SMOKEY

SMOKEY

No, it’s not Smokey the bear.
Have you ever lost something which is so near and dear to your heart that you are heart broken to tears? It didn’t take long for this to happen to me. Nope, guess again, the smoke from a fire didn’t cause this serious trouble, keep reading and guessing.

A few months ago, I received a phone call from my friend, Mary who asked a favor. I agreed to help. After talking to her son and agreeing to the arrangements between us, I awaited his arrival to give to me his precious creature. I didn’t realize the full extent of the situation at the time, but later, oh my word, I got the surprise of my life!

I like surprises, don’t you?
Smokey seemed to be a ghost after Daniel left. I decided to give this 24 hours and then I would require Smokey to make a change and to become more up close and personal. Have you guessed yet?

The next day, I arrived where Smokey should be hiding. Not wanting to cause alarm or a major fight, I approached him. Cautiously and gently I reached between the wall and my bed to find a soft warm body which I proceeded to stroke. Then, I gave the body a very gentle push toward the opposite side of the bed. No luck, so I left and waited for a few hours.

When I entered my bedroom again, I repeated the same process and then decided to change my approach. I reached under the bed from the other side, where there was plenty of floor space and rubbed my thumb and index fingers together, the way Daniel showed me, which was what he did to let Smokey know all was well and safe.

Amazingly a face appeared, the very slowly, followed by the rest of the body. We quickly became close and devoted friends. This dark grey cat with shiny short hair, a sweet personality, and the nicest meek meow became the love and joy of my life.

Then without any warning, I was informed by Mary that we had a problem. My heart skipped a beat. I was seriously fearful that something terrible had happened. Perhaps fostering Smokey was more of a problem than I realized. I found out after talking with Danial that I was right. Although he agreed to help with food, cat litter, and necessary vet care, and we were saying basically the same things, we had completely miscommunicated. Horrors!

All this time I thought I was fostering him for Daniel and would eventually return Smokey to him. When I realized to my astonishment and surprise, Daniel had given smokey to me, it was a relief and terrifying. How was I supposed to care for him when I couldn’t afford to get the simplest of necessities for him? The food and cat litter although not expensive, require money as well as the expense of vet visits. What was I to do ? I was reassured that our agreement still was in place and Daniel would provide for his life needs, food, litter, vet care; while I donated the time, housing, love, and affection. I was awe struck and thrilled. This was a most precious gift. I told Daniel Smokey was his as well as mine and that he still had visiting privileges whenever he wanted to visit his beloved cat friend.

For months all was well. We enjoyed each other and I get used to having Smokey near me. We were like conjoined twins nestling together sleeping peacefully which made me feel very content and at peace. After finding out about Smokey’s previous experiences I was more glad to have him because he is such a good cat who has plenty of love to give.

One day I went into the bedroom to see how Smokey was doing and couldn’t find him. “oh, dear God, where is Smokey?” I hoped prayer would help me figure out what was going on and I would be able to find him quickly. Sure enough, I got the insight to look under the covers and there he was, curled up like a tire on it’s side, as happy as a cat can possible be even though this human interrupted his beauty rest. No, not beauty rest mattresses. I was grateful and very thankful that my cat was healthy and safe.

Time went by with no adrenaline rush events until...
It was bed time one night and so when I entered the bedroom ready for sleep I didm’t see Smokey. No big deal! For a while it didn’t alarm me because often he would crawl between the covers and warm the bed for us. I got busy with my activities before hitting the sack and then, out of the blue realized that Smokey hadn’t made an appearance for an unusually longer time. This was totally out of character for Smokey. He usually greeted me at the bedroom door, from under the covers after a few minutes, or sauntered out of the adjoining bathroom. Nothing, absolutely no hint that Smokey has lived here. I looked everywhere in the bedroom and couldn’t find him. I tried to stay calm thinking he probably sneaked past me and was in the house somewhere. After looking for hours, I still couldn’t find him. My cousin was visiting, so I asked her to look. We couldn’t find Smokey anywhere in the house, he was gone!

She suggested leaving the bedroom door open and going to bed because he would most likely curl up with me when he was ready for his nightly deep sleep. Dismissing her advice, I determined to continue my search, then decided she had a good idea. coming to my senses, I accepted her advice. Sleep alluded me and being awake for almost two hours because I felt so alone and in such despair, I resumed my search. He was worth staying up all night searching for even fir days and nights if necessary. Going outside just in case he had escaped the house, I called and looked for him. The most scary part about this was the very harsh wintery conditions. The good part about this was that he would have left tracks in the snow.

I have to explain another action I took in the middle of the night. somewhere between 1 and 2 am, I called Mary. Distraught and in tears, I told her I could not find Smokey. We talked a while and then I resumed my search.

Hours passed after day break and still there was no sign of smokey except animal tracks in the snow that may belong to him. Hopefully someone could help me trace these tracks and see where they lead, hopefully finding Smokey. These were my first thoughts. My heart sunk lower and I felt like the brightness of the day was over cast by bleak darkness and aguish.

Then, I felt a nudging in my spirit and began to change my thinking and attitude about these events. I knew that Heavenly Father knew where Smokey was and asked Him often to take care of him, show me where he was, and similar requests. Endeavoring to convince myself that everything would work out alright, especially with Heavenly Fathers help, this nagging doubt about my faith in the out come wouldn't leave me. As much as I was able, I focused on optimism and that Heavenly Father would and was helping Smokey and me through this challenging time.

The amount of time which passed I can not tell, however I was thrilled to be able to call my friends and tell them about the events which had happened within the last 24 hours. My main focus was to ask for prayer for Smokey. During one of these calls, I happened to look down, which had to be the prompting of the Holy Ghost, because I do not remember any reason for me to do this...and, right in front of me was…guess who…Smokey. Where he came from I have no idea. What mattered most for me was that Heavenly Father had taken care of him, he was safe, and we were again united.

I was so excited and happy I couldn’t thank heavenly father enough. My feline friend was safe and with me again, what a precious gift from God, my Heavenly Father.

Written for the "Invalid Item"  contest.