Friday, May 11, 2018

Stowaway Thwarted

We adopted Revere in June 2011, the summer before Kelly's junior year at Worcester Polytech. He quickly realized that when she brought out her back pack, duffle bag, and suitcase it meant that she was heading off to college- and he wanted to go with her! He would crawl into her backpack, climb into her duffle bag, and curl up in a corner of her suitcase and try to hide his white spots and became invisible.

Even after she moved home he would still know when she was preparing to leave for a vacation or a trip to visit friends. The minute the backpack and duffle bag appeared, or the suitcase was brought upstairs from the cellar, he would settle down on top of it or inside of it.

This has been going on for seven years. Revere does not like to see Kelly leave home.

The suitcase came upstairs with the backpack on Wednesday night. The look on the cat's face stated quite clearly that he understood what was happening- Kelly was going away again.

Last night, Revere was in her suitcase as she went about packing, gathering toiletries and other things she wanted to take with her. We both saw him wandering aimlessly around as she hustled about after I got home from a board meeting about ten past eight. While I sat down to have a snack and start writing, Kelly ticked off more items on her list and finished up her packing. We talked about how heavy her suitcase was, if it would meet the plane criteria, no more than 50 pounds. She said it shouldn't weigh all that much since she was going to New Orleans and had packed summer weight clothes and just a spare pair of sneakers.

I was stll writing as she zipped her suitcase shut, then lifted it off the bed, turning it upright and wheeled it to the living room where she could stuff her pajamas into it in the morning. Then she joined me at the table in the kitchen to write in her journal. We talked about the trip, staying safe, what to do in case of food allergy emergency, sights to see, places to go.

About a half hour later, from the living room, John began saying, "Stop picking!" Our cats have been trained not to pick the furniture, but they occasionally pick the carpet, which is also frowned upon. We couldn't hear any picking from the kitchen. He repeated the command. Then we heard him get up off the couch, saying, "Where are you?" I asked what was going on, since we couldn't hear anything. He replied the cat was picking somewhere but it sounded distant, maybe down cellar?

And then he was calling Kelly into the living room, telling her that she had better open her suitcase. She hauled it away from the wall, laid it flat on the floor, unzipped it, flipped the top open, and out stepped a somewhat disgruntled Revere! She had zipped him up inside, lugged him to the other room without realizing that 20 pounds of weight in her bag was due to there being a cat in there!

What had helped John figure out where Revere was is that he saw the front of the suitcase bulging out as Revere moved around inside it, anxious to get out. I imagine it got warm in there!

Stowaway status was thwarted by his deciding that he wanted out of the suitcase.

All I can say is, he was lucky she didn't pack her summer pajamas and just make due with a t-shirt and pair of shorts for one night. I can't begin to imagine what would have happened to the poor cat if she had hauled her suitcase out to the car so she could just leave for work in the morning. He's not a loud cat. He could have been unconscious by morning from lack of air. It would have been a traumatic find in Louisiana if John hadn't heard the cat picking, trying to get out- otherwise, we would have noticed he was missing because he sleeps with me every night, but that would have been nearly three hours later, and he does have a few hiding places. I have gone to bed without seeing him around in the past.

We'll have to wait and see if he jumps in her suitcase when she gets home, or if he's finally learned a lesson from his misadventure!

Tonight, with Kelly on her way to Louisiana, Revere and Riley Beans got a few new toys to distract them from her not being home.


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