Late one Friday night, Jason found himself unable to get home at his usual time. Sitting in a strange place from which he could not escape, he thought about his family and how they would start getting worried when he did not turn up for supper. Then, his stomach started rumbling and he began to wonder what gastronomic delights he would miss that night.

Jason reflected on when he had last seen his Mum. Earlier in the evening, she had found him sitting eating grass on a neighbour's driveway and had told him that he could stay out for another hour. Jason imagined this time enough for an expedition. Now, as he sat alone in a strange place from which he could not escape, he judged that this was not the way expeditions were supposed to end and wished he had stayed at home.

After night had fallen, Jason's family tried not to worry unduly about him. He had, after all, occasionally, stayed out all night before but had always come home in the early hours of the morning. They reassured themselves that it was highly unlikely that he was lying injured somewhere because their road was traffic-free at night and they lived some distance from a busy main road. More likely, they thought, he had discovered a family of small rodents in the field at the bottom of their garden and was not yet willing to leave them.

However, when the household woke next morning and there was still no sign of Jason, his family became more anxious. Surely, rodents couldn't sustain his interest that long? At 11:00AM, his Mum rang all the local vets to ask whether a black cat wearing a silver, reflective collar with two identity tags on it, had been brought in the previous evening. To her great relief, the answer was no. Deciding next that Jason was, probably, out in the field and had got caught up by his collar in shrubby undergrowth, she dragged on her boots and went in search of him. She took with her a long, stout stick with which to rout through the undergrowth and her mobile (cell) phone so that her husband could ring if Jason arrived home while she was out.

The field was a hunting cat's paradise. Its grass stood 60 cms high and the bottom of its perimeter hedges was overgrown with nettles and thorny shrubs. Jason's Mum tried not to think that if he was trapped here in this wilderness, it was going to be impossible to find him. She set to searching the scrub and, from time to time, stopped to call Jason and ask people walking their dogs if they had seen him. Sadly, no-one had, but his Mum gained some comfort from the promises made to look out for him.

Having failed to find Jason in the field, his Mum, next, called on her neighbours to ask them to check their garages and sheds.

By 5:30 on Saturday evening, Jason's family, not yet having forlorn hope, began planning to distribute "Missing Cat" leaflets around the area. They decided to do this later that evening after feeding their other cats. Jason's Mum put out eight cat bowls (one fewer than usual) in the kitchen and then, before filling them with food, went to see if the family feral, Ebony, was waiting by the patio doors for her supper. She was not but, lo and behold, Jason was and he was yelling to be let in.

In a state of euphoria, Jason's Mum wrenched open the door. Jason, literally, flew in and, dodging her open arms intent on sweeping him up for a huge hug, made a beeline for the kitchen. Having missed supper the previous night and his breakfast, clearly, his priority was to fill his empty stomach. On just this one occasion, being cuddled and made a fuss of could wait.

Jason's family is now convinced that he was prevented from coming home that Friday, probably, because he had been locked in somewhere. For the best part of the following day, he remained either stretched out or curled up on the couch asleep with a very large smile on his face, purring contentedly from time to time. On occasions, when he woke to shift position and found his Mum looking at him, obviously relieved and delighted that he was back where he should be, he chirped appreciatively at this display of concern for his well-being.

After suffering the experience of enforced separation, Jason and his family are now thinking how wonderful it would be if cats could use mobile phones. Then, when, next, Jason is in a strange place from which he cannot escape, he can ring and let everyone know.

Copyright © Sheenah Large
June 18, 2002