Holland and I are living in my mom's house at the moment. We've got the basement, which is finished and a great space, but it's one big open room AND the kids' playroom, so not a lot of privacy. My sister, BIL, their 3 kids and 2 dogs moved in last weekend, so it's been quite an adjustment for everyone this week.
Now, Holland has her own space with lots of places to hide where the kids are NOT allowed to go, and they are not allowed to come downstairs until I get up. This morning, when Holland did NOT wake me up by 6:00 for her breakfast I was a little worried, but just assumed she'd gone upstairs or something. Didn't think too much of it.
I got up, made my nieces some blueberry pancakes, still kind of wondering where Holland was, just figured she was hiding. Then my sister came into the kitchen, and I told them all I wasn't sure where Holland was, and if they went outside, to please make sure the door closed behind them. That's when my sister told me she and my mom had heard meowing when they got up this morning, thought it was Holland, but decided it was coming from outside.
Then we were trying to figure out if a door could possibly have been left open, if there was any way Holland could have gotten outside. I said if she IS outside, she's probably hiding under the deck. I went out and started calling her, checked under the deck - of course my mind kept seeing little kitty-shaped black shadows... But no Holland. So I went out front, terrified that I would find her in the road, hit by a car or something. Still no Holland. I went to the basement to make sure she wasn't hiding somewhere. No Holland.
At that point, I was on the verge of panic, tears already running down my face, and my niece told me she heard a meow. I said "are you sure you're not just imagining it?". She told me no, she heard a meow twice. Then I heard a meow. Not just A meow, but Holland's meow. We all stood still and quiet, and sure enough, we all heard her - this girl does NOT meow unless she needs help or thinks she needs to be fed RIGHT NOW.
She was behind my mom's washing machine. NOT stuck - she came out on her own after I'd talked to her for a couple minutes. I think she must have come upstairs sometime during the night, then panicked when kids & dogs started to wake up.
I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of relief when I saw her sweet little face behind that washer...
Now, Holland has her own space with lots of places to hide where the kids are NOT allowed to go, and they are not allowed to come downstairs until I get up. This morning, when Holland did NOT wake me up by 6:00 for her breakfast I was a little worried, but just assumed she'd gone upstairs or something. Didn't think too much of it.
I got up, made my nieces some blueberry pancakes, still kind of wondering where Holland was, just figured she was hiding. Then my sister came into the kitchen, and I told them all I wasn't sure where Holland was, and if they went outside, to please make sure the door closed behind them. That's when my sister told me she and my mom had heard meowing when they got up this morning, thought it was Holland, but decided it was coming from outside.
Then we were trying to figure out if a door could possibly have been left open, if there was any way Holland could have gotten outside. I said if she IS outside, she's probably hiding under the deck. I went out and started calling her, checked under the deck - of course my mind kept seeing little kitty-shaped black shadows... But no Holland. So I went out front, terrified that I would find her in the road, hit by a car or something. Still no Holland. I went to the basement to make sure she wasn't hiding somewhere. No Holland.
At that point, I was on the verge of panic, tears already running down my face, and my niece told me she heard a meow. I said "are you sure you're not just imagining it?". She told me no, she heard a meow twice. Then I heard a meow. Not just A meow, but Holland's meow. We all stood still and quiet, and sure enough, we all heard her - this girl does NOT meow unless she needs help or thinks she needs to be fed RIGHT NOW.
She was behind my mom's washing machine. NOT stuck - she came out on her own after I'd talked to her for a couple minutes. I think she must have come upstairs sometime during the night, then panicked when kids & dogs started to wake up.
I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of relief when I saw her sweet little face behind that washer...