Once upon a time, there lived a little fluffy gray kitten. Now this kitten was, sadly, abandoned from a young age. Actually, he had barely been born when it happened! Fortunately for him, a nice couple were taking a walk right near him, when they heard his pathetic, lonely mewing.

                “Oh no! Darling look, a kitten!” the woman exclaimed. “He doesn’t have a collar; and look how skinny he is! He must be a stray!”

                “I suppose you’re going to insist that we take him home, aren’t you?” the man said, a slight smile playing on his lips, having known that his wife would say that.

                “Well of course!” The woman’s eyebrows were pinched together over her violet eyes, her pity for the animal plainly showing on her face. “We can’t just leave him out here!” The man chuckled.

                “Alright then Jane, if it makes you happy,” the man said.

                “Oh, thank you Ed!” Jane cried, throwing her arms around Ed’s neck. A minute later, the kitten felt warm hands scoop him up.

                “Aww, poor little thing! He’s freezing! We have to get him home right away!” Jane pressed the kitten to her chest, her auburn hair falling on him in her attempt to keep him warm. The couple turned back the way they came and went home. Once there, they gave the kitten a bed of blankets and warm milk from a bottle. The starved kitten quite preferred the warmth of the house and blankets to that of his cold bed of grass.

                “Poor little thing,” Jane said again, and left the kitten to get a well deserved nap. The next day, Jane attempted to give him a bath, but the kitten didn’t like the water one bit and clawed and thrashed at Jane’s grip. He would much rather lick himself clean (though he had to admit that the bath made his fur taste much better, and he felt better after having it).

                “Now, my darling, you need a name,” Jane told the kitten as she was brushing out his matted fur.  “What do you think?” she asked him. The kitten meowed, not understanding what she was saying. Jane looked away for a moment, absentmindedly biting down on her thumbnail in thought.

                “I think I’ll name you… Thunder!” she said, snaping her fingers. Thunder mewed, and Jane smiled in return.  “You like that, huh? Don’t you, Thunder?” she cooed, scratching him under the chin as he purred back in reply. Thunder grew to like it at Jane and Ed’s house. He spent quite a few months there, relaxing, eating, being petted, and having a very good life until one day when he went outside without a collar on. Jane had forgotten to put in on that day, and Thunder had snuck out the flap in their front door. Outside, there were two people with nets and a truck with cages in it. The people looked at Thunder and nodded to each other, then started moving towards him slowly. Thunder went up to greet them, being a social cat, which unfortunately made their job easier. They snatched him up and set him in one of the cages inside the truck. They slammed the door of it shut and drove off, ignoring Thunder’s mews for help.