A rescue report

I lost my kitty. The past two days I have been searching and searching for her, the foolish cat lady walking up and down streets with the Tupperware box full of Fri skies. I even talked to Crazy Marie and asked her if she'd seen my cat. She helpfully suggested I wake up the boulanger who lives above her later and ask him. I'm not sure why she suggested this but she seemed to think it was a brilliant idea. Maybe it's because the boulanger has a cat too, who knows. Her mind works like that. I eventually even asked Mean Renovation Guy up the street and of course I got an abrupt earful about how he didn't know and didn't care. I asked everyone and spent the whole day analyzing Mean Renovation Guy's sinister response, "was he hiding something behind his too quick reply?" It bothered me. I crossed the street and checked the dumpster, reached in with a stick and poked a suspicious lumpy garbage bag. It didn't feel soft. It was just a bunch of paper.

I have a sixth sense for when my cats are in danger. I know when they need my help. When Mégot was gone for two days food-less I knew she was stuck somewhere. Seb told me I was over reacting. She never misses meals though. I knew she was in peril. See I was right. So I knew right away that when Milly was gone so long it was for a reason. I was sure she was trapped somewhere.

I finally found her tonight. It was all based on the tip from my nosy neighbor Marcel that from his rooftop terrace's vantage point he'd thought he'd last seen Milly sleeping in our neighbor Guillaume's enclosed back garden. He found this odd because normally that garden is in an enclosed courtyard with no entry points. I waited patiently for nightfall and decided I'd check. You see Guillaume and his girlfriend Elodie are on vacation and left us the key to their house like they often do. We really never use it. It's a "just in case there's something to check on" key. I figured I'd check the garden and see if she really was stuck in there or perhaps there was a giant hole or over-sized drainpipe or something cattrap-ish. I waited for dusk, crept quickly up the steps and down to their basement to go out to their backyard. When I arrived at the bottom of the basement steps I was surprised to see a little calico face peering out from behind a canvas curtain and a pile of boxes. She look relieved, and me too.

I had expected to see her in the enclosed garden, but not in the house! I didn't stick around to check how she got in there, but I think I better go back later tonight to clean up the pee stain I saw by the door and check to see if she did a food raid or worse.

I'm curious how she got in there and I'm wondering if it wasn't out of spite for DJ the poodle. DJ is also on vacation and he will be mad as hell to find cat traces in his beloved sous-sol. Cat's are wickedly spiteful. Actually I think it serves DJ right with his yappy, six a.m., Sunday morning yelps floating through our open windows. He barks like he's getting kicked in the ribs really hard.

I love my cats and I really needed Milly these past few days with all of the stuff going awry around here. She always sleeps curled next to me and she's always a great comfort to me when I'm sad. She slept curled next to my belly during my entire pregnancy and purred Baby S to sleep each night. I can tell her anything and she's the guardian of all of my secret hopes and fears. Pets are like that, so forgiving, so full of love for their owners in exchange for just a little love and some food.

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update: I went back to their basement to clean up and turn off lights. I'm very bad about remembering to turn off lights and I wanted to double check to be sure. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the light left on in the basement behind the canvas curtain wasn't my fault. My straight laced little neighbors are horticulturists! How freaking cool is that information? I'm glad I didn't drag my 80 year old neighbor Marcel down there with me like I'd originally planned!