Gypsy Katt here. We had quite the drama last week. We started out with five cats on Monday home with Mom while the men finished working on the basement. When our human brother got home from work, he saw a large grey tabby streak across the yard and head into the woods next door. We were down to four kitties. (Or so we thought.)

Onyx: Pretty ironic. They kept me locked up, and Sgt Stripes made a run for it.

Sgt Stripes: I didn’t make a run for it. I sauntered out when I noticed the doors were open.

Gypsy: They were pouring something they called cement downstairs. They had to keep running back and forth between a noisy machine outside and the basement.

Sgt Stripes: I just wandered out. No one even paid any attention.

Gypsy: Humans are pretty careless sometimes. They thought that just because you’ve never seemed interested in going outside that you could roam around while the work was being done.

Angel: Yeah. They didn’t know how dumb you are.

Sgt Stripes: Hey! I’m not dumb. I wanted to visit my old hangouts.I know I have a pretty sweet deal here.

Angel: Then why did you run when your human came home.

Sgt Stripes: I think that was just a coincidence. I heard a really loud noise and took off.

Gypsy: All of the humans were pretty upset.

Onyx: Blondie even put it out on the community bulletin board.

Sgt Stripes: They should have just relaxed. I was just looking around.

Angel: You came back pretty quickly. One of the little humans went outside, and there you were. Blondie just had to pick you up.

Gypsy: That’s funny to watch. You’re a big kitty, and she’s not very big.

Sgt Stripes: It was extremely undignified. I would have walked in on my own if they would have waited.

Angel: You didn’t turn your nose up at the extra food and treats.

Sgt Stripes: I told you, I’m not dumb.

Snoops: At least they noticed you were missing.

Angel: I knew you weren’t around, but nobody listened to me.

Sgt Stripes: I tried to go back outside to get you, but they wouldn’t let me.

Snoops: I am the elder cat. The Empress of the House. And nobody noticed I was missing.

Gypsy: To be fair, you were only showing up for breakfast for a while there. You were spending most of your time in the basement.

Snoops: That’s what made it so awful. Those strangers invaded my safe space. And they made a lot of noise. I was just looking around when I ended up outside. Then there was a lot of noise, and then those strange humans closed the doors so I couldn’t get back in.

Angel: That sounds awful. Then what happened?

Snoops: I heard a loud noise and ran under the back porch. Next thing I knew it got dark and windy. After Sarge went back inside, it was just me. I heard the humans wandering around a little bit, but they didn’t hear me. I had to sleep out there.

Gypsy: Mom finally figured out that you weren’t in the house when she went downstairs and looked in your litter spot. Nothing was there. She was really upset. She went outside and called a little bit, but you didn’t respond.

Snoops: I didn’t hear her. She was in front of the house.

Gypsy: It was pretty sad. She was trying to work when she heard a car honk in the road. She went out and saw something in the road. False alarm: It was just a bunch of paper. But she went around the back of the house and started calling.

Snoops: I heard her calling, so I meowed. She heard me, but kept calling. I kept calling back. She finally got to where she could see me and she brought me back inside.

Gypsy: You’re a lot smaller than Sarge, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Sgt Stripes: But Mom insisted on locking both of us in different rooms while the workers were there.It was awful.

Onyx: She put you in her bedroom. She keeps food, water and a litter box in there. How tough could it have been.

Snoops: Yeah. I got put in the bathroom because it’s one of my safe places. You had a bed and a cat tree.

Sgt Stripes: I do not like being told what to do.

Gypsy: It’s your own fault. You should have been a good kitty and stayed inside like Angel and me.

Snoops: All’s well that ends well. At least the repairmen are finally gone.