A Happy Ending

Yesterday my 9-year-old was wrestling the new experience of grief. Today she learnt about miracles.
Her beloved black cat vanished ten days ago and we all presumed he was dead. Then we received a call from a stranger in response to this:



The stranger happened to have been in our neighbourhood, happened to have seen our posters, then happened to take a walk past a secluded fairytale cottage in the woods:


There on the gate he saw this:


A black cat had arrived starving on the cottage doorstep the week before, he discovered, and the owner had been leaving food in the front garden ever since. Instinct convinced him it was Harry. Instinct convinced us that it couldn't be.

We drove to the woods and found the pink cottage and soon a small black cat came hurtling out of its front garden. He found us before we found him. It was Harry. He had strayed half a mile over fox-ridden parkland, crossed a busy main road, climbed a wooded hill and arrived at the lonely cottage the very same day that the owner's elderly cat had died.

So now our family is complete again and my 9-year-old has discovered that life can have fairytale endings. Her birthday present will, as she had wished, be a cuddle with Harry. But there's one last thing on her mind. 'Is it all right,' she asks anxiously, 'if I still ask for an iPod Touch as well?'


Comments

  1. ah what a happy ending! so glad your cat was found safe. (the iPod touch is pushing it I reckon) LOL

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    1. Yeah, I reckon that too. After all, I've had to fork out for a bottle of Chardonnay for the finder..!

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  2. Excellent news. I'm so pleased you recognised your cat from the picture in the note on the gate.

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  3. Ahhhh, what a lovely story! And what a pretty chocolate box house. can my fairytale ending be to leave there please?

    Don't think I've seen your blog before - will follow you now. x

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    1. It was for sale recently, but sadly well beyond ordinary means. I'm most grateful for the follow. Your blog title makes you sound my kind of gal.

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  4. Ah what a happy ending...its amazing how far cats can travel isn't it!

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    1. Yes, all the expert advice recommends leafleting a radius of only a couple of streets.

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  5. I'm so glad that this had a happy ending - it was troubling me as I trundled back from school drop off. And, as always, you tell it so well...

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    1. How very touching to think that our grief rippled out as far as Yorkshire!

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  6. Wow your own fairy tale complete with a cottage in the woods and a happy ending. All that was missing was to find out that the elderly cat who died was actually Harry's own grandfather.
    Look for a book called The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo - it's about a girl who is also searching for her missing cat. I think your daughter would love it.

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  7. I am so pleased that you've had a happy ending and that your 9yo will now be able to sleep better. Amazing what the power of prayer can do. You've obviously raised a very sensitive cat who just knew that someone needed to be comforted. Well done you.

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  8. I'm so pleased that she got her happy ever after.....I bet that cat is getting spoilt tonight! No loyalty cats.....get her a dog!

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    1. Dogs! Bah! Harry apparently got chased away by a neighbour's tabby who moved into our house while we were on holiday and menaced him. He's very glad to be home.

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    2. Our cats are both chipped (but not pinned) and after several months of every cat in the area stealing their food whilst ours sat and watched hopelessly, we lashed out and bought a new-fangled cat flap which is activated by the very chip in their neck. We have tried collars in the past with magnets attached, but they lose the collars... This new door is perfect.

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    3. Wish you'd commented three hours earlier! Have just spent £40 on a new magnetic cat flap, the previous one having been demolished by Harry when he was kept indoors following a recent injury.

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  9. I remember when my cat died as a 13 year old and being heartbroken. glad your cat was found and your daughter had a happy birthday

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    1. Yes, I've grieved over many a cat and was quite unprepared for a reprieve with this one.

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  10. Fantastic! It echoes what happened when our aged cat disappeared a year ago. Son was understandably worried; his dad told him – rather brutally I thought – that the cat was probably dead, as it was so old (thanks, dad!); I had to mop up son's tears and say that, while that was a possibility, it was worth us talking to neighbours and putting up posters. And within 12 hours of the posters going up, the cat mysteriously returned home. I suspect someone who thought he was a stray realised that he did in fact have a home, and dropped him off in the vicinity.

    Very pleased to hear your own cat is back home. Phew!

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    1. Thanks. And I'm pleased to hear of your small miracle. Posters have a marvellous effect. Once was reunited with one of my old cats who'd got stuck in a disused hall after a couple who'd parked there to have back-seat sex heard miaows then sae my SOS taped to a lamppost.

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  11. It's like the end of a Disney film! Pleased he's back where he belongs. So, the question is... does she get the iPod too?!

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    1. I'm against technology (unless it's mine). But she says she's the Only Person in the Class Without one. What do you think?

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  12. Brilliant news and yes that is what my near 9 year tells me he must have for his birthday!

    Mich x

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    1. Depressing, isn't it. Mine only want one because everyone else does.

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  13. Hoorah! So pleased it all turned out so well - what a twist of fate! :o). X.

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    1. My daughter, weaned on fairytales, takes it rather for granted whereas the Vicar and I keep pinching ourselves...

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