My Heart is Aching

I am a HORRIBLE mother. Cat owner. Same difference.

I didn't notice my cat was missing for, like, many hours. I spotted some shredded carpet at the top of our basement stairs and thought, "Hm--why would the workmen who are finishing our basement have done this?" And then BAM--it hit me.

Where is Sheridan?

We often lose Sheridan because she is terrified of the men who are finishing our basement. They make many loud noises. And speak a language she doesn't understand. We'll usually find her in the guest room closet, nestled in the plastic of my wedding dresses. (no, that's not a typo. Long story.) If she's not there, she's often behind the master bathroom toilet, between the tub wall and our scale that rests there. If she's not there, well, then we start to panic, but usually find her under the couch in the living room, or on the top shelf of our closet.

She was none of those places today.

We remembered that for only the second time in her life (or, I guess, since the basement has had workers...so...) For only the second time in the past 3 weeks, she had ventured into the basement to explore the changes to her lair. Nicky explores down there whenever we let her, but Sheridan would usually watch warily from the landing of the steps.

Last night, she ventured down with us.

I thought I saw her run up, so I grabbed Nicky and we went upstairs. Closed the door. Went to bed.....and didn't realize that she never once pounced on our toes, walked on our heads, sat on our backs throughout the entire night. I simply didn't notice--not surprising. (Apparently, she sits on my head while I sleep and I don't wake up. I'm told this by my husband who barely sleeps.) Erik said he just thought, "Wow--it's sure nice that Sheridan isn't keeping me up."

I started to panic after realizing she must be trapped downstairs. That she had clawed at the door for hours, probably with Nicky meowing on the other side--the side of freedom. The only place she would be able to get away from the workers would be under the stairs, with all of our crap. So, we started pulling out suitcases, Christmas decor, summer clothes, and random baby gear that I got at a garage sale. We got a flashlight, and finally, after many minutes of peering and calling, we heard a faint "Meow?!"

We are horrible parents.

Sheridan is now cowering in the guest room closet, shielded from our view by the wedding dresses. She glares at us, and I can just sense her feeling of betrayal. She hates us right now. This is all compounded by the fact that she has a boyfriend who comes to visit, often late at night. We have to continuously scare said boyfriend away, because Sheridan gets so riled up, and they fight each other through the window. So, she is usually mournfully staring out the window, waiting for her Romeo to come visit her. Now our adolescent cat, will not only sullenly stare out the window ... I fear she will also pierce our hearts with her dagger-like stares of condemnation.

Our carpet, shredded now at the top of the stairs, will be a constant reminder of how horrible we truly are.

We locked our baby in the basement for an entire night. And if that wasn't enough, the workers were here today, cutting and nailing wood trim, from 11am til 3pm.

And she was cowering in the storage area, scared for her life!! My poor kitty cat.

The End.