'She walked right into my arms': I thought I'd lost my newly adopted kitten forever, then she came home 24 hours later in a moment I'll never forget

• 01

  

• She's 11 and a half years old now, my beautiful cat. But she was less than 1 when she ran away. We lived on the second floor, all the windows has mosquito netting on them, so it should not have happened. But it did. My parents had just come back from vacation, and they hung their laundry, and left the laundry room open. That's where she fell. We always kept it closed, because we knew she was interested in that room, in that freedom. She was a stray at first after all. But here, at 11pm, in the chaos of them coming back home, I did not pay attention. 

• 02

  

• When I realized she was gone, I was devastated. I had had her for only a few months at that point. She had such a big impact on my life back when I was 17 that suddenly losing her felt like… losing myself to some extent. 

• 03

  

• We spent the entire night out looking for her, calling her name, shaking her bag of treats. Nothing. And since she fell off the balcony on the second floor, and she is not a cat who goes on walks, so she's not a cat who would know her way home, I was certain that she wouldn't know how to come back to me either. 

• 04

  

• I cried. For 24 hours, I did nothing but cry. And then I heard it. At 11pm the following day, I heard meows from outside my window. It was on the opposite side of the apartment, nowhere near where she fell. But I knew. Instantly, I knew it was her. Maybe I recognized her meows, maybe I was just hopeful, I'm not sure, but I knew. My dad called me from the living room. He heard too. And he was just as convinced as I was. 

• 05

  

  The shadow of a tree on the grass.

  _{Image is representative only.}

• I ran outside wearing my pajamas and flip flops, and right as I walked into the area where she was, she fell silent. Nothing. Not a peep. She must have gotten spooked. And then, I called her name. Mia. I was so lucky. She had just learned to recognize it not long before. She meowed again. I walked closer. She was sitting on a tree branch, and as I walked toward her, she walked toward me. She walked right into my arms, and I carried her, holding her soaked and dirty body tight to my chest, all the way home.

• 06

  

  Image of a tree branch in the dark. 

  _{Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.}

• She never ran away again. Never even tried. The closest she gets is poking her head into the hallway and running back in. A part of me wishes I knew what she went through in those 24 hours. The bigger part would rather not. All that matters is that she came back home, back to me. 

• 07

  

• 08

  

• 09

  

• 10

  

• 11

  

• 12

  

• 13

  

• 14

  

• 15

  

• 16

  

Tags