On Monday, July 5 my precious snow white cat went missing. I was sad as I tucked my other kitties in for the night – there was one monkey short. Each day that followed had me searching, hiking the woods, visiting neighbors, scouting their sheds, listening at closed doors, calling, “Humphrey! Humphrey! Here kitty kitty kitty…” my words falling in the still air.
As five days approached I asked my other cats, yet again, “where is he?” During the night a thought came, a light, a message. The next morning I hopped in my car headed for a distant neighbor by road, much closer as the crow flies. I am guilty of ignoring all the signs – KEEP OUT, PRIVATE, NO TRESPASSERS – but a life was at stake. I had scouted the area earlier in the week, on foot, through the woods. This time I drove up the driveway. As I rounded the last bend, approaching the house, a black cat came from behind one of the buildings. It looked at me, then disappeared back between the many structures. I jumped out of the car. It was one of my cats. “Oliver! Oliver!” What was he doing here? My heart lurched – could it be? Then he appeared again in the same place, impatient. “Meow … are you coming?”
Oliver always comes to me, meowing and talking. Not now; he stayed distant. I followed through the buildings, the shuttered windows quiet. “Meow,” he said again. “Meow, hurry up momma.” I followed, he kept his distance until finally he stopped, turning to face me, sitting as he did. “Meow. Meow. Meow.” His face pointed toward a small building after each sound. I listened. Ever so faintly I heard an answering voice. A voice I knew. Luckily the studio door was unlocked. Inside was Humphrey in all his Humphrey glory. Thin, and dehydrated, but alive.
That night we had a party. Oliver was crowned King, and Humphrey the Prince. They ate wild caught king salmon, oysters and caviar.
If you have a Humphrey – whether it be an animal, a person or just a thought, if your love is pure and simple, remember that the impossible can happen. Persevere. Believe.
Dr. Jill Bates
Orcas Island
