For now, I felt it be best to just reside by the doorway again and just give her the necessary space. Any animal lover such as myself would know by instinct that a frightened little animal would’ve not wanted to be touched by some giant Neanderthal. My back pressed against the wall with a sigh of relief from the tension I had been unaware of up until this point, like it was invisible to me that I had stopped breathing through my mouth until I sat down. My heart rate still hadn't settled down yet as more carbon exhaust from my body clouded in front of my vision.
More than a few minutes of pure stillness passed by with an occasional sign of movement in the newspapers, almost as if she was slowly creeping up to see if I was still there. Judging by the number of clouds still swaying overhead, it wasn't going to get any brighter today. I didn’t want to cause any sort of disturbance to her shelter, fearing to cause more unwanted fright. Instead, I would just sit there and see if curiosity would get the better of her.
I could hear the streams of water flow through the still standing gutters of the bakery. A miniature waterfall of overflowing precipitation could be seen near the top corner of the barred up windows. Despite the cold weather outside, it felt very humid all around the walls from the inside, maintaining its dryness while keeping out the moisture. Perhaps it was the whole reason why she had chosen to stay in such a place. Dry, quiet and out of the way.
Finally, by the time my legs went stiff, I saw that lock of blonde hair sticking out the side and what I also assumed was an eyeball, but a second look made my vision squint in the imitation of trying to zoom in. Was it the size of the pupils? Still I knew that her face definitely was looking right at me, motionless and still and my expression stood fast. Neither of us moved for what seemed like a timeless minute in another universe. My voice wanted to say something, anything while keeping in mind that I’m wise enough to understand that animals don’t understand the human language. Some habits just come as second nature I suppose.
‘Hello’, I said, which was followed by a quick bob of her head to briefly dash back behind the stone siding of the oven; a typical reaction of surprise to a sudden human noise. There was almost something adorable about it when I thought I heard a tiny squeak as she moved, which further proves that it was definitely a ‘she’. I scooted on the tile floor a couple inches away from the doorway along the wall but retained to respect her own personal bubble. I wouldn’t want to do anything to upset the poor thing, already seeming like such a feeble and timid creature.
Her head came back into sight and would then continue to just stare at me once again. I couldn’t get any closer without scaring her, so that’s when I had a somewhat simple and yet effective trick used a lot for strays. Reaching into my upper weather coat pocket, a small granola power bar was still stowed away from last week and just as fresh; rich in fiber and protein without any chocolate. Maybe all she needed was a little confidence booster.
I knew that she must’ve had more than a few muffins to eat from that box out front, but there was this burning urge of mine to find out if her conscious was capable of trust. Human beings are capable of being gentle and I wanted to see if she could figure that out. It was still unclear to me what she was doing in a shack like this to begin with.
With a simple tearing of the wrapper and another careful approach, I placed a piece of the granola on the ledge of the stone oven. ‘Here you go’, I said, which was replied by her scurrying back underneath the newspapers before I was able to see any part of her. I replaced my spot by the door and carefully settled my head on the plaster wall with an additional mist of carbon leaving my lungs.
More time and more peace went by, but I was content on waiting, filling in that sensation of absence in my mind. I'll never know what compelled me to stay, but something in the back of my cranium told me this was no ordinary animal. She had the capabilities of grabbing food to collect and then eat in one place, much like a squirrel. Above that, she had the young childish instinct to hide under the covers from something scary, like a monster. This was too interesting to pass up on.
I looked at my watch with 41 minutes passed my starting time. Buttons were pressed to check my alarm time I always set to prepare dinner. The insinuating beeping noises my watch produced made her reappear again just as before with only part of her head being visible. Her seemingly cute nose took a few dull silent sniffs of the food I had placed for her, then she looked at me. Did she sense anything? Was she picking up on something from me?
In one foal swoop, her muzzle reached forward and munched on the granola piece to bring it back behind the stone pillar wall. The adorable "nomnomnom" sounds she made put a grin on my face. With enough light, I could see her blonde hair bob up and down as she continued to munch and devour the granola into her sweet tummy. Who knows how long her last meal might've actually been.
With the sound of further silence concluding her finished treat, I slowly proceeded to place another ripped granola piece in the same spot with a looped reaction I would still expect from her, but was then again followed on by the immediate initial sniff from her tiny nose and munchies attack on the defenseless treat. I only had one more piece to share with after the second one, which left me sitting down back in silence. With another granola bar in the same pocket, I wanted to keep that stowed away if this story would unfold itself even more.