A New Experience

As you all know, I have a cat. She's not the family's cat, she's mine. She's a pretty black and gray tiger with the occasional orange spots, and I named her Calico. Mom also has a cat, a black male named Timothy. Once we got them accustomed to the outside, they kind of like it out there, and are spending longer and longer periods outside. While I was doing the dishes after dinner, I let them both out, then forgot about them while I went on with my evening. It had been a cloudy, rainy day, but it hadn't rained in a couple hours, so I figured they would be okay.

Then, around 11:40, it started raining again. I went to check the open windows in my room to make sure water wasn't coming in, and notice that the sound of the rain was different than it had been earlier. It was much louder, almost like gun fire. Then I realized it was hailing. My first thought was making sure my brother's dog was okay. A moment later, after I had decided that he would be fine in his dog house, I wondered if the cats were still outside. This worried me, because they hadn't been outside in a rainstorm before, much less a hailstorm. So I headed out to the main part of the house, and checked out the back door. When they didn't come running inside, I wondered if they were already inside. So when mom came down to check the windows a minute later, I asked her about it. When she told me that the cats were still outside I had this unexpected rush of fear and worry. After checking the front porch, I went and got some flip flops and my raincoat on, grabbed an umbrella, and headed outside.

My cat, Calico, was crying, hiding under my dad's storage trailer. I crouched next to the trailer and tried to convince her to come out, but she was too terrified, and had every right to be. There was occasional flashes of lighting, and the hail was coming down fairly hard. Mom tried to convince me that she would be okay outside, but I was so worried for my poor cat that I couldn't just leave her there. I finally dragged her out by her front paws, which I could barely reach, and quickly carried her inside, where mom and I dried her off.

When she was dry, she kept looking at the door and running around to all the windows, probably worried for her brother, Timothy. I was worried too, so I went back outside to see if I could find him. Mom wouldn't let me stay outside, though, since the lightning got worse and there was a metal rod on top of the umbrella. So I was forced to leave the other cat outside. I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight, because I'm still so worried.

I've never experienced this before. The last time there was a rainstorm, I was fascinated by how much water was coming down. This time, I didn't even care about the water. We've had cats before, and I had a dog a long time ago, but I've never felt like this towards an animal, never worried about her like she was my own child.

Do you have similar experiences?