Booger’s Rescue and Belonging

What Are You Going Through

This character-destiny thread follows Booger from neglect and danger to a home where he can finally experience care.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Shelter Beginning A Shelter Beginning from "What Are You Going Through". A Shelter Beginning The last kitten chosen Booger recalls being born in a shelter and spending a few days with his mother before being adopted.

A Shelter Beginning from "What Are You Going Through". A Shelter Beginning The last kitten chosen Booger recalls being born in a shelter and spending a few days with his mother before being adopted.

A Shelter Beginning The last kitten chosen Booger recalls being born in a shelter and spending a few days with his mother before being adopted. He misses her but adapts to a new life as a cat. A narrow role His first placement is not a loving home but a convenience store where he is valued as a mouser. Food and a cardboard bed define the limits of his world.

The Store Cat The Store Cat from "What Are You Going Through". The Store Cat Work without affection Booger keeps mice away in exchange for food and shelter.

The Store Cat from "What Are You Going Through". The Store Cat Work without affection Booger keeps mice away in exchange for food and shelter.

The Store Cat Work without affection Booger keeps mice away in exchange for food and shelter. The people around him are not especially cruel, but they do not see him as a companion. A lesson in human difference After a man throws him away from a lap, Booger learns to keep his distance. He reflects on how humans can treat cats as cherished young, harmless objects, or vermin.

Fire in the Night Fire in the Night from "What Are You Going Through". Fire in the Night An escape into cold Smoke pours from the store basement while the owner’s son flees.

Fire in the Night from "What Are You Going Through". Fire in the Night An escape into cold Smoke pours from the store basement while the owner’s son flees.

Fire in the Night An escape into cold Smoke pours from the store basement while the owner’s son flees. Booger follows him outside, then becomes lost in freezing weather as the store burns. Home disappears He returns to find a blackened ruin and no people. Small, gray, and overlooked, he is left hungry and exposed beside the highway.

Trapped in the Dumpster Trapped in the Dumpster from "What Are You Going Through". Trapped in the Dumpster Cruel play Two boys lure the starving cat with the smell of food, seize him, and throw him into a dumpster.

Trapped in the Dumpster from "What Are You Going Through". Trapped in the Dumpster Cruel play Two boys lure the starving cat with the smell of food, seize him, and throw him into a dumpster.

Trapped in the Dumpster Cruel play Two boys lure the starving cat with the smell of food, seize him, and throw him into a dumpster. They bang on its sides before leaving him in darkness. A voice spent Cold, thirst, and hunger weaken Booger until he can no longer cry aloud. His rescue begins only when the boys later notice him and summon help.

A Second Mother A Second Mother from "What Are You Going Through". A Second Mother Rescue and recovery Booger returns to a shelter and is eventually brought to a shopping mall adoption event.

A Second Mother from "What Are You Going Through". A Second Mother Rescue and recovery Booger returns to a shelter and is eventually brought to a shopping mall adoption event.

A Second Mother Rescue and recovery Booger returns to a shelter and is eventually brought to a shopping mall adoption event. A retired librarian takes him home despite the playful name her grandchildren give him. Care remakes the past Warm milk, clean bedding, and patient attention restore his sense of safety. Booger comes to see his adopter as a second mother, turning rescue into a story of belonging.

Before his first adoption

During his first placement at the convenience store

One night before his second shelter stay

The morning after the store fire

After he is nursed back to health