Lilly

For the past month or so, my neighborhood has been littered with posters for a missing cat named Lilly.

MISSING LILLY! GREY TIGER STRIPE WITH YELLOW-GREEN EYES & DOUBLE PAWS!

(Photo is a little darker than she actually appears)
6-years old short-to-medium hair grey tiger stripe cat.
Loves to play, especially with her laser light!
She has double paws and interesting sandy-pinkish-light brown
patches. Went missing Thurs. June 14.
She does not wear a collar.
If you live in the neighborhood, if you could please check under
Your porches and in your basements, because she might be hiding
there. She is an indoor cat and has only been out three times
in her life in the carrier when we have moved.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT HER OR FIND
HER PLEASE CALL ###-###-#### OR ###-###-####
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I've thought I've found her three times.

1. With Kate, Rik and Mary on our way home from ice cream. Mary was regaling us with the story of how she met her girlfriend when we saw a grey tiger striped cat sitting on a porch a couple blocks away from the address written on the posters. Kate held her while we called the phone number, and Lilly's owner came out. She knew right away that it wasn't her because of the cat's lack of long thumbs. The cat we found also had coarser fur than Lilly. We continued on our walk home disappointed.

2. Early one morning while I was on my way to work. A cat who fit Lilly's description was in the street and I ran after it for a while. When I caught up to it, I noticed it had a collar. Not Lilly. I was five minutes late to work.

3. One night walking home with Stella, a cat who fit Lilly's description was sitting two doors down from the address on the posters, meowing loudly. I crouched low to pet it while Stella rang the bell and, despite the late hour, the woman answered. Once again, she knew right away it wasn't Lilly--I'm sure so many people in the neighborhood have mistaken this cat for Lilly--because the lack of double paws¹.

Lilly's owner is steadfast in her search, to the point where it gives me a tight chest feeling. I often see her walking up and down the street at night in her housecoat and slippers with a flashlight calling out for Lilly. She called the Boston Water and Sewer Commission so they could check to see if Lilly could have managed to get caught in a storm drain. I've noticed cat treats left on the street corners. She leaves a litterbox on her door step and often leaves her door open. Just the other night, Stella and I walked by her open door and saw her sitting quietly at the bottom of the stairs inside, presumably waiting for her cat to come home.

I think about the times when I've lost something and searched for it so desperately--my best friend from high school², motivation, reasons, the photo of me and my brother that used to sit on my desk³--and I hope so hard that she gets her cat back.

EDIT: This afternoon I walked by her house and there was on a sign on her door that said "Lilly is HOME!"

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^1
2 A falling out occured sometime soon after I moved away and I often think of him, wonder what he's doing. I searched for him on the internet but all of his internet profiles are private. To this day I still wonder what I did wrong.
³ Lost somewhere between the house we lived in until I was in sixth grade that wasn't even really ours, it was my aunt and uncle's because they spent years and years and years in a different country and the house that my family lives in now.