Wednesday, July 18, 2007

hiding


hiding
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

This lady was missing last night for three hours. A friend came by and we were going out to have coffee when he asked where Patsy was. "Oh, she's hiding," I cavalierly told him. An hour later, when we came back, I noticed that Patsy was nowhere to be found and that Hammy was looking for her and seemed a little agitated. I looked in all her hiding spots. Then, growing more alarmed, I thought that maybe she had scurried out at some point in the early evening, when there was much coming-and-going with Mabel, guests, etc. I put up signs in the building and began a heart-thudding search, setting up cans of cat food and putting up signs alerting my neighbors. I called Y who came over to help look. My friend K continued to scour the apartment, and a helpful cat-owning neighbor came to help. Finally I heard a triumphant shout. K had found her. She was in a drawer in my dresser, my sock drawer no less! How on earth had she gotten in there? That is what I have to figure out. Anyway, I was exhausted when I finally fell asleep last night. She is lovely and a little mysterious, my Patsy. I wonder what she was thinking while she was lying among my socks, listening to us all looking for her, calling her name over and over again.

It was odd, because I couldn't imagine that she had run out. She has never shown the slightest inclination to do so. Maybe she didn't like the newly painted bathroom and was registering her protest.

2 comments:

medusa said...

What a relief!

Years ago, when I lived upstate, my cat ran out of my apartment during a late night party and I didn't notice until the next morning. I put up flyers and scoured the neighboring streets, and an entire day passed without finding her. I was nearly hysterical. And then, I got a phone call, from a couple who lived just two doors down, who'd found her cowering under a parked car in front of their building. The weird thing was that I knew one of them; we were co-workers but never knew we lived in such close proximity.

After that I became obessesive about the front door, and found myself looking under parked cars all of the time, I guess looking for other people's lost pets.

SHE said...

what a scare! -glad for the happy ending

i have no pets, but notice my plants don't do well near fresh paint -does make me think maybe patsy was retreating from the odor of fresh paint in the bathroom

but you do your canvas art painting there, yes?