Alnitak

Alnitak is an indian leopard, living in some zoo somewhere in the United States. His pelt is of a slightly unusual colour, being darker and more reddish than normal leopards.
He is a quite moody and grumpy cat, often acting harsh and agressive toward humans, especially as he cannot stand the noise and agitation of the zoo visitors. But he can also turn into a purring kitty with his favourite human, loving to play and cuddle with him at night, after the noisy tourists are gone.
Often feeling lonely in his cage, he would see anything as a toy, and would even try to befriend a spider to play with him, even though he would most likely kill it by being unintentionally harsh.

Alnitak is born in a small zoo somewhere in India. It was one of these low-budget parks showing off local animals in small and empty cages, for the sole amusement of some passerby, and the money they might spend to visit the zoo. In order to attract more visitors, the park's owner ordered some frozen sperm from another zoo to impregnate his own captive female leopard. This is how Alnitak came to life, along with a brother and a sister.

They lived a rather dull childhood, having nothing else than some infertile soil as a playground, and the solid bars of their steel cage as their only horizon. They could barely run, and grass was unknown to them. From the lack of amusement and stimulation, the young cubs developed a gloomy and morose personality.

The only new things they would meet were the humans, coming, starring at them, and going. The leopards were not feared nor hated, but they were not much respected neither. In a poor land, animals are just animals, seen as either a food source, or an income source. Without ever mistreating them, the zookeepers were rude and brutal to them, considering that any sign of weakness may lead the feline to attack. The four beasts were intriguing and appealing to kids at most, who would bawl around the cage and sometimes throw rocks at them, not to hurt them, but to make them move, as the leopard family would spend the most of its time just lying down and waiting for time to pass.

Alnitak had no strong reason to develop hate toward humans. It started as some strong despise, for how noisy and agitated the humans were, for how they would hurt him only to see him wake up, and for how rude they were anytime they had to enter his cage. His constant boredom state did not help neither, as the total lack of activity was growing frustration and angst in the cat's heart. This is how, on some summer morning, the leopard eventually ended up attacking one of the zookeeper, who was bringing them some fresh food. It was not exactly out of hate, but rather out of boredom : bored about the total lack of physical exercice and entertainment his small cage could offer, bored of the constant noise and agitation around them, bored of living such a dull and repetitive life, or maybe bored of eating the same everyday lunch that ended up less tasty than the waiter himself. The other workers ran into the cage, keeping the beast away with forks and picks to protect their colleague, but the latter died during night from a deep wound. They assumed it was a one-of-a-kind accident but, a week later, the story repeated : the leopard killed another zookeeper.

The zoo could not keep the man-eater beast anymore, and listed the young leopard for sale. Due to his slightly different pelt colour, he appealed to some American zoo who saw him as some rare and unique animal to own. Contracts were signed, money was exchanged, and the leopard was anaesthetised and put in a box to be sent to America by plane, just like some parcel post. When waking up from his long journey, he was introduced to a large enclosure, filled with green grass, luxuriant bushes and small trees. He was lost at first, troubled by his new environment has he had never seen any plant before, but quickly adapted to his new environment. However, it was like the noisy humans had followed him oversea, as they were still around his cage, loudly talking while pointing at him, and the leopard retained his agressive behaviour toward his new zookeepers. These were better trained, though, and managed to protect themselves against the leopard without any damage.

Alnitak slowly adapted to his new environment, enjoying the little bit of nature that was offered to him. However, now being far away from his family, loneliness would accentuate his grumpy mood. This, until he made a new encounter : the zoo owner's son, a 19 years old university student, took a liking on the moody red leopard. After the visitors are gone, the young man would spend hours around the cage, reading his textbooks sitting against the grillage, or telling his day to the uninterested cat. Alnitak, puzzled at first, ended up getting used to the man's presence : at least a human that isn't noisy ! Week after week, the young boy slowly got closer to the leopard, sitting next to him, touching him through the fence, sometimes working with the zookeeper to feed and take care of the cat. The student ending up sitting within the cage until late in night, studying and working on his homework with the compagny of his new furry friend, who eventually became a comfy pillow. The lonely cat, while still acting moody and grumpy, was now appreciating the presence of a new companion, now acting all cudley and playful with his favourite human.