Two kittens peek out.
He kisses one’s head softly,
Then closes the pack.

I sat next to this kid for the hour bus ride between Santa Ana and Long Beach. The kittens kept squirming to get their heads out of the top, and once they could see, they were content to just be in the pack with their heads sticking out. The boy told me the whole story of how the kittens were born under his aunt’s house, but she was going to let them die or give them to the pound. He took the bus all the way from Long Beach and back (an hour each way) to rescue them. Talk about a teddy bear in a rough exterior – this guy is my new hero.