Jack the Brat Cat

Find the cat in the foliage

I spent a quiet afternoon at home yesterday after Church, reading and watching movies on the Hallmark Channel.  I let Jack out to play in the courtyard and kinda kept one eye out for him.  As it began to be dusk, I went out to call him in.  No Jack.  

On a sunnier day, Jack lounging in the flowerbeds

I walked up and down the courtyard several times calling him.  No Jack.  My neighbor David came home around this time and joined the search.  No Jack.  

Usually Jack pops out pretty quickly once I call him, so I start to get worried. It’s now also beginning to get dark and I begin to walk up and down the sidewalk along our street, calling his name.  (Another cat actually answered with a big meow, which cracked me up.  Jack doesn’t talk, so I knew it wasn’t him!) 

By this time, I’m praying that he’s okay.  I’m beating the bushes, because sometimes that gets him out.  I had a feeling he was close, but he is a camouflage cat, being gray, he just blends in.  

Finally, our neighbor Haydee comes out with a flashlight to help us.  She walks right over to the bushes across the way, shines the light, and says, “Oh, here he is!”

Here he is!

Yup.  Jack was just sitting there under the bush.  He had been calmly watching all this frantic activity to find him without a peep or the slightest movement.

He gave me such a scare.

I told him he wasn't going to be allowed to play outside again until he's 21!