It was a brisk December morning as the sun was just bringing to rise upon the hills of an urban neighborhood. My eyes heavy and my body dragging itself as I walked to school. I felt exhausted as I had several tests to finish as well as how my grades haven’t been the best these past few weeks. My motivation was running low as I was only doing this to get my parents off my back. As I felt the cold wind against my face and the cold beginning to freeze my wet hair I could see a small creature in the distance. It appeared to be a small black cat who was nearly skin and bone. Their paws were stuck in a frozen puddle from a rainstorm the night before as it was meowing for help. Seeing this I dropped everything and ran towards the cat and began to blow hot air from my mouth onto the puddle to hopefully break it free. However nothing seemed to work as the cat seemed trapped. I then decided to pull a nearby pen out of my backpack and hopefully chip the ice off. Yet I begin to fear I have nothing to help. As I was about to give up I see a lighter left on the road. I grab it and begin to melt the ice off which was much more effective. However I seem to have found it at the wrong time. Behind me was a pair of kids who saw me pick up the lighter and put it near the cat assuming I wanted to hurt it. The other kids ran past me as I helped the cat escape and could only watch as they raced one another to the school. I knew I couldn’t take it with me so I carry it towards an alley way to be on its way. I then run to school and hope I am not late. As I get to my class I hear students whispering my name. They were calling me an animal abuser and an addict. I take a seat as class seemed to go by normally. At least until my lunch. A group of children walked up to me asking me questions about what I was doing and if the kitten is okay. I was honest yet they didn’t believe me. However despite it being mean their words don’t bother me. As school ended I begin to walk home like normal as I hear what sounds like wild dogs in the alley way I walked past on the way home. It took only a glance for me to realize what had happened. In this world it’s survival of the fittest, the predators eat the prey and that’s how life works. The strong devour the weak and nothing can change that. Even supporting those weaker then yourself or in need is a waste of time and that cat would have been better off stuck in the frozen puddle alone.