The Day Athena Went Missing

Here's the story...

I took Athena to the vet on Sunday so that she could get vaccinated. Routine business. I brought her home and as before, she was annoyed and she hissed at me before scampering to hide under my bed.

Not long later, she crawled from under my bed and made her way to the living room. That was the last I saw of her. I assumed that she was still sleeping when it was nearing dinner time. I looked in all the obvious places but it did not occur to me that she was missing!

The next morning, I took off to school, not thinking much about her absence. Nearing noon, I received a text message from Lily; Athena was missing! I panicked and called my mum immediately. They had been searching for her for hours and they had already informed the neighbours. By this time, it was already the end of the school day. I had planned to stay till late to clear my marking but I could not concentrate. Jacinta suggested that I head home to look for her.

I tried really hard but I could not hold back my tears and I didn't want to be alone. So I called Aqil. I'm so thankful and eternally grateful to him. He met me at J8 and we went back to my place to look for my cat. Sweet, yes?

We spent hours wandering around the neighbourhood and scouring blocks searching for Athena. I wanted to give up. She could be anywhere! Logically, she could have wandered to any place and there was a very high possibility that we were looking for her in the wrong direction. I was forlorn. But Aqil, sweet Aqil, was my pillar of strength that day. He remained positive and persisted on. He even wanted to come back everyday to look for her with me till we found her.

It was getting late so we parted ways. I made my way home imagining what it would be like not to have Athena around anymore. My mum went downstairs to resume the search. Shu Yu printed posters to place at the void decks. I love them so much for everything that they've done.

So get this. I was in my room on my laptop and I noticed a passing shadow entering my brother's room. I glanced at that direction and thought I saw Athena. I looked again and paused for some time before I reacted. I called out to her and she turned to look at me void of expression. Understandably, I could not believe my eyes but I jumped to grab her. She hissed (

pissed) and ran to my parents' room. I was beside myself so I asked my father to check if that was really her or if I was imagining everything.

I'm getting bored of telling this story so in a nutshell, Athena came home, on her own. It was a horrible, horrible experience but it was comforting to know that there are such lovely souls in this cruel world.