and shoulders, so my structture most closely resemble a cat. This is what allows me to walk on all fours. I shift back when I'm not going to be running or hiding so I can walk like a human most of the time.

“Sarah you know I have to I’m sorry” she smiles and hugs me “I will be home in an hour so don’t worry” She smiles and ruffles my hair one more time

“great now I have to fix that” I giggle and hug them all before walking off to the bathroom to fix my hair. Once there I smile at how I look, a human girl that’s furry and has human hair. As I’m fixing my hair I hear the family van start and worry that they wont be safe. I walk to the front door and watch them pull out only to hear a loud Semi-Truck horn and watch as an 18-Wheeler smashes into the van, causing it to fly a few hundred feet, Horribly dented in on the side.

“NO!!!” I quickly shift my bones and sprint on all fours towards the van as max follows behind me on his scooter to keep up.

I arrive on the scene first only to see the 18-Wheeler pull off quickly, screeching his tires. “Mom, Dad, Jessie?!?!?” I’m crying and pounding the ground with my fists, when I hear a faint sound, picked up easily with my cat senses, coming from the yard in front of me. I race over to the body to find Jessie laying on the ground with part of the windshield straight through her belly. “Jessie no... please don’t die... not now... please no” I’m crying and I shift my bones so I can Lay her head on my lap, my arms shaking from the tears

“Sarah...” Jessie was weak, about to die any minute;Her words were barely audible to Sarah “I love you Sarah please stay strong for max. I will be watching you from above” With these final words, Jessie leans up and kisses me on the cheek just as the paramedics arrive. He's trying to say something. I cant hear him. Why should I? Thoughts Race through my head. Life doesn’t matter if your best friend dies... Does  it?

[why did it have to be her?] I think as I sob, not noticing the man walking up to my brother and I

“hello... I’m from the orphanage... I’m sorry but you are going to have to come live here for a while... I’m terribly sorry” his words sting me like thousands of needles. [how could this happen?] I think, over and over again.

The man gets up and starts to walk away, asking for us to follow. I’m starting to shake from the cold and the crying when max touches my arm and I look at him crying. “Why her Max?”

A sad expression lifts from Maxes face I don’t know how he can be happy. “Sarah, lets go. Its not safe here.”

The love in his voice is so sincere. I follow him and the man, but the man closes the door in front of me “no pets” he talks sternly

“but mister I’m a human girl! I just look this way!” I plead with him as he walks to his door and gets in and starts the engine.

“NO PETS!!!” he angrily yells at me and I see Max's face in the window.

“Max No! I’m coming!!!” I try to chase the van but I’m too weak from running to the explosion, so I curl into a ball and cry “Max... No...” I quietly sob to my self. [Why him too] I think to myself, numb from the pain of losing my whole family In one night. [It should have been me...] I feel a warm hand on my back and jump up like a tiger, growling at the strange man

“Easy girl I’m just here to help” he has an animal services shirt on “I'm going to take you to your new home OK?” he slowly walks up to me with a cage, trying to entice me into it. I slowly stand and shift my bones so I can walk like a human.

“Ill go with you, but please don’t make me ride in that.” I try to smile as sweetly as possible to him because the shock on his face told me that he didn’t know I could do this. “Don t worry I’m safe” I add so he doesn’t freak out

“yo...yo... you Can Talk!!” He doesn’t look so afraid as he dose curious now “How is that even possible?” we start walking to the van

“well uh... whats your name?” I ask, not believing that I forgot.

“Oh, uh I’m Bruce, and my buddy Phil is in the back of the van” He smiles at me “wanna scare him?”

“I'm Sarah, and sure. Ill just change sometime during the ride” I smile at him and shift so I’m on all fours and I climb into the cage for the joke “And the doctors couldn’t figure out what I was. The closest they came was determining that I’m a 50/50 cat mix” I start making noises as we near the van to make it sound like a struggle. “I will shift when were there, but before we get out” I whisper to Bruce as he opens the back doors and slides me over near Phil.

“Ugh another cat? Bruce when are we getting more dogs? I hate cats!” [Great. He hates me already] I smile at this thought because it will make the prank even funnier to me.

“I told you Phil” Bruce was holding back laughs “We cant control what calls we get” He snicker to himself a little.

“Whats so funny?” Phil sounded angry that he missed out on some kind of joke, and I couldn’t wait to do it.

