Today was a good day. I sat in the window most of the morning, complaining to Daddy that I needed outside. He talked to me as he worked from the deck, but he never let me out. I have noticed over the past few days that he often smells like I remember the wonderful area under the house smelling. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how he was getting that way.

Today, however, I went looking. He was out on the computer, and I found it. There was a hole in the floor of his bathroom. How long had I missed this? I jumped down and entered my long lost kingdom. The subtle light made the spider webs glow, and the smells were wonderful. I looked at everything, rubbed on everything, and smelled everything. A couple of times, Daddy came down and lit a fire, put up some tubing, and played with melted metal. Humans are stupid. I clean myself, and I can find water outside...

I talked to him a bit, but seldom got close enough for him to grab me and banish me to the house. He didn't try, so I decided to trust him. I went to the outside access, and I found the stray cat looking around. I kept my distance. After he left, I walked around outside. The deck was great as well. Daddy was out working on the computer, and I decided to say hello, and see if he was going to grab me. He didn't so I sat down to talk to him for awhile while I rubbed on stuff and sniffed some more. At one point he went inside and left the door open. I ventured in to see what was going on, and he started the fire again. I left...

Unfortunately, when he was done, he saw me and put me in the house. Jerk. Actually, I was pretty tired, so it was ok. I went back into the bathroom, and all the holes were closed. I checked every one. There were no holes large enough for me to fit. So, I went to the kitchen, sprawled out, and went to sleep. It was a good day.

Lilo the Cat Opportunist