Once upon a time, a woman suggested to her pets that they should get jobs.

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Obediently, The Dog got a babysitting job, discovering she had a gift for sitting with anxious dogs and providing them comfort. The Cat simply stared back at the woman with a look that said, you work for me, lady…

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When it came time for The Dog to cross the rainbow bridge, The Cat and The Human mourned the loss of their friend together and settled into a home life that, after eight years as a family of three, was now a duo.

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In 2025, the woman disappeared for a week and sent another human to serve The Cat his meals. She was sick and needed care elsewhere. This concerned The Cat. He couldn’t afford Teleflora, but he could catch a couple of mice for her to let her know he was taking care of things at home.

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The Human finally returned, and things were never quite the same after that. The Cat was not a big fan of change, if he was being honest. He even had to endure the thing he absolutely detested most: a car ride in a pet carrier. They were moving to a new place so small that his beloved couch and skyscraper couldn’t come too. What on earth is going on, he thought.

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Well, he had a choice. He could sit and watch his human, silently judging her every move from now on, or he could engage her in conversation and get some answers. He chose the latter. And she told him an ear full.

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The complexity of human life confounded The Cat. Was there anything more important than eating, sleeping, playing, and sunspots? None of those things, he noticed, his human was getting enough of now that she was trying to adapt her life after the diagnosis of something without a cure. Change, thought The Cat, was hard on him… but he realized this was something he had in common with his human.

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The original request from his human that he and The Dog get jobs began to make more sense—though she did admit to him that she had only said it in jest— and that The Dog had taken her a little too seriously.

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One night, while watching the movie Twisters with his human (for what felt to him like the hundredth time), The Cat had a realization. One day, he would cross the rainbow bridge to join his friend, The Dog. That was simply the order of things. The troubling part was what came after.

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Who would take care of his human then?

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It pained him to think he might be the last animal she rescued, not because she didn’t have room in her heart, but because she might not always have the strength. Forty-pound boxes of litter were already becoming more than they once were.

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Since cats were of superior intelligence, The Cat decided he would figure something out.

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He leapt onto the human’s computer as soon as she left for work the next day and began planning world domination. He stopped almost immediately. The world was far too large, far too loud, and far too difficult to control. What mattered was smaller. What mattered was her.

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So he narrowed his plan.

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The Cat worked for hours, which turned into days, and then weeks, quietly assembling something that might help his human stay where she was, doing what she loved, for as long as possible. When he was finally ready, he presented the fruits of his labor to his admittedly very surprised—but appreciative—human.

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“An online shop?” she asked.

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After ten years together, The Cat had gathered several of her favorite things and arranged them into one careful, thoughtful project.

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“We’ll work on it together,” The Cat explained, “so maybe one day it will help pay for the care you need now. And maybe, when the time is right, it will make room for another rescue.”

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The Human burst into tears and hugged her cat, who immediately protested the mushy gesture with a yowl.

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“But promise me this,” The Cat said. “You must always offer a cat sticker and a dog sticker in your shop.”

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“Agreed.”

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So in 2026, The Cat and The Human set to work on building Storyteller Stickers.

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Together.