AVON LAKE, Ohio, (WEWS) — A few months ago, employees at the Avon Lake Public Library in Ohio found a small stuffed animal among the books in the children's section. From that moment, the toy has had quite the adventure and its story is one of fun, love and the generosity of one young boy.

When the cat was found around November, it was going to be placed in the lost and found bin. But the library's communications manager, Shea Alltmont, had a different idea.

"I said, 'Why not? I'm going to take the stuffy and do a little post and see if anybody knows whose kitty it is,'" Alltmont said.

Alltmont posted a picture of the toy on the library's Facebook page, one with text that said the cat was looking for its owners and other photos with the cat helping around the library. The posts were fun and lighthearted—and well received by friends of the library on the social media platform.

"Reaction, actually, was pretty swift on our social media Facebook page. And I saw a lot of people had already kind of liked it and 'Oh, I hope this stuffy finds its home,'" Alltmont said. "It was doing what I wanted it to do, which was to make some awareness about the little kitty."

But while the first few posts were getting traction, no one came forward to claim the stuffed kitty, which the library had named Aurora.

Alltmont and the Avon Lake Public Library staff didn't give up hope, however. Pictures of Aurora were frequently posted to the library's social media accounts, and her antics increased.

From exploring the library's science-based learning center Discovery Works, to perusing Scottish poetry, and even getting dressed up for movie premieres and fashion shows, Aurora stayed busy through the holiday season.

Still, someone had to be looking for her.

"Kitty's been part of our family for three years," said Maribeth Stahl. "Truly every car ride, every trip to the store. Our family—I feel like one of the phrases was, 'Where's kitty?' So this is not really very surprising that she ended up here at the library."

Stahl's son, 6-year-old Anderson, got the animal he calls "Kitty" at the start of the pandemic.

Since then, the two have been inseparable—until the day Anderson left her at the library.

"I was trying to find Kitty everywhere—in the basement, on the third floor and everywhere," Anderson said.

The family searched for weeks but couldn't find Kitty, but then, the Stahl family stumbled upon the library's picture.

"My mom found the pictures of Kitty on her phone at the library," Anderson said.

Stahl contacted the library and told them she thought Aurora was actually Kitty and they'd been searching for her for weeks. She sent pictures she had and the library confirmed. The goal of finding the owner had come to fruition.

"She was going to go home and the adventure would have kind of a nice little bow tied up and and, you know, be done," Alltmont said.

But after meeting at the library to pick the toy up, Anderson had a different idea.

'He said, 'No, I think she should stay and have more adventures," Stahl said.

Her son had chosen to let the library keep Kitty—now officially Aurora—so she could continue her adventures and let other kids enjoy her as well.

"Such a brave and thoughtful thing for a 6-year-old to have that kind of just big heart and know that her adventures were so much bigger and not finished yet. Sort of a gift that he really gave to all of us," Stahl said.

Aurora now lives at Avon Lake Public Library where she continues her adventures and brings joy to those of all ages.

And of course, Anderson makes sure to visit his old friend often when he takes adventures of his own to the local library.

"She's not lost anymore. She's found that she has a home and that we get to come and visit her any time that we want," Stahl said.

This story was originally reported by Camryn Justice on news5cleveland.com.

"The Orbital Children" is a two-part film series written and directed by Mitsuo Iso recently released on Netflix.

As of writing, all we have is the first film, which has been chopped into six 30-minute episodes for easier consumption.

While you may not know Mitsuo Iso, fans of science fiction anime will undoubtedly know the shows he has worked on.

From some of the classic "Gundam" series of the late 80’s to "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Ghost in the Shell," Iso has been involved either as a writer, director, or animator on several iconic shows.

"The Orbital Children" marks the first time he’s done it all, directing, writing, and even doing key animation.

Because of that dedication and singular vision, you can tell what "The Orbital Children" labor of love is.

This first set of episodes (or the first movie, if you prefer) focuses on a group of children trapped on a Japanese space station and forced to use their problem-solving skills to survive increasingly dangerous situations.

Three of the children were lucky winners of a trip to the station, and two others were born on the moon and are a kind of enigma; among the first “space children."

Politics, technology, and survival all come into play as this rag-tag group battles the growing threat of a powerful AI, a group of terrorists using a previous AI’s Nostradamus-like predictions as the rallying cry for a mass depopulation event, and the harsh realities of space.

To say this anime feels like it was made for me is an understatement.

You rarely get a complex sci-fi series dealing in not just scientific but philosophical concepts, and putting it into a (mostly) single-setting film gives "The Orbital Children" a quaint, "Star Trek" quality.

But the setting doesn’t mean it’s hamstrung by only looking at events on the space station. Political intrigue comes from Earth’s UN2, a second attempt at the United Nations after the first failed.

And from the moon comes the children and the implants in their brains, built by an AI called Seven, known by earthlings as the Lunatic, because of its predictions on the direction of humanity.

This all feeds into questions of humanity's connection to the internet and machine intelligence, the role of determinism in how humans craft their lives, and existential questions as to whether AI’s are gods and humans have the potential to become gods themselves.

Which is pretty heavy for a show that seems focused on precocious, naive kids.

But at the same time, I appreciate that while we are dealing with immature people, they’re allowed to discover themselves through situations that even adults would have a hard time wrapping their heads around.

On top of the plot and navel-gazing, I love the near-future technology.

The design of everything is very realistic and doesn’t go too far into the fantastical.

I especially enjoyed the idea of a kind of glove phone, a screen projecting from the hand and arm (by implants or some other tech, I’m not entirely sure).

There are genuine hard science fiction concepts here that make this a show for anime fans and easily accessible for anyone with an appreciation for the genre.

Probably the weakest part of the movie is the characters. While they’re all likable, none are well-developed beyond maybe Mina, a live streamer who has to have a personality just because of what she does.

I grew to like her, but the others, especially her nerdy brother, didn’t make much of an impression.

Aside from that, the animation is gorgeous, the music is good, and the American dub is great for the most part, making "The Orbital Children" a well-rounded package.

If you’re looking for a high-concept science fiction series that never lets up on the adventure and thought-provoking ideas, "The Orbital Children" is going to satisfy.

If you enjoyed films like "Gravity" or even "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Orbital Children" will satisfy your need for a zero-G jaunt into the beauty and horror of the final frontier.

Rating: 4/4

"The Orbital Children" is streaming exclusively on Netflix

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