2011-12-27: Shadie's Dangerous Adventure

Nigel loves to hear stories. Lately, he has requested the story of Shadie's dangerous adventure many times. It goes something like this:

Mom and Dad lived at Aspen Hills apartment complex. Shadie loved to lie in her bed atop the white dresser, next to an upstairs window, so she could look out. She would watch people, dogs and cats, but her favorite things to watch were the birds. She loved the birds, and would sometimes talk to them through the window. When she was outside, she would often sit on the doorstep, and sometimes she would venture over to a big rock and stand atop.

One evening, Shadie didn't come in for dinner. That wasn't too unusual, as either the front or back door was often open during nice weather so she could go in and out as she pleased. At bedtime, she still hadn't been seen, so the door was closed for the night. Mom and Dad didn't know if Shadie was inside and hiding or outside. The next morning, though, she didn't come down for breakfast. Dad called for her, but there was no sign of her. Dad thought she might be feeling sick and hiding. They took a quick look through the apartment before leaving for work, but didn't see her.

All day long, Dad worried about Shadie, whether she had been shut outside and had run off during the night. That evening, Mom and Dad looked all around for her: in all the closets, under the bed, in all the backyards, all through the courtyard, and even walked throughout the apartment complex looking and calling for her. There was no sign of her, and Mom and Dad were feeling even more worried.

The next day, Dad made posters to advertise the missing cat. The posters had pictures of Shadie on them with her name and a short description of her, and asked anyone to call if they saw her. Dad put the posters up all around the apartment complex, in hopes that someone would see Shadie and call.

Hearing nothing for the next two days, Mom and Dad started to think Shadie wasn't going to come back. They felt very sad that she was gone. Then, someone called and said they thought they had seen Shadie behind the apartments one day. Mom and Dad felt excited at the thought of finding her again. The caller also told Mom and Dad about hidden entrances to go under the apartment buildings. That evening, after work, Mom and Dad went searching again. Dad found the entrance to go under their apartment building and climbed down in with a flashlight. It was very dark down there. He called for her, but she didn't answer. Finally, he saw her with the light and went to get her. She was very well hidden, and only her gleaming eyes gave away her position. Dad picked her up and handed her out to Mom, who was waiting at the entrance, then Dad climbed out and they took Shadie back home.

Shadie was very hungry and thirsty, and had been gone for several days. She was also very dirty - her fur looked black in places. Mom and Dad fed her and gave her a drink, and then gave her a bath (which may have been Shadie's least fun part of the whole ordeal). Mom and Dad felt very relieved to have her back home.