Putting Out the Cat

Let me give you some background information before I get to my story of the day. I live in an OLD townhouse apartment building that is attatched to 27 others in a long straight line. They are pretty much identical in every way: the bedrooms on the top floor, the living area on the main floor, and the garage/basement which is accessible by an alley way in the back. Before I went to sleep last night I saw a beautiful black cat wandering to the neighbors' doors looking for a home and maybe some food. We do NOT have any pets at the moment...they're too expensive and messy for my lifestyle.

A few years ago we were enjoying a lazy Sunday morning...cuddling in bed before it was time to get ready for church and Cam decided that he wanted to leave our comfy bed for his toys. On the way to his room he stopped at our door and asked me, "Why's that kitty here?" He was just learning how to talk and I thought that I had misunderstood him, so I got up to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, there was a cat in our hallway. I was baffled. Our apartment was locked up tight, and there were no holes into our home that I knew of. I noticed that our linen closet was open and we had blankets strewn everywhere. I know that in the back of the closet there is a hole where the plumber can get access to our bathtub, and this cat had figured a way to move between apartments through this space. She was known to the neighbors as a Houdini of sorts because she'd sneak into other apartments from her own linen closet.

Now, to this morning and my reason for all the background information....Early this morning I was drifting between the real world and the dream one, when I could have sworn that I heard the strong meowing of a cat. I heard it once and thought it was just a dream, so I ignored it. Then as I was drifting off again I heard it sharper and clearer which CONVINCED me that there was a cat in our apartment. I immediately jumped out of bed announcing to Steve that there was a cat in our apartment and proceeded to turn on all of the lights to find it. I wandered around the entire upstairs before I realized that I was dreaming the whole thing! The linen closet was closed and all was well. So I wandered back to bed and told my husband that I was crazy and that he should ignore me. He then told me that he loved me anyway. When I asked him about it later on this morning, he said he didn't remember a thing about it and that he can't be held accountable for things he says in his sleep. Good thing he said the right thing! I just have too good of an imagination!