A Christmas adventure

I glanced at the clock as I grabbed the phone. Eleven forty-eight. Almost midnight on Christmas Eve.

“Hello?” I said. Then I heard the familiar speeding voice at the other end and realized my quiet holiday was about to become more interesting.

Let me back up. We are spending Christmas at home and making plans to visit family after the holiday. We opted out of holiday driving only recently, noticing how much more we enjoyed not spending hours in the car.

After a calm, relaxing and warm Christmas Eve, despite persistent drippy weather, I went to bed about 11, saying goodnight to my night-owl husband. When his presence startled me from sleep 45 minutes later, I mumbled something barely coherent. In the darkness I didn’t see at first he that was apologetically holding the phone.

“She says it’s sort of an emergency,” he said.

Then I saw the phone. I took it and said hello while I tried to locate a room with more light. The voice at the other end apologized for waking me and sped on. My slow brain didn’t process all the information. Finally, I understood the problem. Two cats were alone in her house, as both she and her roommate were out of town. They were the roommate’s cats, and accustomed to staying alone.

However, when my friend left town and boarded her dog, she left the doggie door unshielded. Her roommate, who had departed days earlier, was beset with worries that the lonely cats would escape via the doggie door. “I hate to ask,” said my friend, “and I would NEVER ask you to go over tonight. But first thing in the morning would you go and check on the cats?”

I agreed and got the address and directions to the house, asking for repeats many times. As I said, my friend talks fast. Finally, I asked, “Now, how do I get inside the house? Did you hide a key?”

“Here’s the thing,” she began, and paused. I knew the answer would be…how to describe it…a bit beyond the pale. “You’ll have to go through the doggie door. Iknowyoucandoit.” Her words tumbled out, each more quickly than the one before. “I can get through it and you are no bigger than I am.”

She seemed certain of it, so I agreed, got her phone number and pledged to call her as soon as I assessed the situation. I stumbled back to bed.

“Has she been drinking?” asked my husband.

“I doubt it,” I mumbled.

I returned to the warm bed, feeling only slightly guilty for not going to check on the poor cats at drizzly midnight.

Before leaving the next morning, I put the phone on the bureau near my slumbering spouse. “I’ll call you from jail if I get arrested for breaking and entering.”

“I’ll tell them you’re with the CIA,” he muttered.

The streets were pretty empty, but I did notice two police cars at a shopping center. I was relieved when they didn’t follow. I passed near another friend’s house and considered borrowing her young son to crawl through the doggie door. Too early, I decided.

Soon I found the house and went to the back yard. I spotted the doggie door. “Is that a standard size?” I muttered, staring at the small rectangle and thinking about my claustrophobia. There was another back door and I looked at it hopefully. Maybe there were two doggie doors?

Nope.

I wondered if it would be worse to get stuck and have to call for a rescue, or to get arrested. I crawled halfway through the door. “Kitty kitty kitty,” I called, hoping both cats would appear and I could then back out and block the door with some large object. I heard a jingly bell, but saw no cats.

So I inched forward, wriggled sideways, and pulled my bottom half through the door. I’d done it! Who knew crawling through a doggie door would lead to such feelings of accomplishment? One more thing I knew I could do if I had to.

I found the two cats, the gray one with the jingly collar in the hallway and the orange one curled up on the bed. He appeared irritated. I called my friend and told her to tell her roommate that the cats were fine and only slightly annoyed. She directed me to the shield to put over the doggie door and we wished each other a Merry Christmas. “You are such a blessing,” she added. “I am going to bring you the biggest present.”

No need, my friend. Holidays go better with adventures. And I don’t mean traffic.

Comments

[Carolyn]

that's funny! Glad you didn't get stuck...
a true friend. I'll know who to call when I need help in a tight fix. ha.
Happy New Year!!!
love, c

[Barbara Elmore]

I've wondered since then what I would have done had it been a cat door instead. Happy New Year to you too!