After 10 minutes of Phil going on about his life I feel the car slow to a stop and the engine sputter off. [This is going to be fun] I meow at the thought since giggling would give me away.

“Ill be right around to let you out Phil” Bruce had to raise his voice an octave to stop from laughing. “Just be patient” Whit those words he shuts his door and I move into action.

I start meowing a lot and Phil agitated enough that he kicks the cage to try and quiet me. I take the opportunity to shift my bones and unlock the cage and crawl out of it and stand and just evilly smile at him “hello, Phil”

Phil totally flips a shit and starts screaming and fumbles with his belt as I laugh so hard I’m crying. I wipe my eyes and as I open them again all I see is Bruce opening the door and a long needle with some long t-word on it before I pass out.

I wake up under a blanket in what looks like an office and I see Bruce asleep in a chair across the room, with no sign of Phil.

“Bruce?” I speak softly just to test if he is actually sleeping but he hears me and opens his eyes and smiles at me

“Morning sunshine” He stretches and yawns as I look at the clock but it's not digital and I’m too young to read it.

“what time is it Bruce?” I smile at him and remember the night before and my ears drop because I’m sad

“10:30 in the morning sweetheart” he walks over and sits me on his lap and hugs me, rubbing my back. “I know its sad Sarah, just let the tears out”

“I don’t cry Bruce” I smile sadly at him “Because I’m part cat” I shift my bones and curl up in his lap like a kitten and purr.

“What are we going to do with you?” Bruce sighs as I lay in his laps to feel safe.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-” My alarm screamed for me to wake up and I tiredly hit the snooze button with my fist. I look to my right to see Bruce just finishing his paperwork. “Morning Bruce” I pop open his office mini-fridge and take out a bottle of apple juice

“Morning Sarah” He smiles at me trying to look awake, but failing in the end, his lack of sleep showed through.

“Bruce are you OK?” I walk over and hug him, truly worried for my only friend.

“Don t worry about it Sarah” He smiled and reached into his desk, pulling out a collar with regret written all over his face. He tears up slightly as I take the collar from him and slip it over my head and I fix my hair.

“Don’t feel bad Bruce.” I hug him and give him a delicate lick on the cheek “I will be fine” I look at the date and a lead weight drops to the pit of my stomach. It is the two year anniversary of me losing my family and it doesn’t exactly feel good. I just walk to the “kennels” that the cats were kept in and shifted my bones to look like a cat and lay down fighting back tears as Bruce hugs me one final time before leaving. I put the collar on and drift to sleep, trying to catch some Z's before the people come.

“Mommy I want that one!” The first little girl came around the corner and spotted me, waking me up with her yelling. [god I hate kids] was all I could think while being locked in a jail call for 10 hours a day. [I have to try to get adopted at least] I think to myself, so I walk up to the cage and just look at the little girl and she reached out to pet me and shouted “kitty!!. Mommy I WANT THIS ONE” she stomped her feet in anger and I retreated to my corner, trying to sleep.

I am woken up by the sound of a metal gate rising and a tray of food sliding under it with a note on the bottom. I notice people are around so I don’t read the note just yet and just finish my food. Once the people are gone I race to open the note that read

Sarah,

Hope your well, I know the days can be tough. STAY STRONG.

Bruce.

I smile because Bruce always draws a kitty paw print after all of his notes, and it makes me feel like there is someone in the world that I can trust.

Several more weeks go by without anything interesting happening. I woke up, went to “Jail”, and slept in the office at nights. One night, however, I wake up around midnight and realize that Bruce isn’t there “Bruce??” I call his name for a while before deciding he must have slept at home tonight. I couldn’t blame him, I mean this place Isn’t exactly a palace. The next was completely normal until around lunch time.

“Where is she let me see her!” The voice sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure about it

“Hold on she's just around the corner here” The second voice belonged to Bruce for sure... But who was that first voice? I could smell a familiar scent as the boy rounded the corner. He could be no more than 11 years old. Bruce walks over and lets him in my caged off area before pressing the button that covers the cages completely and then lights come on. He starts to approach me but I back away into a corner and growl at him ready to pounce.

“You really don’t remember me?” He looks at me with tears forming in his eyes, and I continue to growl more. He walks towards me again so I tackle him to the ground and pin him down by his shoulders. I am slightly confused when he doesn’t fight back, instead he just places one of his hands over my heart and says “I love you Sarah.”

