Just when I was ready to send out an APB on Callie, she finally showed up tonight after not seeing her for an entire week.
She was still limping on her back right foot, but otherwise looked great. Of course, she was famished and ate a lot of food, but half of it I had to hand feed her. She even came up onto the deck, where she ate her dinner and rubbed herself on the railing posts. After she had her fill, she walked down the steps and found a small puddle of collected rainwater on the ground. She started to drink from it and I immediately told her "NO! That's yucky water! Don't drink that! I'll get you wah wah from inside the house. I'll be right back." I quickly grabbed a bowl that was used to feed the squirrels, went into the bathroom to clean it, filled it with some water, and want back outside. By now, she was back at her corner of the yard, patiently waiting for the little mousey. As soon as I was within 8 feet of her, she immediately stood up and excitedly trotted over to me. She went for the bowl even before I got to put it down, thinking it was more food. The disappointment look she gave me when she realized that it was only water was priceless. Because I'm such a well-trained slave, I went back to the deck to retrieve her food bowl and fed her more.
When she was done, she walked over to the water bowl and drank and drank and drank. I was afraid that she was going to choke on so much water. After quenching her thirst, she walked back to her corner next to the shed and waited for her little mousey friend. Because the mouse hasn't been seen nor heard since the last time she played with it across the yard, I told her that her little mousey isn't here anymore, that it never came back from last time. Just as I finished my sentence, she heard a rustling coming from inside the shed. Not believing that it could possibly be the mouse, I again told her that it couldn't be the mouse but she's welcome to sit there and wait it out. Then I went back into the house, because I was being attacked by mosquitoes. A few minutes later, I looked out the kitchen window and saw Callie lying flat on the grass, about 6 feet or so away from her corner. She looked like she was looking for someone to place with, so I went back outside to spend some more time with her. To my surprise, when I bend down to pet her, I saw the little mouse emerge from the grass. She was playing with her little friend! And just like last time, she was all too proud to show me what she was doing. She ran over to me and meowed, then turned around to show me the mouse but unfortunately "misplaced" it
She immediately went into a frantic search for the mouse but it had already moved on from where she left it. Luckily, I saw where it hopped off to and pointed to her its location, and she finally saw it and immediately pounced on it. After a few more pounces, the mouse suddenly had a :idea: moment and bounced over to me, walked next to my right foot, and hid behind my heel/under my butt. That little bugger stayed perfectly still for about a minute, despite my finger pointing right over its head. Callie never saw her little friend, not even when she walked behind me to look for it. Of course, I was cracking up at both of them. I finally gave up in playing "where's the mousey?" with Callie when I became a mosquito take-out dinner.
When I got to look out the kitchen window again to check on her, I had the surprise of my life. There was no longer just one cat, but two. Callie had a friend, an orange/white tabby, also lying down on the grass just feet away from her. They both looked very relaxed and not at all stressed nor ready to pounce and attack. The tabby seemed to be swatting at something on the ground and chasing something in front of Callie. As the tabby was pouncing around, Callie just laid there watching him/her. The only thing I can think of was that the tabby was playing with the mouse. Perhaps Callie was teaching the tabby how to play with the mouse and not injury it. Who knows. All I know is that they looked so cute together.
I guess I'll be seeing the tabby again, possibly with Callie again.