Allie

I could hear Allie crying from far away. Allie is a fourteen-month-old gray tabby, and for two nights she had been stuck about 50 feet high in a tree in the woods behind her home in Killian, Louisiana. She hated being stuck in that tree, and she was loudly and desperately calling for help. Since she sounded so desperate, I thought I would have no trouble getting her to come to me in the tree, but, once I climbed up to her, she wasn't sure what to think about me and stayed out on the limb far out of my reach. I thought she might feel better about me if I opened a can of food for her, so I reached for the carrier to get the food that was inside. When she saw the carrier, suddenly, her whole attitude changed. She stood up and walked straight over to me where I introduced myself and gave her some gentle touches. We were on friendly terms now, but it was the carrier that was the focus of her attention. She looked at the carrier as if that was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, so I held it up to her, and she immediately stepped inside. I think she would have jumped through the air into it if that had been needed. All I had to do then was close the door and take her down, and this sweet little girl is safely back home now with her much-relieved family. That night, to ease her transition back into life on the ground, she found it more comfortable to sleep on top of the refrigerator.