Marmalade's Adventure

This is Marmalade.

When I was serving breakfast yesterday morning, I realized I wasn't being serenaded with the normal incessant meow. I called. "Marmalade! Breakfast!"
Nothing. No cat.
I called again.
This cat has never ever missed breakfast.
Hmm... Where could he be?
LLB mentioned that he didn't sleep on her bed during the night.
I remembered seeing him go out the evening before, but I didn't remember seeing him come in.

I looked out the window.
It was pouring rain.
Oh dear... my poor sweet toothless, clawless cat - outside... defenseless... wet... traumatized...

I opened the door and called.
No cat in his right mind is going to run through the rain if he's in a nice dry place. I know that. I figured he had to be in the addition.

I didn't have time to worry about him, so I continued on with my frantic morning routine. Although, I have to admit, I did keep looking out the windows to look for him.

I popped the garage door open and gave one more call.
The drywallers came over and asked if I was looking for a big old orange cat.
"Yes, have you seen him?"
"Well, he was upstairs. He was chasing a bird. He caught 'im, too."
I was flabbergasted!
I said, "Huh?! He has no teeth and no claws!"
"Well, the bird was pretty weak. We took the bird out of the cat's mouth. He was gonna kill 'im an' eat 'im."
My thought - what was he going to do, gum him to death??
"Wow. Really? The cat has no teeth!!"
"He's a good hunter, that one. He caught that there bird."
"Hmm... Wow! He caught a bird... go figure."

At that point I got into my car still shaking my head in disbelief.
Upon my return - many hours later, I checked the house and did a few chores - no cat.
I went out to move the remnants of our wood pile so the guys can dig for the new electrical service and who comes trotting out of the woods?
Mr. Marmalade.
He almost swaggered - okay he did swagger.
As he walked across the driveway was saying, "I'm tough. I'm smart. I still got it! Check me out, Mom!"
I asked him if he was hungry.
I was assuming he was, since the drywallers had taken his all natural breakfast right out of his mouth.
He made a bee-line for the kitchen.
When I asked him what flavor cat food he wanted, he said he didn't care. Anything edible would be fine. (He knows about my cooking!!) I gave him mixed grill in the orange can - nothing but the best for my cat!

While he ate, he told me all about the cold night spent in the addition without any fluffy blankets or a sweet LLB to keep him warm.
He told me how he caught the bird - his stealth, his prowess, his skill.
(I told him I thought he was just lucky. He was not impressed.)
He mentioned a jaunt in the woods to see if he could find a lady cat to impress. He was not successful in that venue either.

Last night at bed time, I leaned over to kiss LLB goodnight. There, curled up next to her, was Mr. Marmalade. It seems he's not so tough after all...


LBC