In those three little words it became clear to me who he was. “Ma... Max?” I don’t want to believe it in case it wasn’t true but I just get a one word reply: Yes. I’m elated at the word and I quickly shift my bones and I hold him and cry. “For 2 years I didn't see you” I look at him teary-eyed “I was so alone, so scared”

“Shh Sarah I know don’t worry though, I’m here for you” he smiles and holds me in his arms like he used to “and I totally would have won that fight”

“only if I let you!” I say back and we both stand and I tell Bruce to let him out so he dose and I shift my bones so people wont freak out and I return to my corner, but Bruce keeps the gate open so I give him a Quizzical look.

“what? I wouldn’t just adopt your brother and not you! Come on lets go home!!” He smiles at me as I break into a full run to catch up with what I am glad to call my new family

We walk through the halls of the animal shelter and Max attaches a leash to my collar and I think what the hell as I look at him and he promises its just till we get to the car. When we reach the front counter area Bruce walks over to pay for me and I smile and lovingly rub my head against Max's hand because I missed him so much. Bruce finishes with the paper work and walks out to his van as we follow. He opens the back doors and I see a specially converted area just for me with an extra chair in case I want to be in my human form for a little while, or in this case Max to sit in. I jump in and Max follows, not taking the seat but sitting beside me instead and gives Bruce the go ahead to shut the van doors. He smiles as he does this and as soon as they click closed I shift into my human form and undo the collar and leash and take them off and just hold my brother in my arms. “I missed you so much” I’m crying tears of joy and I lick Max on the cheek

“Eww gross! Sarah what was that for?” He wipes it off giggling and smiling at me as I lay in his arms

“Oh you know you liked it!!” I smile as Bruce gets in and looks back

“I know it's not much bu-” I cut him off as he speaks

“It's perfect” I smile as he smiles and starts the engine and slowly drives away.

Max doesn’t say much in the van on the ride home. I didn’t really want to talk anyways and I’m sure he was feeling that thought coming from me somehow. Max was always good like that, making sure I felt OK. “Is me laying on you like this a bother Max?” He was sitting cross legged and I was laying across his legs on my belly, enjoying the brushing I was getting.

“No No Not at all its fine. Your purring feels good anyways” He smiles down at me and then looks at the other wall and continues to brush me as I purr and wrap my tail around his arm lovingly.

When the vehicle slows to a stop and Bruce declares that we have arrived I begin to transform into a cat, but Max stops me

“you don’t need to do that here Sarah, trust me” He gives me a loving hug as I turn back to human form again. When I step out of the van I gasp at where I am. I’m standing in front of a large house that is around the corner from the street, with a beautiful front yard and a nice fresh breeze.

“oh it's wonderful” I smile and I see the nice average family house behind me and follow Bruce to the front door and inside to a well decorated foyer. “oh Bruce, it's more than I could have ever asked for thank you!” I run to his arms totally happy for the first time in YEARS and I cry tears of joy.

“Sarah, Max” Bruce started “I want you two to have any room you like in the house, then tell me if I can make it better and I promise I will try my hardest to make it happen”

I smile at Bruce and give him a big hug.

“Thank you Bruce. You are so awesome” I smile at him and turn to Max “Pick a room Max. I’m going to be next door to you, in case I get scared.”

Max and I wander around the house looking at all the cool things that Bruce had. We spent well over two hours just spending time with each other in complete silence, each enjoying the other's company. It was Max that broke the silence first.

“Lets go pick our rooms now sis.” He went up the stairs and I followed, being careful not to knock anything over with my tail. The rooms were all so different. One with a view, one without; one with a library' one with televisions; and finally a game room. I look over at max and smile. “which room do you want sweetheart?” [oh I hope he doesn’t want the one without a view...] I think to my self.

“I want the one with a view” he finally says looking at me “that is unless you want it” he hugs me.

“no thank you Max. The view is all yours” I smile and we walk into our rooms. As I walk in I notice how roomy it is and how easy it will be to live in it. I estimate it to be about the size of 4 of my 4X4 kennel I have been living in for the past two years of my life. “Max lets go!” I shout for him to come downstairs to tell Bruce which rooms we have chosen.

