Title: "Solitary Bonds"

Prompt: write a story about middle-aged man single man who lives alone and visits the animal shelter to perhaps pick out a companion to keep him company.. he walks along the row of crates looking over the puppies and kittens for one that seemed right, until he stopped abruptly at a strange sight. he calls over the attendant to ask about one particular crate. this crate did not hold a dog or a cat, but instead a male human hand, appearing to come from a large man in his 50s or 60s., and very strong. despite its imposing appearance, it retreated further in the crate when the man moved closer to get a better look, then curled into tight, balled fist in a corner. the attendant walks over and sees the crate the man is looking at, and explains that it was found crawling along a roadside. the person who found couldn't find who it belonged to and it didn't know what to do with it, so he brought it to the shelter, where it was treated like any other abandoned animal. as he looks at the hand, instead of feeling revulsed by its history the man saw a kindred spirit in its solitary loneliness and tells the attendant that he will take it. as the man drives home with the crate next to him, the hand nervously grips the floor of the crate. the sight of the powerful hand trembling touched the man's sympathy, and he resolved to show it kindness and win its trust. the man brings the crate into the house, sets it on the floor, opens its door and the stands back. the hand hesitates for a few seconds before scrambling out of the crate and quickly crawls out of sight under a couch. the man closes the crate and stores it away in a closet. for the rest of the evening he allows the hand to do as it pleases around the house, hoping that this demonstration of trust will start to win it over. over the following week he follows his daily routine, leaving the hand be as he went about his business. occasionally he catches a glimpse of the hand seemingly observing him, sometimes around a corner, sometimes peeking from behind a lamp. uncertain if the hand needs to eat, he leaves some leftovers overnight a low coffee table that is easily within the hand's reach, but it is always left undisturbed in the morning - the hand mysteriously doesn't need food to live. one night the weather abrupts becomes cold, and as bedtime approaches the man takes out his warm beddings and spreads them on his bed. in the dark hours of the night, the man hears the sound of sometimg crawling on the floor, and then the sounds of fingers cautiously scaling the cloth of the beddings draped over the side of the mattress, and then something heavy tentatively inching closer and closer to his back. he slowly turns over and sees the hand, shivering from cold, but instead of quickly retreating, its fingers claw the sheet as it observes what man will do next. the man reaches down and takes a corner of the beedding and drapes it over the hand, and then turns back to go back to sleep. the man wakes up in the morning and looks at the spot where he covered the hand with part of the beddings, and sees that the hand is no longer there. he then feels a movement under the sheets next to him. he peeks under the sheet and sees the hand pressing against his side, looking relaxed and comfortable from body's warmth. he looks at the hand curiously for a few seconds before slightly inching back away from the hand. the hands thick fingers reach and pull against the sheet to drag itself closer and comes to rest once against next to him. the man slowly reaches over and caresses the back of the hand. instead of scurrying away or curling to a defensive ball, the hand starts to lazing flex its fingers and thumb open and closed, its first expression of comfort in the man's presence. the man gently massages the hand for the next minutes before carefully sliding his fingers under the hand's palm. as he slowly lifts the hand, the hand's fingers gently close our his hand. the man places the hand on his chest and then pulls the comfort over both of them, then resumes massaging the back of the hand, the hand a few times lifting its fingers returning the man's touch. from that moment on, the man and hand become inseperable. the hand, which the man decides to name Buddy, sits on the man's shoulder as he goes about the house, and the man would place the hand in a backpack with a soft inner lining for it to accompany him on errands around town. Buddy is a gentle giant, using its strength to help the man when it can, such as deftly opening stuck jarlids, and displaying gentle dexterity like cracking open eggs and writing down notes with a surprisily handsome penmanship. one day the man receives a phone call from the animal shelter. Buddy observes the man grow increasingly excited during the conversation, and is then quickly scooped up and placed in the backpack for a trip into town. when Buddy realizes that they are back at the animal shelter, the man can feel the hand start to move in agitation as he walks towards the entrance, clawing at the backpack and trying to get out. the man stops and reaches inside the backpack to calm Buddy down, clasping fingers and reassuring that they are not there to return Buddy. once inside, the attendant tells the man to follow him back to the familiar row of crates to show him one that to his surprise contained another hand, one that appeared to be his companion's counterpart! the man asks for some privacy, and then opens the crate door and lowers the backpack for Buddy to climb in. the new hand backs away, seemingly not recognizing it's long-lost brother. Buddy crawls towards it and touches gently touches it with an outstretched finger. after a few moments, the new hand's fear turns into instant recognition, and the hands happiy intertwine fingers and roll around in celebration of a much longed-for reunion. after giving them some time to celebrate, the man tells Buddy that it's time to go home. Buddy crawls toward the crate door and waiting backpack, but stops half-way and waits expectantly. the man tells Buddy that includes his brother, too, which Buddy happily responds with a thumbs-up. the new hand, however happy to see Buddy, is still wary. Buddy turns around and beckons the new hand to follow, gesturing with its fingers that the man can be trusted. with that assurance, the new hand follows Buddy and they both climb into the backpack for the trip home. upon returning home, the man carries the backpack to the bedroom, places it on the bed, and opens it to allow the pair of hands to climb out. the man then turns and starts walking to the kitcheb to prepare his lunch. as he looks back, he sees the two hands communicating ina finger language familiar only to them, assuming they are telling each other about all that has happened while they were parted. when the man returns after finishing lunch, he sees the two hands still on the bed side-by-side and with thumbs touching, waiting for him. Buddy pats his fingers on the mattress, gesturing for the man to sit down. the man sits down, and Buddy climbs onto the man's lap and pokes his stomach, which the man takes to mean he should lie down. the new hand then joins Buddy, and the two climb on top of the man's chest, mirroring when the man finally earned Buddy's trust. the man places his hands on them both, and then wraps his arms around them in a happy embrace. the man tells the new hand that he will call him Pal, which reacts by happily tapping its fingers on the man's chest. the man tells them that he hopes one day they will tell him how came to be, but he is glad to share his home with them. the hands then each crawl to one of the man's shoulders, and man lifts himself off the bed with both of them and gets about the day's business in the happy warmth of their companionship.