[ james brown ~ where are you! ]

sooooooo... james brown, one of our cats, went missing. i wasn't that worried as it had happened before, for 24 hours, but as time went on i was starting to get more & more concerned. i couldn't completely concentrate on anything, something just didn't seem right, i just wanted to see that cat walk through the door.

i could tell my husband, mike, was getting anxious too & what made me start chewing my nails was his comment 'i have a really bad feeling about this...'

trying to stay positive i kept attempting to convince both of us that he was probably just shut in someones garage or something. it was 3 days... i couldn't sleep. where the hell had this cat gone ~ was he injured or worse road kill... i was driving myself nuts with my thoughts going round & round in circles... it's better not to know because then you can live in hope that he is still ok... but what if he's stuck... how long can cats survive without food or water?... i took the dog for a walk & kept calling out 'james brown' listening for his reply (nutty as this looked & sounds he answers his name).

then i started trying to remember the last time i saw him, the last words i said, last time i petted him, i didn't even get to say goodbye... then i suddenly thought about those who have loved ones missing & the absolute hell these poor people must be living. the torture of the unknown is something no one deserves.

i was outside banging bowls every few hours hoping to see james brown running home...

then sunday morning came, the morning i get to sleep in, i was lying in bed when the doorbell rang. i heard this guy say something about your cat... i dived out of bed trying to get into my sweats really fast, failing miserably but doing a really good hopping routine. mike heard i was up & said he'd be right back. i rushed downstairs & started interrogating the kids... who was at the door? oscar, my 4 year old, said he didn't see... flynn, who's 2, on the other hand said a man! so i said was it our neighbor on the corner with the beard, he said yes, but his yes wasn't convincing... so i continued with the questioning, was it our next door neighbor, he replied yes... so i asked was it batman? yes... great!! so i just had to wait until mike came back.

he was gone for what seemed like hours!! but finally i saw him coming up the street carrying james brown, what a wonderful feeling of relief! everything was good again!

apparently he was in this guys basement around the corner from us, who has cats & was being fed. mike was all excited, telling me they had an automatic litter tray & that this guy had demonstrated it. i said what he climbed inside with the reading material while you watched!!! hahaha

i feel very lucky that james brown made it home safely... but will never forget the desperation i felt whilst he was lost ~ & he's just a cat! i pray that everyone's james brown makes it home safely.