My neighbor had never really been quiet, but when she got a new pet, things really took a turn. At all hours, there would be yelling from her, and shrieking from the poor animal. I had enough when the shrieks turned into pained whimpers.

Walking to the house, and knocking; the angry person opened the door, eyes bagged from months of not sleeping. Beyond her, a small form sat in a too small cage, covered in filth with fresh bruises over its skin. "Have you been hurting that animal?!" The abuse of not caring or cleaning for it was bad, but it was being beaten as well!

"Yes," she said, "It's the only way to deal with them." She glared back at the cage, the animal flinching away to sit in another corner. This corner was just as covered with mess as the rest. My stomach turned at the sight. "But this one is so stubborn. It just screams and makes noise no matter what I do." She sighed, going to the cage and staring in. The poor animal hugged its knees, not looking up.

"Do you ever let it out?" I asked, coming inside, glad I could close my nose slits. Why was it kept in such filth?

"Once every few days to potty, but it still messes up its cage. It makes no sense, why it has to go so often," She rambled, crossing her arms, "Maybe it's got diarrhea? I heard it's common with this breed."

She tsked, tongue shooting over an eye to lick it in her annoyance. When that didn't help calm her, she walked to the cage, shaking the bars. When the animal ran to the opposite side, trying to get further away, she smiled.

I looked toward the empty bowls, "Do you feed or water it?"

"Sometimes," She said with a shrug. "Pet food is expensive." She jerked around, "What's with all the questions? Are you with that pet organization?"

"No," I forced through gritted teeth, but tried to stay calm. I didn't know much, but I knew this wasn't a happy animal, "They need to be fed at least three times."

The woman laughed, "Why? I only eat once every three days, sometimes only once a week. Why does it have to eat so much? Does it have worms? Filthy thing!"

I wanted to lick my own eye in annoyance, but I didn't want her to know I was upset. "It's a different species than you."

It whined, drawing my attention back to it. It stood as much as possible, yipping and shaking the bars of the door. "Shut up!" The woman shouted, as her pet started to shriek and shake.

"Filthy thing!" She yelled, stepping back with a hiss as a yellow liquid started to run down its legs, splattering in the mess.

Eyes becoming oddly moist , its head fell in its hands. My ear fins wavered, heart wanted to break at the horrible noises it made as liquid ran past its hands.

That couldn't be natural, losing that much liquid, it was clearly sick as well.

Yells brought me from my thoughts, "Shut up you stupid animal! You got me dirty!" The woman tried to open the cage, but I pushed her away. "Why are you always barking!?"

"It's being loud to communicate!" I yelled, shutting the cage door. "It's leaking, that must be painful. So, it's asking for help. If you didn't know a language, and you needed something, wouldn't you ask for it, yell for it any way you could?" And it was asking loud enough that the whole neighborhood complained!

"Sure I would," there was a brief pause in the woman's anger as she looked at the creature, but she shook her head, "Nah," the woman said, crossing her arms, "This breed can't feel pain, so it's not asking for help. It's not that smart, just stubborn." She pushed me out of the way, reaching inside, "I just need to hit it a few more times, and it'll understand."

My mouth dropped open in horror, "Let me have it." I blurted without thinking.

My last pet had died of old age, I really wanted another, even if he wasn't the same type as this. This type was exotic, and so much work from the little info available. Sure, I'd thought about it, but my life wasn't set up for exotics!

But it needed a better home!

Shouldn't the protective group be called? They'd just put it down, saying it would be kinder because no one knew enough.

I shook myself, ear flaps shaking, what was I thinking?

"Fine," the woman said, "but I'm not taking it back when you get tired of it barking."

"Deal." I held out a small piece of jerky. It had been Arlo's favorite, and the habit of carrying it was hard to break. He could have taken that piece in one bite; this animal gave a squeal, paw barely fitting around it.

Sniffing it with its odd outward nose, it gave a louder cry and greedily chewed on it. I frowned as sharp teeth tore into it, Arlo didn't have teeth. What if it decided to bite me?

I held out another piece of jerky, further away. When it crawled forward, I grabbed it and yanked it to my chest. It flailed briefly, but froze as the jerky was held before its face again, pulling it into its hands and mouth.

My first thought was to take this stinking creature for a bath, but with all the bruising and the way it held itself around the middle, I had to make sure it wasn't hurt.

"It's ok, little one," I said, "I'll get you some help." It snorted at me through its weird nose, burying its head in its knees, still munching on the food.

"I'll carry it," I said, holding an arm between us, as the woman banged around, probably looking for a carrier.

She shrugged, "I'd at least put on a muzzle, they're poisonous, you know.'

"It would be venomous, and a myth." I stormed out, hoping I was right.

*First chapter. Hope you like it. The cover is our alien MC. I still haven't thought of a name for him. The picture above is Harper.

Please like and comment. Any help with the plot would be welcome.*