Sunday 6 February 2011

Missing Cat

A terrible thing happened yesterday afternoon.  We took our cat, a beautiful black Burmese, to the local vets for some innoculations and to be micro-chipped, so if she was ever lost she could be traced back to us.  It was all going so well.  She behaved herself in the vets, she didn't make a fuss.  And then as I was taking her back to the car tragedy struck.  The front of the carry cage came loose and she bolted along the road and into somebody's garden.

We spent the afternoon searching.  We printed 'Missing' posters.  We went from house to house in the immediate vicinity, talking to the neighbours, calling her name, rattling bags of her favourite treats.  We were out doing the same thing this morning.  People in the neighbourhood have been really kind.  They've spoken to one another, they've passed on our details, they've given us hope of finding her.  One gentleman phoned us this lunch time.  He had a cat in his garden matching her description.  But when we got there she had moved on.  So close.  Such hope and expectation.

I know this is a blog about the process of writing, and i know i promised to keep it that way, but what i wanted to share from this experience is how suddenly the world can turn.  One second i was happy and proud carrying her back to the car.  The very next second she was streaking away down the road.  The last i saw of her.

Tragedy happens in a heartbeat.  There is no warning, no build up of tension.  It grabs you and it holds onto you until there is a resolution.  You can't take a break or step outside of its sphere.  It fills your entire world.  We are in its grip right now and the world won't turn again until we find her.  For now we will jump at the phantoms that open and shut the cat flap, we will dash for the phone everytime it rings, and we will dream at night that we have found her.

I hope by my next post that we will have a happy resolution.

Her name is Jess.

1 comment:

  1. That split second turning point is the main basis of my novel!

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