Tuesdays & Novembers

I hate them both. Like violently.

The first line of this was going to be "Keko is missing". Then, I remembered that when Kirsche went missing, it was also a Tuesday. This is significant because Tuesday is our garbage day. So, the mother and sister are up early and in and out, taking cans and bags to the curb. Karly is all worked up, running in and out. Tuesday mornings are hectic and the whereabouts of little kitties who otherwise have no inclination to visit the outdoors just aren't on the brain.

Keko and Kirsche are sweet, but shy (him) and skittish (her). She was always so afraid of outside, Keko (who was a stray the sister found) has demonstrated many times that he has no interest whatsoever in going outside. They are both small cats although full grown, she weighs about 5 pounds and Keeks is about 7 (in comparison, Kaiser is a solid 20 pounds), so being outside alone must be scary enough but then add giant, noisy, smelly garbage/recycle/yard waste trucks ... I can't imagine it being anything other than terrifying.

Keko is a whiny cat, he is quite vocal. Not meows, he whines -- that's just Keko, though, and he usually calms down (for all of 3 minutes) once you assure him that he is okay. That morning, I was still in my room and the mother was reading the newspaper, when Keko started yowling. He was so loud and insistent and I think mom thought I was still asleep, she yelled at him and he shut up.

My cousin came over and Keko was nowhere to be found, which is not surprising. Keko is shy and not really enamored with men. We've been painting an rearranging, so the first floor is a mess and the cats head upstairs when they need some quiet. No biggie. After a bit, my cousin goes to the bathroom and Mom goes to the one upstairs. After my cousin leaves, i ask "Where's Keko?" I hadn't heard him whine in a while.

"Oh, he's around...", she says. FYI, this is the EXACT same thing she answered when I asked about Kirsche. To which, I replied "I know, I know. I just get hinky when I don't see them, especially after Kirsche." Mom snorted, basically telling me I was being nutty.

Later, I was in my bathroom and it suddenly popped in my head to ask Mom if she had seen Keko when she was upstairs. See, Keko is a bit ... odd. He will wake up to go see Mom in the bathroom. Doesn't matter what time it is, it's almost Pavlovian.

She hadn't and began to get worried. Looked all over the first floor, all over the second, the garage ... no Keko. Both of us were worried, but we also know that he doesn't come when called -- just like most cats (except Kaiser). We looked around again. I opened the basement door to call him and rattle his cat treats. I knew it was pointless, but I was panicky. Pointless because he is terrified of the basement--when one of us is down there he gets panicky and yowls for us to come up.

No Keko. I couldn't believe this was happening again. Mom was berating herself for not checking on him when he was crying that morning.

I texted the sister: "Keko is gone"
She: "What??!?"
Me: "Gone. Missing"
She: "No, he's not. Did you check the basement? I went down there today."
Me: "We looked everywhere!"

She skipped a class and came home to look for him. She immediately went to the basement. No Keko. Mom: "I didn't even bother to check the basement, he's so scared of it."

Shut up, foreshadowing. You're ruining the story.

The sister returned to school and I began calling vets and animal shelters. In between bouts of hysterical sobbing, of course. I put an ad in the paper, too. Just in case, we opened all the doors, cabinets and closets around 6pm. 6pm is kitty dinnertime here and Keko thinks we're trying to starve him if dinner is even 20 seconds late.

No Keko.

The sister came home, complaining of a sore wrist. You may recall that she has had three surgeries on her wrist to remove two cysts and scar tissue, We looked for her wrist brace, but ended up just wrapping it in ACE bandage because we couldn't find the brace.

We all went to bed around 9:15-ish. I was so depressed as I said my prayers -- I probably bummed Him out. I was half asleep when the sister came downstairs. She had decided that she had to have that brace. I groggily told she could look in my dresser because I might have it but I couldn't remember. She said she was going to check the basement first. Some time later (I must've dozed off), I heard her messing around my desk, it was dark so I couldn't see anything. My desk lamp suddenly blazed on and I sat up to demand an explanation.

She turned to face me with a little ball of orange fluff in her arm and said "Someone wants to say 'hi' to you."

I promptly burst into tears.

He had been in the basement all along. We don't know if he was trapped or stuck somewhere or why he didn't come up before. What I do know is that he's here and I am happy.