A Rainbow Promise

Last weekend I had a gathering at my place. As one of the toddlers was afraid of my cat, we had to usher her out of the house to the backyard, unceremoniously perhaps by my husband. That afternoon after briefly coming home for awhile when the kids have left, the cat disappeared missing supper and breakfast cum lunch the following day. That was the first time Miao Miao (that's her name) disappeared for so long. Co-incidentally my niece's beloved Schnauzer whom she normally brings along for the gathering was hospitalised and passed away the following day.

By early afternoon the next day when there was no sign of Miao2 I began to walk the whole neighbourhood. This was after I have unashamedly called out her name several times from all corners of my garden and backyard. I am sure all the neighbours would have remarked about that mad woman looking for her cat again. I peeped into each house along the whole street and walked the small park at the end of the road where stray cats use to roam, to no avail. I began to really worry because she had missed 3 meals which never happened before.
Then I started to imagine all the various possibilities.

1. As my husband suggested, she might have been kidnapped or under house arrest. Though old she is still a very pretty Siamese cat with shades of beige and brown fur, blue eyes and brownish black points.

2. She might have been hurt or trapped by fences or branches whilst roaming. She once had to be rescued from my neighbour's roof top.

3. She might have died fighting some other street cats at night or run down by a car and gone to heaven together with the Schnauzer.

4. One of my neighbours may have been so frustrated with her trampling on their garden that he put her in the car and deposit her far away.

5. She might have been fed by someone the day before and was sleeping in some sheltered spot in one of the neighbour's house as suggested by my daughter.

By evening the next day I was almost in tears imagining her suffering in some strange place, be it trapped or hurt. It was made worse when a very heavy thunderstorm started. I imagined her being drenched and soaked to the skin. I mumbled to my daughter all my worries and I said "She walked into our lives ten years ago and now she just walked out." When the storm became a drizzle I started to call out her name again, intuitively thinking that the thunder and rain would have awakened her if she had fallen into a long long catnap. When nothing happened I began to despair. All of a sudden when I looked up at the sky I saw a rainbow. I felt so hopeful sighting the rainbow. It was as if the rainbow told me everything would be fine. I snapped a picture of the rainbow and close the gate. That was when I heard the familiar meowing coming from the back. I rushed in and hugged Miao2, scolding her for making me so worried whilst drying her fur with a towel. My daughter laughed and chided me for suspecting that our neighbours are sadist kidnappers.

It just goes to show that when a person is desperate all kinds of unbecoming thoughts descend. Yet a natural sign like a rainbow uplifts the heart. I still wonder where Miao2 had gone for so long. When my niece posted a remark in her Facebook about the Schnauzer having crossed the rainbow bridge, I wondered whether Miao2 had fallen into a long long slumber to accompany him half the way to the rainbow, and then came back as the rainbow promised me.