Upon arrival down stairs we see Bruce just shut the back door so we walk outside with him and gasp because there is a whole pool in our backyard. I look beyond the pool and into the woods behind the house. They look foreboding, but I see several trails leading into the so I’m not to afraid. “Bruce we picked the rooms with and without a view” I speak softly, as not to disturb the sounds of nature and he feels the same way, only nodding in response. We stand there for probably 15 more minutes before Bruce breaks the silence.

“Come inside Max, Sarah. I have gifts for you” We smile and thank him for the gifts, stating that he didn’t have to. He leads us into the living room and hands Max his git first.

“Gee I wonder what it is” Max said sarcastically and I chirp in “go easy on Bruce, max. It's not easy to wrap a baseball bat, besides I thought you liked basketball.” I look over at my brother Quizzically [how much of him has changed?] I wonder to myself as Bruce hands me a jewelery box. “thanks Bruce you shouldn’t have” I say as I smile at him. Opening the box, I pull its contents out slowly to find out he got me a diamond studded collar. I try to be happy but cant as I tear up and toss it at him. “Really, you shouldn’t have!” I run off crying into my room and hide in the closet like I always did. I didn’t pay much attention as I left, but it looked like Max didn’t even move from his seat.

I’m crying in my closet, curled in a ball when max walks in. I ignore him because I hate his guts right now. He kneels down and wraps his arms around me, but I still don’t look at him.

“Bruce feels horrible ya know” He rubs my back “He felt so bad he left to return the collar as I speak” He holds me as I cry and wrap my tail around him.

“you know I hate collars. Ever since the animal services” I slowly stop crying and I hear the front door open and close so I stand up, adjust my hair and walk down stairs.

“oh, Sarah. Look I-” I interrupt Bruce with a big hug and I snuggle close to him.

“Its OK Bruce, you didn’t know.” I kiss him on the cheek gently “just no more collars please” I smile at him and I let go and walk to Max “Wanna go for a walk?” I smile at Bruce and give his hand a loving squeeze before turning to cat form and walking out of the back door with max. As we walk into the woods we notice that the path is neat and tidy, and that there is the sound of water near by. “oh Max, Its beautiful” I round a corner to see a magnificent waterfall and a lake large enough to hold a small van. Perfect for me and him to just hang out and swim in. I walk in to the water slowly and see that it is deep enough to jump into from the waterfall, and clear enough to see straight to the bottom. I realize I’m actually pretty thirsty so I decide to just take a drink from the lake. “Sarah!?! what are you doing?” Max was angry so I stopped drinking [its perfectly fine] I thought to myself but I was more gentle towards Max “I thought It would be OK Max. I’m sorry” My ears drop in shame and I start to get out of the water and Max questions if I feel OK. “I’m fine I swear I-” I hit the water with a smack as I pass out.

I groggily wake up and and don’t recognize where I am. There’s a big puddle beside me with a stream runn- wait. That’s the lake... I’m giant!!! My thoughts immediately shift to Max. “Max? Max where are you?!?” I look around on the ground and see him hiding behind a tree. He is shaking Because he is scared so I slowly put my hand on the ground. “Max please... I’m not going to hurt you I promise” I’m close to crying as he slowly steps onto my hand and I lift him up so I can see him. “What happened maxx?” I’m crying and he actually reaches out and tries to wipe my tears away and I stop crying because I’m touched about what he did.

“You passed out and just started growing. I couldn’t stop it.” He tears up so I hold Him close to my chest. Luckily my clothes grew too I think as I set him on the ground when he points out I’m returning to normal. “Max I’m scared. Please don’t tell Bruce about this please. He doesn’t need to worry about me.” Max smiles at me and says he wont as we head back to the house

As we walk into the house Bruce asks where we were so we just tell him that we went swimming and he thinks nothing of it, so we go up stairs and I smile at Max “thanks for trusting me Max, I appreciate it a lot” I hold him close to me and I hug him “it was so scary, I thought I crushed you” I look at him seriously

“I almost did get crushed Sarah, I noticed it just in time” he turns away and I can see that he is starting to tear up so I hold him and wrap my tail around us for extra security.

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t crush my little brother” I smile as he looks up at me confused

“Sis, I'm older and taller than you” He turns and faces me questioningly.

“Yes you are...” I start with a smirk “But I think I can add a few feet on to what you have” I giggle and hug him one last time “Good night Max”

“Good night Sarah” he shakes his head at my laughter as we part ways and retire for the night.

