I do not own TMNT...never have, never will.

This is a sad story, based on a real event that happened not to long ago on June, 9/09. I know this has nothing to do with TMNT but I had to put this up somewhere...

You're walking down the busy street, holding a small bag of groceries in your hands. Today has been a good day, you finished work early and the book you were waiting for finally came out, not to mention the fact that the one you had a crush on since the fourth grade asked you out. Nothing could ruin this day for you...

And then you hear it.

The sound of tires squealing and the honk of an angry horn followed by someone in a hurry to get somewhere swearing at whatever or whoever was stupid enough to get in their way. The people around you stop and look for a brief second before going on with their lives, what happened not even seconds before now in the back of their minds. You turn your head as well, might as well see what made the fuss anyway before going home.

And then you see it.

A tiny kitten, no bigger then your hand is laying in the street while meowing in pain, dragging itself forward with it's front paws, trying desperately to reach the safety of the sidewalk. Eyes widening, you run forward, pushing people out of your way. You have to save it! You have to save this poor little thing before another car hits it!

Running onto the streets, it is you this time who ignore the honk of angry horns and the squealing of tires on the ashvault. Scooping up the kitten as carefully yet as quickly as you can, you run back to the sidewalk, not looking at the people staring at you with confused looks. You want to yell at them. What's the matter with these people?! Can't they see this baby is hurt and needs help? Looking back down at the kitten, you can see that it's breathing from it's mouth, never a good thing for something that small when it was just hit by a car.

And then you feel it.

A bone sticking into the palm of your hand, sharp even though it's covered by a lay of fur and skin, muscle and fat. Moving away from the middle of the sidewalk, you set your bag of groceries down on a bench then sit down yourself before carefully turning the kitten over to it's other side. You can see it clearly now but it doesn't look as bad as you thought. It looks like one of the back legs was dislocated. Stroking the kittens fur, you try to comfort it as it gives out a small meow. A vet, you need to take it to a vet.

Picking up the bag of groceries again, you hold the kitten close to your chest and walk as fast as you dare, not wanting to jolt it to much for fear of causing it even more pain. It doesn't take long before you're running, your bag of groceries forgotten somewhere as you hold the kitten with both hands.

And then you smell it.

Iron. The strong smell of iron reaches your nose as you run faster down the streets, people moving aside as you barrel past them. You glance down and to your shock and horror, you see that the kitten has just peed blood over the arm of your jacket. Straight red, not even a hint of yellow. The poor things bladder must have been punctured when the car hit it!

Taking the next corner sharply, you see the vet and burst through the door, scaring the secretary. Once again ignoring the looks of confusion from the other people waiting with their pets, you go to the front of the line and show the kitten to the secretary, silently pleading for help.

You watch as her eyes widen then calls for the vet to come right away, there's an emergency. He comes quickly, taking only one look at the kitten before telling you to follow him to another room. As you walk in, he shuts the door behind you and gently takes the kitten from your hands, frowning at the sight of blood on the sleeve of your jacket. He listens to a few places on the kitten, you know that he's listening to the heart beat and breathing but you want to yell at him too.

There isn't time for this! The kitten needs help and it needs it now!

He tells you that you'll have to wait back out in the room you just came from where all the other people are while he goes to take some x-rays to see just how bad the kitten is hurt. You leave, hands in your pockets and go over to a chair to sit down. You can feel people staring at you, but you just look at the floor. Is the kitten okay? Will the vet be able to help it? If so, how will you be able to pay the bills?

You close your eyes and wait, knowing that every second the kitten doesn't get medical help, the closer it'll get to death.

XXX

The vet calls you in and when you look up at the clock, you realize that you've been waiting for almost an hour. Shaking your head, you go back into the room where the vet is waiting and shut the door, the look you're giving himi saying you want to know what's going on. Where's the kitten? Is it okay?

The news he gives you...is grim.

The kitten's femur is broken in half...the bladder has been punctured and it now has no control over it...it's stomach and intestines have been pushed into it's chest area, making it extremely hard to breath and it's going into shock.

You can't save it...and you know the only thing you could do for it now...is to let it go.

The vet asks if you're sure that's what you want and you nod. He leaves for one minute then comes back with a sheet, saying that you have to sign it to show that you understand that once it's done it can never be undone.

You sign the sheet and wait for the vet to return, this time with the kitten wrapped up in a blanket. Taking it from him, you look down at it's face and feel tears coming to your eyes. It's not fair! It's only a baby, not even as big as your hand. Why did this have to happen? Why?

You don't realize that your shoulders are shaking slightly from silent sobs as a tear runs down your face. When the kitten gives another small, pained meow, you nod towards the assistant who is also crying. As she give the needle that will end the kitten's life, taking away it's pain and letting it go somewhere better, you whisper four words into it's ear right before it goes limp and leaves this world forever.

" I'm sorry little one..."

That's it, that's the end. Please people, watch what's going on around you when you drive and spay or neuter your pets or something like this could happen. I cried when I had to put that little kitten to sleep and I cried as I wrote this. Because of someone not looking while driving and another for not fixing their pet, a kitten's life was brought to a halt.

Reviews are welcome but flames are not...