Cachildrun

Jorge dropped a small mouse in the glass casing of the baby corn snake. Valparaiso Pet Needs was about to open, and he was trying to get as many of the animals fed before customers arrived. The puppies were barking happily waiting for their share of food. He closed the last snake casing and walked to the backroom and grabbed a large bag of dog food. The store was very tiny. They didn’t have the variety that the major pet chains had. Years back, when there was no competition, they were thriving. Now they barely made it by. With all the cats and dogs that were available at the shelters, only the rare breeds of animals still sold.
“Jorge, the delivery truck is here,” Alberto, his father said.
Their normal delivery driver, specializing in transporting exotic animals, walked in with a cage sitting on his cart. Jorge could see a strange animal sitting in it, but it was very unfamiliar.
“Dad, he’s got some strange exotic animal.”
“It’s here!” Alberto said, excitedly and ran over to the cage.
“What is it?”
His dad placed the cage on the counter next to the cash register. He opened the lid and lifted a small animal that was the size of a small kitten. It had reddish hair with streaks of gray. The animal looked like it was a cross between a kitten and a rabbit. Jorge touched the animal that seem to be very calm. He had never seen such an animal in his life.
“It’s called a cachildrun. Uncle Rodrigo discovered it while working on his farm in Mexico. This is the only one of its kind in the United States, so far.”
“How much are you going to sell it for?”
“The cachildrun is not for sale. It’s going to be an attraction to bring in customers. I’m going to have a commercial made advertising it.”
“Dad, what does it eat?” Jorge asked.
Alberto went to the back and brought out one of the biggest mice he could find and dropped it in front of it. Within seconds, the cachildrun pounced on it and devoured it with one bite. It had large sharp teeth.
“That was creepy.”
“That was impressive.”
“Where are we going to display it?”
“Inside the kitten cage?”
“Great, the cute kittens are going to be debunked.”
“Jorge, move the kittens to one of the smaller empty cages.”
“Estoy gatos,” Jorge said as he grabbed the kittens one by one and placed them in the other cage.
Alberto placed the cachildrun in the cage. “You are going to make me rich,” Alberto said with a big smile. He ran his hand through his graying hair. He was hoping this was going to be his saving grace. He was close to having to shut the pet shop down for good. Rodrigo’s find was his last chance to succeed; he spent a pretty penny smuggling it into the United States.
The day was a very exciting day. Every customer that entered the store immediately was attracted to the cachildrun cage. Everyone wanted to hold it. His dad was right. Once the word got out, people would flock to their store. His dad spent the day talking to every customer that walked in. The day went by quickly and it was closing time. Jorge fed all the animals and walked over to the cachildrun and placed a few mice in the cage. It quickly attacked each of the mice and devoured them whole.
“You are a hungry animal,” he said as it finished its meal.
Alberto walked over to him. “I have some exciting news. Reporters are coming tomorrow to film the cachildrun. We are going to be featured on tomorrow’s nightly news. That will bring in more customers. Make sure the security alarm is set. I don’t want anybody breaking in and stealing our treasure.”
Later that night, when all the animals were asleep, the cachildrun snapped awake. It stood up on its hind legs, like a meerkat, and watched the puppies sleeping. It climbed the wire cage and slowly lifted the top off so it could squeeze through. It jumped to the floor without making a sound and headed to the back room where the back of the puppy cages were. It walked over to the cage that had the smallest puppy and pulled the latch down. It slowly crawled through the cage’s door and quickly jumped on the puppy’s back and bit down ripping away at the flesh. The other puppies barked at it as it continued with its large feast.
That morning, Jorge entered the pet shop to check on the animals and begin his morning routine of feeding each one. The cachildrun seemed to be smiling at him and made a purring sound.
“Good morning to you too,” Jorge said and dropped a couple mice in his cage. Within seconds the mice were gone. “You are a hungry fellow.”
He walked over to the puppy cages and immediately noticed that one of them was missing. He went to the back of the cage and saw a pool of blood on the bottom of the cage. He looked around but saw no trail of blood anywhere. He looked over at the cachildrun and it was licking its paw clean. The door to the shop opened and his dad walked in followed by a reporter and a camera man. He grabbed a towel and quickly cleaned the pool of blood up before anybody could notice. His father opened up the cage and picked it up, showing it off to the reporter.
Some of Alberto’s friends walked in pretending to be customers to make his store look better for the newscast. The cachildrun seemed to enjoy being picked up by people and petted. It seemed friendly enough, just had a bigger appetite than they anticipated. After the reporter and his dad’s friends left, Jorge confronted him about the missing puppy and his suspicions. His dad gave him some money to buy a roast from next door to try. He came back with a roast and placed it in the cage with the cachildrun. It ignored the roast and stuck its nose up in the air in protest.
