I Found Your Cat!

"Mr. Whiskers, where are you?!", came the elderly female voice; echoing down the residential street. "Please, Mr. Whiskers! Come back home!"

Zansho perked her head up curiously. Who was Mr. Whiskers? And why was he gone? Curiosity drove her to over ride the normally shy girl, and she closed the book she had been reading; a book she had got from the bookstore she had helped out a few days ago. She dog eared her page first, and then closed it and slipped it into the little shoulder bag she had taken to wearing at all times. Once her book was away she got up to her feet and started to wander down the street, leaving the wooden bench she had been seated upon behind. 

"Mr. Whiskers, come back here this instant!"

Zansho frowned some as she followed after the voice, still confused as to who in the world Mr. Whiskers was, or why this woman was demanding that he come home. Could he be her husband or something? She had heard some strange names in all of the traveling she and her family did; so it wasn't like it wasn't uncommon or something to come across a strange name.

"Mr. Whiiiiiskkkerrrs!"

Finally, Zansho spotted the woman doing the yelling. She was wearing a white dress with little kittens patterned all over it; with gray hair that had white streaks it in pulled back into a bun. She looked a little crazy, but more than that, she looked worried; and that was what had Zansho deciding to help her instead of keep walking.

"Can I help you, ma'am? Who, or what are you looking for, and what does it look like?"

"Oh, bless you child. I'm looking for my all gray cat. He goes by the name if Mr. Whiskers. He's got a red ribbon around his neck with a gold bell that hangs off of it. Please find him for me, he's my best friend! He got out when the milk was being delivered this morning. The foolish milk-boy left the door open!" 

A gray cat with a red ribbon from which a bell hung? Sounded simple enough. Zansho gave a nod and got to work. She searched beneath the large flower parts outside of the woman's home. From there she looked in the mailbox; thinking that cats liked odd places after all, and the smaller the better. When she didn't find him in either of those spots she kept going; moving to the garbage cans that were empty. There was no gray cat with a red ribbon and a bell in either of those - though there was plenty of bad smells, that was for sure.

From the garbage cans she moved downward, going to the neighbors yard next to hers. She searched for the cat, for Mr. Whiskers, underneath of that neighbors flower pots, and then in the bushes that surrounded the front of the house. As she was heading towards the last set a meowing sound caught her attention: it was coming from the last set of bushes, the ones she hadn't checked yet. She moved closer and gently pulled the bushes apart; and found Mr. Whiskers. His ribbon had got him caught on one of the bushes branches, and from the looks of things as he continued to try and pull away and get free he had only succeeded in getting himself caught even worse.

She reached her hand into the bushes, placing one on Mr. Whiskers and the other on the ribbon. She tugged it free, being gentle so that she didn't hurt the startled cat. Once she had it free she picked him up and held him close to her, petting him gently, and scratching at his ears and head: the resulting purr made her smile. She walked with him back to the next door; to his owners house, where the woman was still outside. "Is this Mr. Whiskers?", she asked, even though she was sure that it was; he matched the cats description she had been given down to the last detail.

"Mr. Whiskers! You found him! Thank you child, thank you!", the woman exclaimed as she took the cat from Zansho and began to cover her cat in kisses and hugs; all of which only caused the cat to purr louder. "Please, accept this for all of your help!", the woman said suddenly, shoving a pouch of coins into Zansho's hand.

Zansho looked down at the coins and then to the back of the woman as she walked into her house and shut the door behind herself. Zansho could only blink a few times before shrugging and walking off, glad to know that the cat was home safe once more.

Word Count: 789