"If That Cat Could Talk, What Tales He'd Tell . . . "

Here's Smudge, the cat, back where he belongs on David's (unmade) bed.

Smudge is David's best animal friend, and he's been missing for the past month. Being a tom cat, he tends to roam about a bit, get into fights, etc, so for the first few days of his absence we weren't especially concerned.

But weeks passed without any sign of Smudge. Most of the family had (silently) assumed that Smudge had met an untimely end. David didn't make this assumption, and no one wanted to tell him that with the passing of so much time it was unlikely that we'd be seeing Smudge again.

Last night I was up in the middle of the night, killing a mouse, when I heard a commotion on the front porch, then noises on the metal roof. I went outside to see what was going on, and there was Smudge looking down at me! I called to him, and he came right down the ladder that was up against the house, and willingly let me pick him up and carry him into the house.

Smudge was very hungry when he got home, almost choking on the cat food I gave him, because he was trying to eat so fast, but he doesn't appear to have lost weight during his time away from home. He's a very good hunter, so that's not especially surprising. He's got a few nicks and cuts, but he's not really hurt anywhere. So, I do find myself wondering - where has he been for a month? What was he doing? What brought him back now?

Smudge isn't telling. But he's clearly glad to be home again, where he can luxuriate all day on David's comfy and unmade bed. David isn't making the bed, because he doesn't want to disturb Smudge.