The Godmother of Strays

I run a pet clinic and often treat stray animals. After stumbling upon a mysterious online forum, I discovered they revere me as their "Godmother."

Scar_the_Ranger: [The Godmother’s getting off work. Who’s on escort duty?]

The_Bitty_Brawler: [Pausing my sparring match. I’ll go.]

Ambassador_of_Good_Taste: [Treasure hunt canceled. I’ll go.]

Mount_Mochi: [Date postponed. I’ll go.]

Cheeseburger: [Mouse hunt called off. I’ll go.]

I looked out the door at the neat rows of cats and dogs, all standing at attention.

No wonder my walk home at night was never lonely.

1

I own a small veterinary clinic called "The Healing Paw."

Most days, the paws I heal belong to cats and dogs. When work is slow, I also treat the stray cats and dogs in the neighborhood.

Of course, my services aren't exactly free.

The animals I treat often pay a terrible price.

Neutering.

You’d think that after "the snip," the cats and dogs would be psychologically scarred by my clinic and grow to despise me. But surprisingly, the number of new faces only increased, while the old ones became regulars.

Lately, even perfectly healthy cats and dogs have been loitering around the clinic. Some have even been tailing me, their movements furtive and suspicious.

I suspected they were forming a gang to case the joint, planning some kind of massive revenge plot. But when I looked closer, their big, clear eyes held no trace of malice.

Their strange behavior was utterly baffling.

2

During dinner, I noticed a strange new app on my phone.

The name was a string of gibberish, and the icon was a single paw print. It looked suspiciously like some kind of scam software. But my anti-fraud app didn't raise any alarms.

Curiosity and fear wrestled in my mind, but curiosity won out. What could a scammer possibly want from a broke, single vet?

With that reassuring thought, I tapped the app open and discovered it was an online forum.

The posts were bizarre:

• Attention! Poisoned bait at Lakeside Park! Everyone be on high alert!

• Successfully snuck into the university. From now on, I'm a top cat.

• Day 67 of my journey to quit eating poop.

These didn't seem like they were written by people. Not even by an AI trying to act like a person.

Based on the keywords, the posts seemed more like they were written by... cats and dogs.

I kept scrolling, trying to confirm my theory.

• The cat I hate most just got adopted by a human. I'm so jealous I could scream.

• WHO THE HELL PEED ON MY TURF AGAIN? DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU!

• A Guide to Gourmet Poop.

Yep. The users of this forum were definitely cats and dogs. No human could possibly write a post as bizarre as "A Guide to Gourmet Poop."

Considering I was still eating, I avoided that one and refreshed the forum.

A new post from an administrator had just appeared:

• Sign-ups for Today's Joint Cat-and-Dog Protection Squad

Scar_the_Ranger: [The Godmother’s getting off work. Who’s on escort duty?]

The_Bitty_Brawler: [Pausing my sparring match. I’ll go.]

Ambassador_of_Good_Taste: [Trea...