Monday, October 6, 2008

Here be dragons




She finished Her Dragon book, which was a great relief to all of us. Seemed She was taking on the fire-breathing characteristics of Her subject matter the closer She got to the last brush stroke. We expected Her to sit down and curl up by the warm fire, but no, She looked around the house in horror. It seems the dragons had been getting out of Her head and making an terrible mess in the house.
On Saturday evening She fed us as we curled and swayed around Her legs, but there were only 5. No sign of Elmo. When the weather turned dark and nasty and still he had not come home She began to worry. Just a little. Maurice and Kiffer and Martha and I collected on the sofa of ginger, Max curled on a cushion, tight as a ball, in the hall. Outside the storm cat raged throwing spears of rain at the house and the wind was sharp cold. Even in the darkest time of night he did not come back and She prowled around the house in the early hours counting cats.
At breakfast still no sign and as the weather began to clear She went outside, calling, calling, but no Elmo.
By early evening imagination of horrors began to grow and to chase away the fear She walked with dogs on the beach where the wind's paw through snakes of sand low across the ground. As She walked back into the house there was an orange cat with thick stripes and a smiling face.
"I'm hungry." said Elmo.
And She scooped him up in a circle of arms and cuddled him close. "Where have you been?" She asked.
But Elmo just smiled a secret smile.
"I missed you too," he said " a little."
The house still looks as if dragons live in it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad Elmo came home. I know how worried you must have been! My cats envy the ginger cats their free range of their domain, but after one of my darlings vanished mysteriously, i couldn't bear the thought of losing another. And since i don't know what happened to him, i didn't know what to defend the others against. They are all indoors kitties now. I'm currently having the bathroom in my house renovated and the cats are amused by all the new spaces that are being opened up for their entertainment.

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

Naughty Elmo was out on an adventure of his own. I wonder if it had anything to do with a lady cat?

Griffin said...

So, so glad Elmo is safe and warm. It must have been terrifying not knowing if he was alright or not. At least you could cuddle him and he was typically hungry with no damage to him. Kooky Kat!

Those dragon eyes are superb, they draw you right in to their glowing orbs and demand you respect their owner.

Kim said...

I too am very glad that Elmo is back safe and sound. I bet he had an adventure :) It's such a shame that he's not telling!

Kim x

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, cats do keep their own secrets. I am glad that you and Elmo were reunited. I too once lost a cat under mysterious circumstances, that is why my three darlings are indoor kitties.

Casey said...

Oh, I'm so glad Elmo is back safe & sound!

Janet Roper said...

Love the dragon eyes, and I'm glad Elmo is home safe and sound.
Harmony,
Janet

ads said...

I see your pictures and can't help imagining my cat and dogs walking around in the tall grass, they would love it so much. But I had a cat which just disappeared one day and I have never been able to find out what happened to her, so my cat is an indoor cat now.
I'm very glad Elmo came home to you, and by the way, your drawings are just amazing!

ChrisJ said...

And I'm sure you didn't scold him for giving you such a scare! He probably found a warm dry hole somewhere and didn't want to venture home while the weather was still bad.Many American cats are indoor cats -- I had to sign a paper promising I would keep Bailey indoors. But they don't know where you live. You don't have coyotes, rattle snakes, rabies, lots of other mean cats and lots of traffic and roads to deal with. Almost cat heaven!