I wake up the next morning to the smell of bacon and both Max and Bruce walking in with food and presents. “huh? Uh whats going on?” They both start to sing happy birthday and I tear up out of joy “Its my birthday” I think to my self, realizing that while I was in the animal shelter I had forgotten when my birthday was, and Bruce couldn’t have known then either so I smile at both of them through tears of joy “Guys this is the best Birthday ever” I lean forward to hug them, but a sharp pain in my back forces me to sit back instead.

“Sarah are you ok?” Max's voice sounds strained and I can tell he has been worrying about me.

“Max don’t worry I'm fine, I just sat on my tail wrong is all.” I smile and sit forward and carnivorously tear into the bacon Bruce brought as he smiles at me. “Thanks for the bacon Bruce” I smile as I finish It off.

“Anything for my princess” He smiles and hands me a card and I take it “This is for your birthday, and this...” He hands me a small box “... Is an apology for the last gift I gave you” He looks down sad, so I lift his head and smile

“You didn’t have to apologize Bruce, I will always love you no matter what” I smile and open the card finding a $50 bill, and I smile at him before opening the box and pulling out another collar, wait not a collar... no its a necklace! “Thank you so much Bruce!!” I hug him and Kiss him smiling happily “It's great!!” When I'm done talking to Bruce, Max walks up to me and hugs me

“My gift wont be ready till later sis” He smile at me and helps me outta bed before letting me change. What could Max have that wont be ready till later? I shove the thought aside and go on a Walk with Max, eventually ending up at the waterfall.

“Thanks for being here for me Max” I smile as he dives into the river and I see a shadow signaling that he has come up on the other side of the waterfall. He is there but a single moment before I watch the figure swim under and pop out of the water by my paws

“Sarah you gotta see this!” Max dove under as soon as he finished his sentence and I followed him coming out to find a massive cavern on the other side of the waterfall.

“Max it's huge!” I get out of the water and walk along the wall of the cave, remarking how much natural light was coming through considering the cavern was underground and behind a waterfall. “Hey Max, can you come here?” My voice trails off, not believing what I am seeing. Max gets beside me and I show him the picture of a different cat girl and some guy. “I'm not alone...” I turn to Max teary-eyed.

Chapter Notes: After a long hiatus I am back! I had to put the chapter notes int the text though because I am short on words as I wanted a separate chapter for max's tale.

STORY: We stare at the picture for what seems like hours before I slip the small picture into my purse and turn to Max “I cant believe she's real” I only stay on the thought for a moment before remembering I needed to show Max something “Um... Max?”

“yea?” He smiles and looks at me.

“I need to show you something... Something important” With that, I step back a few feet and grow to about 100ft tall as Max gasps and looks nervous “It turns out, I can control my growth, and how much I grow also” I'm nervous about what he is going to say as he nervously walks towards my flip-flop.

“Why... How did you figure this out?” He backs up as I sit and bring my knees to my chest, placing him on my knee to see him better.

“Oh, well while you were asleep one night I started to grow again so I rushed outside and tried to stop and did, I was actually surprised my self” I smile and lean against the cave wall and look at my watch realizing its only noon so I look down at Max. He starts getting really nervous so I hold him lovingly in my hand while rubbing his back with my other “please don’t be afraid of me Max” I try to smile sweetly but he just backs up even more, I remember I have pretty sharp teeth so I close my lips.

“I'm not scared, I'm nervous Sarah” Max sits in my hand and I lay down to appear less tall, setting Max down in front of my face. He walks up and hugs my nose, causing me to twitch and him to fall to his but so I giggle a little. “What was that for?” I give him a quizzical look

“Because I love you Sarah, and I know I can trust you with my life” he replies, smiling and sitting beside me

“Max, I have a question.” I try to talk softly because I'm sure my voice is much louder at this size than when I'm normal sized. “What did you do before Bruce adopted us?” I look at him softly, trying my best to look loving

“Sarah” he begins softly “I'm not sure you want to know” his entire persona takes on a depressed look for a brief second before he smiles and looks back up at me.

“I want to understand what you went through Max, I hope it was better than what I had to deal with” I tear up for just a second before continuing “And you don’t have to tell me if you don't want to” I smile at him and he walks over and plops down against my cheek, which is uncomfortable for me because it tickles so I lay on my back and put him next to my ear.

“Well Sarah” he starts, “Its a long story...”