Yesterday was not a great day.
On Wednesday night at around 11pm, we let the dog out for his last stretch of the day and, as usual, the cat went with him for a walk around the garden. Since we’ve moved to this house, she hasn’t really been out of the garden other than once when she accidentally got into the front garden and panicked. After that, she was just happy to walk around the garden, have a sniff, and generally keep the dog company. And it is quite a big garden that wraps around the house.
At about 11:15pm I went to close the back of the house. The cat hadn’t long been standing on top of the poet yelling at him for some reason. But when I went to check that they were both in before locking up, I couldn’t find her. There was no sign of her. We looked all over the house, but she wasn’t there.
So for the next hour or so, I stayed up with the patio door open and a light on, in case she came back from wherever she’d gone to. But she didn’t. So I threw some clothes on over my nightie and went around the closest lanes to make sure she wasn’t lying in a gutter anywhere. She wasn’t. And I couldn’t see her in any of the bushes either.
I went to bed and left the patio door open and the light on in case she came home during the night. But she didn’t. And in the morning, instead of cleaning out her litter tray, I put that outside, I put one of her bedding cushions in the outside kennel (bought originally when the cats were out and we didn’t have a cat flap), and draped something of mine over a chair, in case she picks up the scents. I went for another walk around the front and the back garden and the lanes, in case she was hunkered down somewhere. But there was no sign of her.
It kind of set the mood for much of the day and then I got a call from Solihull about my mom, which wasn’t great news but it wasn’t the dreaded news either. Even so, it did not help to lift me at all. We’re going to see Mom anyway at the weekend, but we’ve been warned that she’s very frail now…
By the time the poet came home from work, there was still no sign of the cat. I don’t know if she crawled off to be alone and hide in a bush somewhere or if someone’s garage or shed or conservatory or something was open and she’d been closed in or if another cat came along and asked her to come out to play.
While I sat up waiting for the cat to come home on Wednesday night, I started to jot down a few plot points for The Fool. I sent a partial off a few months ago to a publisher to get some feedback (well, I was ‘submitting’ it, with the intent of using any feedback if they sent it back) and they said while they liked the actual idea, the action didn’t start early enough. They were right, and since then I’ve been meaning to rework it. Because I was feeling a bit meh about my writing the day before, I’ve decided to try and spend at least 10 minutes every day on it. I probably spent more than 10 minutes on it, so that was a bonus too.
I wrote the blurb for the ghostwriting book 12 and then started to write Part 4. The bonus short story they usually send to subscribers has gone down to 2,000 words. It’s a pay cut, although the rate per word stays the same, but also less work. It’s also a way away yet too as I do that at the end of Part 4.
I had another session with The Fool before calling it a day. The cat didn’t come back before tea time. Hopefully, she’ll turn up overnight or in the morning.
Have a great weekend!
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How terrifying. I hope she comes back soon.
Thank you.