Today I absolutely could not find one of our kittens, Ree Ree. She and her sister, Trill, are outside kitties that stay in our attached garage, but we often let them in for visits so they can warm up a bit. They had been in for a couple of hours this morning when I had decided it was time to put them back out. Easily, I located Trill, a beautiful black calico with a cute dab of tan on the tip of her tail and deposited her in the garage but Ree was nowhere to be found. I started calling for her, but was not too worried, figuring she would show up sooner or later.
I got lost in other activities when I was suddenly on a mission to find a DVD we had been missing for a few days. It was Lincoln's favorite TMNT movie, and he had been asking to watch it several times including this morning. With a heavy-duty flashlight, I combed over every hiding place I could think of to search, when suddenly I came to a realization. I had looked through almost the entire house for the DVD and I still had not seen Ree Ree.
It was very unlike her to not come trotting out when you approached. Panic immediately set in. Something was wrong, Ree never disappeared for long periods of time. It had been at least an hour, maybe two, since I had seen her last. The adrenaline kicked in and immediately I began calling to her like a crazy woman. Of course, the kids picked up on this in an instant, and sensing new drama in the air they became my sidekicks. There I was, an unkempt mad woman frantically lifting up bed skirts and looking down floor vents followed by two toddlers who peered into any nooks and crannies I may have missed.
I began to double check all the holes plugged up during our remodeling, which unfortunately included peeping into an unused room I had been using to store Christmas gifts. Lincoln was right behind me and exclaimed, "Mommy, presents!" I immediately replied, "Those are for Nini and Papa." Thankfully he did not understand what was going on, and I was able to herd the kids on to other things.
All my construction holes looked intact, so I tried thinking of other possibilities. I had run the dryer that morning, and sometimes Ree liked to climb on the door while I was loading clothes, but surely, I would have noticed if she had tried to climb in. Surely. I ran to the dryer, thinking 'Pleases, God, no!' I knew it had just run a full cycle, and in a frenzy, I unloaded all the clothes dreading what I would find. I grabbed handfuls of shirts and socks, pants and boxers (yes, I throw EVERYTHING into one load) but found nothing. I put them back in, and thought, 'Maybe I should look again.' I pulled the clothes out a second time, quickly going through each piece, a little relieved I had not found anything, but even then, not a hundred percent convinced she was not in there somewhere. Putting them back, I searched a third time, and still saw no signs of Ree.
Fairly certain at this point she was definitely not in the dryer, I sat there on my knees about to lose it. Where could the dang cat be? That is when my son said, "Don't cry mommy. We'll find her.” I love my sweet boy, and even though he’s only three he was worried about me. I hugged him and Trinity, sucked up my tears, and said I was sure she’d show up eventually.
We walked into the living room, defeated, when all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I spied a grey and white furry foot peeking out from under my hope chest. That little stinker had been under there the whole time, snoozing the day away pretty as you please. Relief washed over me. I scooped her up, gave her a squeeze, and then put the furry bugger inside the garage with her sister. I leaned on the door after it was closed wondering how I was ever going to get anything accomplished today.
