The Return of the King

He's back - after ten days away. Czester is alive and well and back home having been looked after by kindly folks across the street. He's significantly bigger than he was when he left home on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 September, testament to the excellent care he received. What was surprising to me was that as a four-month old kitten, he had managed to get around 400 metres from home.

Czester would only be allowed out in the presence of his mum, Lila; the two would go out together and come back together. Last Tuesday week, he didn't return. I ruled out an accident - with the road cut off, there's no traffic on Trombity other than slow-moving construction equipment. I also ruled out predators - I could not detect the smell of carrion in the neighbourhood - something that I often notice in Las Kabacki forest, where decaying corpses of deer, hare or other dead mammals have a distinctive odour.

After Moni's return from Israel last week, she printed some 'Lost Kitten' posters, when she and I put up on lamp posts in our vicinity; these worked and we are very grateful to the people across the way who responded. Rudy kocurek

Mother and child reunion

Lila and Czester spent the evening checking out each other's scent, then chasing one another around the house in joy. It's good to have him back; the house was a sadder place without him. I felt most sorry for Lila; her youngest kitten, Bonus, died at the age of ten days; two of her kittens were given away (Feluś now lives in a flat in town, while Izadora has proved herself to be an excellent mouse-catcher on a farm near Grodzisk Mazowiecki), and then Czester vanished.

Czester, a week old. The white stripe to the left of his nose distinguishes him.

Attention all humans. I am your ruler. I will be obeyed.

This time last year:
Farewell to the summer pavement tables

This time two years ago:
The Old Sailor's Tale - a short story