Summer before last I was blessed with the joy of getting to keep three kittens from our outside wild cats. I wasn’t working much that summer and I had a lot of free time on my hands to play with them, care for them, and tend to them when they needed anything.
There was a Siamese, a black kitten, and an orange kitten. The orange kitten quickly favored my mom, whereas the other two, Lushy and Salem attached themselves to me. I spent every day and every night taking care of them, feeding them and cuddling with them.
I lost a lot of people in my life around this time and my kittens were a huge part of how I was able to cope. I had these precious creatures that I could put all of the love and care I had to give into them. They were there for me when I was happy or sad or upset and they always lent a paw or got zoomies to make me laugh. They always made me feel better and always had such magical personalities.
A couple months passed by and we got them Halloween costumes. We dressed them up and they attacked each other’s costumes and played. Every single moment I spent with Lushy and Salem is immensely cherished to me. They became my little best friends and I couldn’t go anywhere in the house without them wanting to always be by my side. Pretty soon some time passed and they got bigger and the weather got warmer.
We have a doggy door in my parents room that we would keep a cover on during cold temperatures so they couldn’t escape. However, when the weather finally got nice enough, we uncovered the door and let them come and go as they pleased. They got to run and play all around our property and meet other outside cats. Every night after a long day of them adventuring and exploring they would all come back in for dinner and spend the night inside with us.
On the night of June second, when the kitties’ dinner time rolled around only Lushy and his orange brother came in to eat. We didn’t think much of it and waited a bit for Salem’s return. An hour or so went by and Salem still didn’t come back, so we began to open the door and called for him to come eat his dinner. We tried to remain calm and watched tv while keeping the door uncovered for him to come back at any moment. The other two cats were cozy on the bed until Lushy jumped up and walked to the door. I tried to stop him from leaving but he bolted past me and out of the doggy door.
A few hours went by and neither of them returned. Pretty soon a few hours turned into days, days into weeks, weeks into months. Missing animal posts went up and people went searching but there was never a single trace of them or how they may have disappeared. I spent hours, days, weeks, months, walking all along our property and the surrounding roads; calling and looking and searching. With each search I lost more and more hope and the void of their existence got worse and worse. They’ve been gone ninety four days now and I’m not sure if they’re ever coming back to me.