Eight hairy white socks stealthily vanished out of my room. By the time I realize it and rushed outside to look for my two orange tabbies, they were gone without a trace. A gentleman who happened to pass by and observed my distress addressed me saying "Your cats should be heading for Cat's Street".

Cat's Street, on the surface, is a typical residential area, though the main inhabitants are, in fact, cats. I was ready to go.

In Cat's Street, you can peek into every house since cats tend to open, but never close things like doors and windows. Beyond a partially open front door, I had a good view of black fur balls, brown pancakes and orange blobs sitting in a circle and enjoying each other's company. Some of them were lying down in a Japanese tatami room with their arms spread out like a frog.

In the middle of cats coming and going, I tried to call one of my cats.In a snap, a fat friendly orange tabby appeared out of nowhere, flirtingly jumping on my shoulder as if nothing special happened. Nevertheless, felines are the type that always aim to run away, so I closely took her in my arms.

After leaving at home, I came back to the street. 　I continued to seek around for some time in order to find my slightly schizo scaredy-cat, however she never did show up. In the meantime, unconsciously a certain image crossed my mind. It showed my missing cat with a wise look sitting in a fluffy futon inside the closet of someone else's house. She was actually listening to my voice but wouldn't leave by any means and only waited as she always loves to play a game of hide-and-seek.
(12/07/2005)