This has been a very upsetting morning for me. As I approached my driveway I saw something black with a tinge of white lying on the road close to my drive way....about twenty feet. I pulled my car slowly in the drive while my heart felt as if it were going to burst from racing in fast mode…I just knew it was my cat. I briskly walked over to the still form and looked at my poor cat. He wasn't all crushed but his abdomen was bloated and a slight bit of blood settled out of his mouth and nose. I took off my white rain coat and wrapped him loosely as if a baby and gently picked him up. I walked back to my car with tears streaming down my face, crying harder with each step. Gently I laid his wrapped limp body on my passenger seat, and then I drove the rest of the way down the long driveway to the garage door. The soft howling sounds of a distressed mother became louder and my body shuddered the closer I got to my garage. I opened the garage door with the opener and surprisingly it opened the entire way this time. Then I picked up my lifeless Auggie and held him close to me as if a new born baby, cradling him so he wouldn’t break. Standing in the pouring rain I wondered where I should rest him. I walked to the deck, and then walked back to the garage; I wanted him to rest safely until I could decide where his final resting place would be. He loved roaming in our large two acre back yard, especially in my gardens; he was a great hunter of rabbits, mice and other predators who did not belong on his territory. After I decided to let his body rest on a secluded bench on the deck I went in to the house in search of a secure box or cover to prevent him from being savaged by other animals.

I heard a woman howling in sorrowful agony...my husband… ("The voice from the basement", which was now "The voice from upstairs"); called down in a cracked voice of severe concern, "What's the matter? What happened?"  Through broken words and crocodile tears I managed to convey the loss we just encountered.  The voice from upstairs began to quiver in disbelief. I went back to the garage in search of a box to bury him in. I wondered from one garage to the next, finally deciding on an old flannel table cloth.

Out on the deck where Auggie laid wrapped in my white rain coat, I carefully picked up my beloved little one and place him in the center of the prepared cover. I positioned him comfortably with his paws and chin down, then wrapped him in the manner of post mortem care. I noticed his barely scathed body. He lay quietly as if sleeping. The only indications of his demise were that his abdomen was bloated and now blood oozed from his tiny pink lips and black nose. A small patch of fur was torn from his right hind leg, but all parts were intact. Crouching down I picked his prepared body up and replaced him on the bench on the deck. After all the work I did , "The voice from the upstairs", came out side and wanted to view his buddy for one last time. I gently lowered my little one to the floor and displaced the cover from Auggies' limp body. After we viewed the body for a few seconds I rewrapped him and cradled him, then took him in the two car garage where I gently laid his tiny obscured body down to rest on my bench. He will be buried in the big garden that divides the barn from the yard, yet close enough to my house that I can see his burial place. I will need to make a special sign for him where he will rest. We will truly miss this unique cat that gave us laughter and happiness as well as a whole lot of love.

Now I have to rest since my body and mind are now totally drained. I don't know if I can. As we cried in front of each other all I said was, "I want another Auggie."  Of course that would be impossible, but maybe, just maybe some cat with the same neat personality and charisma would venture into our lives. The voice ( my husband) said "yes we can, but just not right now."