What? Who Me?
Wheel of fortune was not to be enjoyed last night. At 6:30, I got a phone call, all the way from the garage porch. “Grammie, I lost a cat.” We live just feet from Stauffer Avenue and Dennis always allows the cats to go out for one last time each day before the lights go out for the night. I had no idea what I would be in for when I went out.
All the cats were accounted for, except Harriet. From a small kitten, Harriet would sit in the open doorways and look outside, but chose to stay indoors. Harriet was gone. As soon as Dennis hits the garage porch, the first one to greet him would be Harriet. It was possible she had ventured outside and Dennis hadn’t noticed it, but that would be rare. Dennis had already been looking for some time in the connected garages to the porch. The stepladder had been used and Dennis checked all the pillow boxes up on the rafters where everyone had a spot to sleep. He had checked under everything that might have been harboring her and in every container and pail, including the Koi tank. Had Harriet made a bad jump and gotten hit by one of the ceiling fans and lay injured somewhere?
We called and called and the five other cat were hovering around most likely wondering what all the commotion was about. I had brought out a flashlight and we checked each and every corner again, as well as the wheel wells of the vehicles. Everyone of the cats love treats and I hoped Harriet wouldn’t want to miss out. The treats are kept behind closed doors of the storage buffet as Snuggles is the first one to hunt until he finds the bag and then proceeds to chew through until he gets his fair share. I took the bag out and closed the door as Dennis decided an empty ice cream pail would make a better storage container. I rattled the bag and everyone came out to enjoy them, but not Harriet. I walked out on the patio and checked the Stauffer Avenue. No Harriet. I knew Dennis was not ready to give up, but we had nothing to do but hope that her little face would soon be seen on the outside of the patio door, wanting in. I went back inside and every once in awhile I would look out the bathroom window as Dennis had all the outdoor patio lights on, just like Motel 6, “keeping the lights on.”
Harriet, looking all innocent.
In time, I got a second phone call from Dennis. Harriet was lost no more. Dennis had started to hear a noise, much like a meow but couldn’t place where it was coming from. All at once one of the doors of the storage buffet came open and out bounced Harriet. Dennis said she made her rounds as if she wanted to make sure she had not missed anything. The storage buffet had not been opened since Saturday as treats are not given out everyday. When I had gotten the treats out, I tugged, and as usual the doors stuck. We checked, there was no way Harriet got in the storage buffet from the bottom or back. Talk about a puzzle. If we didn’t know better, one would think the cats had been playing hide-n-seek. We will never know.
Dennis came in for the night feeling much relieved and I did dream about cats during my night’s slumber. Darn kids.