/Bonus!/ Tony was wandering around in the streets one afternoon, looking for any signs of aliens. He hadn’t found any that day, but he was determined to find something. He carried his notebook and pencil with him, so he could draw or write whatever he could when he did find something important. He was very nervous, though that wasn’t unusual for him. Paranoia followed him around like a shadow these days, and with the voice constantly encouraging it, the fear just wouldn’t go away. Even now, the voice was talking to him, making him scared of what might happen. /They’re watching you, Tony… The aliens are after you…/ And after everything he’d seen, after all he’d learned, how could he argue? “Always watching…” he murmured in response. And then, to his surprise, he heard a small, quiet noise. He stopped and looked around for the source of the noise. It had sounded like it came from an alleyway he had just passed. He slowly walked back to the alley and looked into it. Curled up against one of the walls was a small kitten. Tony carefully approached the cat, kneeling down to it. “Hello…” he said softly, holding out his hand to it. The kitten cautiously looked up at him, then started to crawl over to him. He gently pet it, trying not to scare it away. Surprisingly, the cat didn’t seem afraid of him at all. As soon as he started to pet it, the little cat purred loudly, enjoying the attention. Tony smiled a bit at the kitten’s friendliness, glad that it wasn’t afraid of him. The cat meowed at him, like it was asking for something. He realized it was probably hungry, and that it could have been a long time since it had gotten food. “Do you want some food?” He asked, and the kitten nodded in reply. “Okay, just wait right here. I’ll get you some food.” He stood up and hurried off to get it something to eat. After a few minutes, he returned with a small plate of chicken. He set it down in front of the cat, and the cat slowly began to eat it. Soon, the plate was empty, and the kitten was full. The kitten laid down and fell asleep, exhausted. Tony opened his notebook and began to draw the sleeping cat. When he was done, he wrote underneath the drawing, ‘I found a kitten today while I was out. I gave it some food, and it was really friendly with me. I pet it a bit, and for the first time in a while, I felt… good. Like I had some hope.’ He paused, thinking for a moment. ‘Actually, I think that’s what I’ll call it: Hope.’
