Title: "Token of Affection"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: Salem is involved in a battle nearly as old as his species when a dog moves into the Spellman household.
Warnings: None
Challenge: ForeverInDisney's monthly challenge for January '09 wherein I used the character Zelda Spellman and the word "token"
Disclaimer: Salem Saberhagen, Zelda Spellman, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch are © & TM their respecitve owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

A dog! They had dared to infiltrate his domain with a stinky, smelly, mongrel of a dog! The fur on his back remained ruffled as Salem crept through the door as it swung shut behind Zelda's departure, then raced to his target like a black dart. How dare they! He shook with rage underneath Zelda's bed as he checked first one box and then the next before finally coming across her favorite shoes.

He popped the lid off easily, then grimaced as he looked down at the red high heels. He wasn't sure whether the dog or the shoes smelled worse, but a cat, especially a Wizard-turned-cat, had to do what he had to do. He grasped the edge of the box carefully in his mouth and dragged it out from its hiding place. He chewed the leather briskly, punctuating it easily with his sharp fangs as he imagined other, and far better tasting, foods.

When the taste in his mouth grew so horrible that he could no longer pretend he wasn't eating leather, Salem switched tactics. He envisioned instead what would happen when Zelda found the shoe and the other token of affection he'd left at just the right spot so that she would step directly into it the next time she set down at her lab. He began to smile deviously around the corner of the heel, but that smile vanished when he heard Zelda's screech hailing from downstairs.

It was time for him to make himself scarce, and he did just that, slipping out, minutes later, from her room as unnoticed as when he had first entered it. His grin grew when he heard her next shout, a wicked light gleaming in his green eyes. His tail struck out, popping the lumbersome canine beast on his nose. The dog was as good as gone!

The End