It was that time again. Luisa walked out the backdoor to the chicken coop and checked the automatic door. Once again, it was still open. Luisa entered the coop and lowered the door, counting the chickens roosting in the rafters before exiting. All five were accounted for. She locked up the coop and headed back into the house.
Waiting by the back door were all three dogs. Daisy was the cream Schnoodle, Kai-Kai was the rat terrier, and Jonah was the ridgeback, and all were wagging their tails eagerly. Luisa shuffled in through the backdoor, careful not to step on the dogs still standing where her feet needed to step and locked the door behind her. As she stepped further into the room, the dogs backed up enough for her to move past.
She approached the stash of dog food as the dogs eagerly followed. Next to the dog food bucket was a small table with an empty bowl. Luisa picked up this bowl first and reached into the bucket underneath the table, dipping the bowl into said bucket and pulling it out full of cat food. She set the bowl back onto the table and turned back to the dog food bucket. She pulled out the scoop filled with kibble and turned to the nearest dog bowl. She filled that one, refilled the scoop, filled the next dog bowl, and did the same with the third. She dropped the scoop back into the dog food bucket and turned to the water bowls.
One water bowl was still halfway filled while the other was completely dry. Luisa took both bowls to the sink and filled them up completely, then brought them back to the mats to prevent any spillage from landing on the hardwood floor. She turned to find each of the dogs eating out of a bowl and the calico cat, Betty, eating from the bowl on the table. Bebe, Betty’s brother, the tuxedo cat was missing from the group.
Luisa looked around the room, ducking to check under the couch and table, to find no sign of him. Normally he was under the couch if he was hiding. She searched the kitchen, front living room, dining room, the entryway, and the laundry room. Nothing. She walked to the back of the house and looked around the master bedroom. Nothing. He was not under the bed, on the bed, or hiding under any of the dressers. She approached the closet and turned on the light. No immediate sign of him.
She was growing worried. She had not been home much the past few days, and consequently had not seen him in four days, but she had been home in time to feed everyone before bed each night. She looked through the hanging clothes and startled as a pair of eyes blinked back at her. Luisa let out a relieved breath and pet Bebe’s head.
“You scared me,” she told him. He merely blinked back and purred.