What do you see, all covered in dirt and fur?

‘All the world!’ You cry.

In the grass, in the sewer, in the trees.

The chittering of a bird.

The chittering of your furry keeper.

What mysteries of the world do you witness?

The warm light of the sun.

The tenderness of grass and fur.

Since the first day you were buckled you were destined to be soaked in soil and rain.

I imagine the sights and the sounds.

The freedom you experience.

What a life.

A life we all wish to experience.

Then the fateful day.

You snag on a branch.

Strangling the creature you bind.

Several agonising seconds.

Writhing, twisting, choking.

Snap.

You crack open.

The cat is freed.

Untethered.

You lay in the lonely dirt.

Hidden under crumpled leaves beneath the garden hedge.

You hear me trample around.

Searching.

Days pass by.

Leaves gather over you.

Worms and beetles pay you no mind.

You disappear under the earth.

Gasping for air.

Draped in darkness.

Rain pours down.

You’re sticky with mud.

The shining days are gone.

Until.

Beep beep.

The tag, your companion, always tethered to you cries out to me.

I hear it.

I hear you.

But I can’t see you.

You feel the earth above you move.

Digging, clawing.

Beep beep.

Then a hand.

Soft skin.

My skin.

I hold you again.

I pull you out from the darkness.

The sun blinds you.

It’s been too long.

You sigh with relief.

If cloth could shed a tear you would.

I wash you.

Your muddy brown turns back to blue.

I clean the tag, the tracker, and replace battery.

Your keeper, your cat, chitters with happiness.

I clip you back around his neck.

Snug as always.

You return to the trees.

To the grass.

To the dirt.

To the rain.

To the sun.

You are home.

In the world again.

As you always will be.

Free.

You may get lost.

But you always be found.

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