My cat ran off. He sauntered out of the house on Tuesday night to get some milk from the corner store and hasn't come back since. Jenya and I went walking around the neighborhood knocking on doors and putting up flyers last night. Most people were sympathetic, telling us they would be very sad if their dog/cat/etc was lost. One woman told us about how the family in that house over there lost their cat and that the cat must have gotten into a fight and then crawled under the woman's van and she backed out over the cat and had to call the family and tell them. Not that she wanted to worry us or anything.

Everyone has a story about a cat or dog they lost. The guy standing next to us at Staples, where we were making our Lost Cat posters said that he lost the family dog for four days. He was in college at the time, and brought the dog to a frat party, got really drunk and the next thing he knew, he woke up and the dog was gone. The dog showed up four days later at Fresh Pond, and the guy doesn't drink anymore. Apparently cats run off all the time. Our cat doesn't have tags. He lost his collar in the fall and I just found it a week ago when I was raking up the leaves after the snow melted. I put it on him and he stayed frozen in the same position for five minutes being confused and so I took it back off and he ran outside and hopped onto the screen of the kitchen window.

Nick the temp said that he lost a cat for five days, it just came back. Martha has a story about a cat that adopted a second family while he was out during the day. Someone else's cat got stuck in a basement for two weeks. Another cat walked too far and couldn't find her way back. Another cat was gone for a couple of weeks and was being fed by the crazy lady who lived a mile and a half away.

I hope he comes back today because he needs his flea and tick drops today. And because we have so much food left for him. And because my feet are lonely at night without his paws draped over them. And it's not as fun to chat in the house without having our conversations punctuated by his meows from outside. And because he's my favorite boyfriend.