“Ok, it likes its meals alive. Look at all the money we made today from the customers. After tonight’s news broadcast, we will have tripled the amount of customers. If it cost us a puppy a day to feed it, then so be it.”
“Dad, that’s cruel.”
“We feed mice to the snakes. Isn’t that cruel as well,” Alberto said.
That night after they closed the store down, Alberto went to the puppy cages and grabbed one of the puppies that had been there a few weeks. Nobody seemed to want it. They weren’t making any money off it. Might as well feed it to the cachildrun.
The next morning, Jorge got there early to clean up whatever was left of the puppy. The cachildrun was asleep and it appeared to have doubled in size. He cleaned the blood out of the cage while it slept. He did his morning feeding for all the animals. The puppies didn’t come up to him as he filled their bowls. They stayed in the corner of their cages afraid to go near him.
“I have nothing to do with this. My dad’s the puppy killer,” Jorge assured them.
The door to the shop opened, and his dad walked in holding a dachshund in his hand. The cachildrun snapped awake and eyed the dog.
“Look what I found wandering the streets this morning. Do you think if I put him in a bun, the cachildrun will eat it,” Alberto joked.
“Grabbing strays for its food source. Have you gone completely loco?”
“A lot cheaper than buying them wholesale.”
“How can you sleep at night, Dad?”
“Simple. We are making a fortune off of him and money makes me sleep.” Alberto went over to the cachildrun and waved at it. “If you are a good boy and make us a lot of money today, this will be your reward.”
“I hope you never meet diablo. I hate to see what your punishment for this will be,” Jorge said and grabbed the dachshund away from him. He placed it in one of the cages. “I hope somebody buys you.”
That day was the busiest day they had in years. After seeing the newscast, everybody wanted to see the cachildrun in person. Jorge spent the day carrying the kittens around hoping to sell them. He used the sales pitch, “If you think the cachildrun is cute, you’ll love these.” His efforts seemed to work since he sold a few of the kittens. His father stood behind the cash register with the biggest grin he had ever possessed. They had never sold as many animals in one day before.
The cachildrun watched Alberto at the register, disappointedly, as the dachshund was sold to a blonde teenage girl. Jorge smiled at it as the dachshund disappeared out of the shop. Its life had been spared.
That night after closing, Alberto grabbed one of the remaining puppies and placed it in the cachildrun cage. Within seconds the cachildrun was enjoying its meal.
As weeks went by, the cachildrun continued to increase in size. They had to replace his cage with one of the ones designed for large dog breeds. His father had made an illegal deal with a buddy working at the pound to purchase the dogs they were going to put down as a food source. His dad had filmed a low budget commercial that was being broadcast on the cable channels during the day. Business was steady and people were paying good money for their animals.
Jorge wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep the cachildrun in the shop. It was getting much larger and looked more like a cross between a rabbit and a mountain lion. His father’s greed had overtaken him and he wasn’t listening to reason. Jorge tried to convince him how dangerous it was now and that the best place for it was a zoo If it grew any larger, they would have to build an enclosure for it in the back of the store. The main problem that he foresaw was that its appetite could grow beyond that of the dogs they were getting from the pound.
“Don’t worry, it seems content,” Alberto said confidently. “Now don’t forget, tomorrow’s mine and your mother’s wedding anniversary. You’ll have to cover the shop by yourself.”
“I know,” Jorge said.
“Let’s close up.”
The next morning, Jorge arrived for his morning feeding routine. He immediately noticed that the cachildrun cage was empty as he walked in, forgetting to lock the door behind him. He kept calling out for it, but no response. He checked all of the animal cages with no luck. It had completely disappeared. From above him, the cachildrun crept on one of the shelving units watching his every move. Like a lion on a hunt, it watched its prey closely.
Jorge turned around and before he could react, it was upon him ripping out his flesh. Jorge pushed it backward, and it quickly pounced at him knocking him backward into the display of chew toys. Jorge tried to crawl toward the front door, but it jumped on his back biting into the back of his neck. His blood poured all over the floor as it ripped away at his flesh until Jorge’s life was completely gone. It spent the next hour devouring as much of Jorge as it could. Once its stomach was full, it walked over to the front door. It slowly slid the door open just enough so it could squeeze outside to its freedom. Across the street was a large grouping of trees which would make it a new home. It slowly walked across the highway to the trees. Its new food source; humans.