I was standing in the spare room gazing thoughtfully at Ida’s recipe card in my hands, when I suddenly remembered: The animals! I’d been away for almost 24 hours and no one had been here to care for them.
I dashed out of the room, hoping they hadn’t made too much of a mess during my extended visit to the past. The cat would be okay, albeit grumpy for not being fed, but I hated to think what my dogs may have done without a trip outside in that amount of time. When I got to my room, I was stunned to find the two dogs sound asleep, just as I had left them. I had woken the cat as I opened the door, and he lazily yawned and stretched on the foot of my bed. He slowly moved to a seated position and looked up at me inquisitively as if to say, “What are you doing up?”
This couldn’t be right. The animals normally act as though I’ve been gone for weeks when I’ve only been out for a few hours. How could they be acting so calm now? Unless…
I snatched my cell phone from the bedside table and when the screen lit up, I had my answer. It seemed that I’d returned to my present at very nearly the same time that I’d left. It was an astounding thought, and one that didn’t make any sense to me. I sat on the edge of the bed stroking the cat, remembering how he’d been missing for three days, and how the woman who had adopted him in his absence had cared for him long enough to get him a collar with an engraved name plate.
It seemed that just about anything was possible. And perhaps my suitcase had more in common with a certain magical wardrobe than I’d previously considered.
