We had last seen him before supper, perched on a kitchen chair, watching us make cookies. I really hadn't noticed that he wasn't underfoot during mealtime or the chaos of baths, brushing teeth & getting ready for bed.
When it came to bedtime, we noticed his absence. We took his food container & shook it in every room of the house. Typically, he comes right away, but he was nowhere to be found. We wondered if he has escaped outside somehow. So we walked the perimeter & still nothing. A little concerned, but not wanting to upset the kids, I assured them that he was probably napping somewhere & that we would find him. So the kids went off to sleep, while Phil & I kept looking.
Earlier, I had scolded Daniel for "trapping" him in his closet & told him not to do it again. But knowing how little boys are...
I wondered. I did one last "walk through" on my way to bed, and heard a muffled mew coming from the boys' closet! The door was wide open, but the dresser drawers had been shut by Phil minutes earlier. That silly cat had climbed in & under the drawers during his entrapment and was now further confined in the bottom of the dresser!
Poor kitty slept well after all the trauma. In our 13 years of marriage we've been through 4 dogs, 3 rabbits, & 2 kittens. If this cat survives our family...it will be a miracle!
