After about three years of him being an indoor cat, I started letting him go outside. Although I lived on a busy street, he seemed to know that the sidewalk and parts beyond were off limits. For the most part he was content with poking around the narrow stretch of tall grass and weeds next to the building. Sometimes he'd just lay on the steps leading to the apartment. Often he would hop onto a stone block that marked the end of the fence and chill. He didn't seem like a violent cat when outdoors.

During nice days and nights I would tend to leave my front door open (this door was actually on the side of the building). At that time I was working from home and liked having as much fresh air blow into the place as possible. Plus, it allowed Esmé to come and go and he choose.

One night, while I was working away at 2 or 3am, I heard the sound of a cat food dish flipping over in the other room. As I casually walked into the living room to investigate the noise, I witnessed Esmé chasing a raccoon out of my apartment. I kept the front door closed for awhile after that.

On another day, some neighborhood kitten wandered into my apartment. The kitten leisurely walked around, examining every clutter-filled corner. Esmé had absolutely no clue as to what to do. It seemed that he wanted to be violent, but the innocent kitten ignored Esmé. The kitten eventually left and Esmé seemed dumbfounded by the whole episode.

As it started getting colder out, I would leave my door open less and less often. But the cat often still wanted to venture out. So I'd let him out and then after a few hours (or a few minutes) he'd come back in. One time though he disappeared for about 22 hours. I had just kicked myself into worried mode when he appeared. He wasn't roughed up or anything. Maybe he just fell asleep somewhere for far too long.

But then the same thing happened a week later.

Next: The Attack

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chillin' outside: