Ginger escaped this morning from Stargate2.
I had just opened the gate to go out when he slipped out between my legs. Ginger may be big (and fat), but when he wants to, he can move super fast. I tried to stop him with my leg, but of course that failed and by the time I rushed to the gate, he was already out.
I know it is impossible to get him back. Ginger is a former stray from this neighbourhood and he wants to go back out to his familiar haunts every now and then (we don’t let him ever since we kept him indoors by building Stargate2). It is just not safe out there.
So all we could do was to wait for him to come back.
Mid-morning, my husband drove out and spotted him near a neighbour’s house on our road. He stopped the car, but the moment Ginger heard the car, he jumped and disappeared into the drain.
Yes, it’s impossible to get him back unless he WANTS to come back by himself.
When I came home with Bunny from the vet, I thought he would have returned since it was past lunch time. Ginger is, after all, a greedy cat. But no, he was still not back.
We waited. But we also made many trips up and down the road, searched at the playground, looked into the drains and my husband even went to the back road to look for him. Ginger used to visit Mr G way back when he was a free-roaming cat and Mr G’s house is at the back (but they have since moved). We suspect Mr G is Ginger’s father too.
By 3pm, I grew very worried. I posted a collage of Ginger’s photos and alerted the chief guard to help look for him. I also posted a notice in our neighbourhood chat group. We continued going out to look for him, shaking the kibble jar.
Ginger was simply nowhere to be found.
I remember when Timmy went missing. He never returned and I feared that would happen with Ginger.
It’s a Japanese practice to ask the neighbourhood cats to help look for your missing cat, so when I went looking, I asked every single cat I saw to help look for Ginger. Cats are empaths; they read minds. And they will help…if you ask nicely.
There’s another practice where you boil a pot of water and place a pair of scissors on top of the pot, it’s to ask the Kitchen God to help look for your missing pet. A friend taught me this and I’ve done it over the years whenever one of our cats went missing. So I did that too. For me, desperate times calls for desperate measures. I’d do anything as long as it isn’t harmful to anyone.
I also “asked” Daffodil to help, wherever she may be in the Cat-Verse. For those who do not know, Daffodil was Ginger’s mother. We adopted the whole family (Daffodil, Rosie and Ginger) from the playground when we moved into this neighbourhood 11 years ago. First they were allowed to be free-roaming and were effective CNRM-cats, but some neighbours were not happy with community animals, so we built Stargate2 and kept them indoors. Rosie passed away of liver disease while she was still free-roaming. Daffodil passed away at the ripe old age of 17, of old age (what a blessing – no suffering at all). Daffodil was a very dedicated mother and continued to look after her children throughout her life.
Back to Ginger’s story today.
By 5.15pm, I started preparing to feed our cats dinner. I started with Tabs in the kitchen. When Tabs was eating, I went out to the road again, this time, making sounds with the metal bowl and spoon, hoping Ginger would hear it and be hungry enough to come out, wherever he may be. Ginger did not.
So I came home and went to feed Cow, Bunny, Cleo and Indy. As they were finishing I peeped and saw Tabs staring out from Stargate2. Something told me she was staring at “something”.
I quickly went to the living room and there…I saw an orange cat walking back towards Stargate2!
It was Ginger!! He’s home.
I quickly alerted my husband to open Stargate2 to let the naughty fellow in.
Oh, he came in willingly without any protest. Must be hungry, eh?
Thank goodness you’re home safe and sound, Ginger. We were so worried about you.
I know you still wish to roam outdoors, but it just isn’t safe, Ginger. Could you please not sneak out like this again? You had us worried sick.
Ginger was gone for NINE hours today. That’s a long time.
Hungry, hungry, hungry! He had double helpings of dinner.
I thanked the Kitchen God for helping.
And I also thanked the neighbourhood cats whom I asked to help today.
Unknowing to each other, my husband and I had both made a silent promise to Daffodil when she passed away – that we would do our very best to look after Ginger, that she need not worry.
Daffodil spent her entire life looking after her two children. On the night before she passed away, she was still sitting at the patio with Ginger, enjoying the night air. I remember the time when Daffodil made a run to hide in the roof (before Stargate2 was built) when a huge lorry passed by on our road. As she was running toward the roof, she actually stopped halfway and came back to take Ginger with her to safety. That’s how dedicated she was as a mother. That’s why we both made her that promise when she passed away. We didn’t know we had both made the same promise until months later when we happened to mention it to each other!
Tabs wasn’t concerned about Ginger being missing all morning, but by afternoon, she was quite worried and kept looking out from the door and from Stargate2.
Thanks for coming home, Ginger. I shall be extra careful now when I open Stargate2 or any door. Ginger is such an escape artist. My husband says he “plans” his escapes, and if he wants to go out, he will, by hook or by crook. He would be far away and you won’t even notice him, and suddenly, he slips past your legs and he’s out of the gate.
Well, I will definitely be extra, extra, extra careful now. I don’t want to go through this agony of waiting for him to come home again.