Chapter 5 - Realization

Chapter 5 - Realization

"Check my house and job?!!" Danial was stunned. He never thought that the shelter would check this.

He continued reading the reasons stated by the shelter.

They wanted to protect the cats. The cats were abandoned before and they did not want the same thing to happen again to them.

So, they needed to check the possible owner's house and job and make sure he or she was suitable enough to adopt the cat.

Thus, only those the staff deemed qualified were allowed to adopt the cats.

Danial looked around his house and he was not sure if he was qualified. The house was a bit empty.

Around his sleeping area, there was only a thin mattress and a futon. Besides the mattress was a small Japanese table. Near the electric plug was his phone charger.

Looking at his kitchen, there were a few plates, cups, spoons, and forks. He had a few simple cooking utensils too. He did not have a refrigerator and washing machine.

"…I don't think I am qualified based on their standard… probably," Danial mumbled.

"Let's not talk about my job. I am just a part-timer. I am not even a full-time employee at the convenience store…" Danial continued to find fault with his current situation.

He took a deep breath and felt like all of this was ridiculous.

"Is there a need to even check my job? It is not that hard to take care of a cat," Danial was frustrated.

He locked his phone and lied down on his futon. He contemplated his life journey again.

"What should I do now? I know I am not qualified to adopt a cat from Sunshine Shelter. Hmm… how about other shelters?"

Danial checked on the other shelters.

"Check home."

"Check home and family."

"Check home, job."

"Check home, family, job."

"Check home, criminal history, job."

"Check home, psychological test, job."

"Check home, bond test."

"Check home, check home, CHECK HOME!" Danial was frustrated.

"This is bad! My plan will fail even before I start it."

"Maybe I should focus on finding jobs. Doing a cat video does not guarantee me any success… Sigh~," Danial stared at the ceiling listlessly until afternoon.

It was 1 pm.

Danial had his lunch and prepared to go to work. He did not get an email asking for him to attend any interviews. It was disheartening but there was nothing he could do.

He got out of his home and headed to the bus stop.

"Why am I failing all of my interviews? I can understand the big companies' standards but even the small ones refuse to hire me?"

"And when I decide to do a side job, there are more obstacles too."

"Am I that unlucky? Or is it because of my incompetency…" Danial mumbled while walking to the bus stop.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt.

"Why are you so useless?" an authoritative male voice emanated in his mind.

***

*Ding~ Ding~*

"Welcome~" Danial spoke cheerfully to the customer who came into the store. He was not at the counter at this moment.

He was arranging the snacks at the Snack Section. Danial had stopped thinking about his problem and was focusing on his job.

He felt better when he stopped thinking about all that messy stuff. It was hard to clear and calm his mind but he managed to do it when he busied himself with his job.

Since he took the evening shift, he did not need to arrange the product unless the racks were emptied.

Even so, he did it to distract himself from the distressing thoughts. It worked and he happily continued with it.

Time passed and it was almost at the end of his shift. Danial had stopped arranging the stocks and was resting behind the counter.

He looked outside even though nothing was interesting there. However, looking at the people passing by the store can be quite soothing.

While he was in a daze watching people passing by, he suddenly saw an orange cat walking by the side of the road.

The orange cat was not too skinny nor was it fat. It was the size of a normal cat but it was dirty. Danial knew that the orange cat was a stray cat.

He just stared at the cat without much thought but when the cat disappeared from his sight, he suddenly came to a realization.

"That's it!!!" Danial got up from the chair as he got an idea.

"Why in the world do I need to adopt a cat from the shelter when I can find many of them on the street!!!"

"Idiot! This is so simple!" Danial was happy when he realized this.

"I can adopt a cat from my friend's unwanted kitten too. It will not cost me anything if I do this. I can save money and at the same time, I can get myself a cat!"

"I don't have any friends with a cat. Let's forget about this method but there are many stray cats around! I just need to find them and get the one I like and take care of them."

"I can start making videos after that! Easy!" Danial was happy.

Danial's shift ended and he went home. He wanted to find a stray cat as soon as possible but it was almost midnight.

He was not that brave to wander in the middle of the night just to find a cat. He would look suspicious and might end up in jail overnight for suspicious activity.

He did not want to risk his reputation like that. Danial leisurely went home and before he went to sleep, he surveyed what type of cat he could find on the street.

He knew that it would be all luck but if he could find any with long fur, he would take it without much thought.

They were cute and popular. With any of them in a video, it would be popular.

Danial was fired up and could not wait to search for one.

*Whing~ Whing~ Whing~*

Danial's alarm sounded and he turned it off. He checked the time and it was 6 am. He got up, had his breakfast, and took a shower.

He woke up early to search for a cat he wanted. Since he would need to walk around a bit, he wore his sports attire.

He never exercised but he bought it because once in a while, he would feel like wanting to jog and would need the clothes. Thus, he had a pair of sports attire completed with sports shoes too.

"Time to go!"