I canvased my neighborhood and no one had seen my cat out and about. At my wit’s end, I finally printed out flyers and began posting them around the neighborhood. The hot summer sun was beating down on me, and by the time I was down to my last flyer, I was exhausted. I tacked the flyer in one last spot and stood back to make sure it was legible from the street when I heard a small voice say, “Oh my!”
I turned to glance at a tiny old woman who had approached so quietly that I hadn’t heard her coming up behind me. She was wearing an old fashioned house-dress and those clinical looking “old lady” shoes. She toddled up to the poster, using her cane to balance herself with each step.
“Oh, my!” She repeated, looking at my poster.
“Uh, hello.” I said, awkwardly, as she hadn’t yet acknowledged my presence.
The little woman said nothing, as she read my poster, examining it closely. Then she turned her head abruptly and called over her shoulder, “Is this your cat?”
I replied that it was and that he’d been missing for a few days.
“Mmm.” the tiny woman replied, still staring at the poster.
I waited for a moment longer and finally asked, “Have you seen him?”
The woman started, “Me?” No. No, I haven’t.” Her face clouded and she seemed to be lost in a memory. “It’s just that…” Her voice trailed off.
“It’s just, what?” I prodded.
“Oh, it’s silly.” She said, waving her hand at me, as though dismissing me. But then she paused and smiled inwardly. She took a half step and opened herself up to me a bit. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was my cat, Rupert.”
“You have a cat?” I asked.
The woman glanced downward a little sadly and replied, “Years ago I did. This rascally cat just showed up at my doorstep one day and wouldn’t leave me alone. You know how it is…cats sure know how to target us softies.”
My skin began to prickle as I slowly forced myself to continue interrogating the lady. “Uh, how many years ago was it?”
The lady sucked air between her puckered lips, frowning, and she finally answered, “It was 1968.”
I felt sick to my stomach. The world seemed to be spinning, as I began piecing together the possibilities.
“Are you all right, dear?” The old woman asked. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost!”
“I’ll be okay.” I lied. “It’s probably just this heat.”
