When he woke up, Charlie was in a new land. Gone were the big, green trees and the fat squirrels and the balcony rail. In their place was a vast world where the sky went on forever. Big, bold mountains poked up everywhere. And sand, warm wonderful sand, carpeted the entire landscape.
Overnight, Charlie was transformed from an apartment kitty to a desert cat. Each night, he roamed the vast land of sand and sagebrush in Carson City, Nevada. Each morning, with cool paws and stories to tell, he returned to the lady. His imaginary balcony dreams were now real adventures. This made Charlie a very happy cat.
Then one morning in 2005, Charlie did not return. For days, the lady walked the desert land calling, “Charlie, Charlie.” Tears dotted the brown sand.
The people of the desert say that Charlie was the victim of a band of coyotes or a lone wolf or some other predator and will never be heard from again.
But the lady knows better. On special evenings, just after the sun settles into the mountains, Charlie speaks to the lady. She hears his distinct call in the wind as it bats the sagebrush about. And late at night, when the rest of the world is asleep, the lady feels two cool paws wrap around her face. It’s just Charlie, the desert cat, letting her know everything is okay.