Emily found the backdoor open. Finally, an explanation to the cat’s disappearance. Now, a new problem to solve before her mother got home. She ran out the door and checked all over the padio. The small black and white cat wasn’t found under the table, on the chairs, or behind the bar. Emily’s worry heightened as she scrambled across the yard to her dad’s vegetable garden.
            As much as her family loved the kitten, they never gave it a name, thinking it was silly to name something that would never notice it was being called. Emily suddenly wished, though, that she had something else besides “kitty” to call as she looked behind each plant.
            Emily ran back inside and grabbed the plastic container filled with treats. She shook it in the backyard. Whenever she did this in the kitchen, the housecat would come running from any corner of the house for the treats. Now, standing in the backyard desperately shaking the container, Emily realized the world wasn’t so small, after all. This cat could be anywhere by this point. The guilt piled onto her shoulders as she stumbled through the yard, searching every possible hiding spot, but having no luck.
            The big backyard filled with a pool, a little playground, trampoline, garden, pond, horseshoe pit, etc., wasn’t easy to deal with when looking for something lost. This lesson was learned during a barbeque with a lost-and-never-found flip flop. If it was so impossible to find an inanimate object, Emily only grew more impatient and nervous as she searched for the four-legged creature that had a tendency to run quickly in new environments.
            A car pulled into the driveway and Emily ran inside to play innocent. Her mother was just entering the house when she reached the living room.
            “Why weren’t you answering the phone?” her mother asked.
            Emily shrugged. “I was just outside. Was it important?"
            “No, no. I just wanted to tell you I was on my way home.” She walked into the kitchen and Emily followed behind. “Oh, you’ll never guess what I saw on the ride home.”
            Emily’s eyes were glued to the backyard. “What?” she responded absentmindedly.
            “It was so sad, but you can’t tell your sister. She’ll get upset just thinking about it. But just down the road, there was a little puppy or cat on the side of the street. Someone must have hit the poor thing. It was like a little black and white pancake burning up under the sun. Poor thing. I’d hate to imagine it had an owner.”