Advent Day 2

I can't find Pandora. I know she was around this morning, because she bit me. Not in a blood-drawing kind of way, you understand, but in an affectionate 'you are my mummy and I love you' kind of way. And she also sat on the book I was reading, which made the reading very difficult as she is barely transparent. In fact, if anything, she is very opaquely furry, or furrily opaque - either way she prevented me from making steady progress through my birthday books which I need to finish reading before the Christmas books arrive. If I am lucky enough to receive any books for Christmas that is - I don't want to be making any assumptions.

So, Pandora is nowhere to be found. I've searched all her usual hiding places - behind the curtains in the living room, atop the radiator in the conservatory, on her cushion underneath my desk - but she is absent.

I have searched in some unusual hiding places - cupboard under the stairs (usually Tybalt's domain), the washing machine (I have previously found Phoebe in the washing machine - thankfully before I switched it on) and the fridge (well, fridge is where the cheese is and Pandora is, after all, a connoisseur of le fromage.)

But no. She is nowhere. She is a vanished cat.

I am just about to open a tin of tuna because if anything will flush her out of hiding, a tin of fish will, when Daisy and Primrose arrive with their Advent Box.

'We can't stop,' they say. 'We are on our way to Bluewater shopping centre for a spot of retail therapy and take in a film, so we thought we do Advent Day Two now.'

'Fine,' I say. 'Do you want me to guess? How about 'golf club'?'

'No,' says Daisy.
'To both,' says Primrose.
'No time for guessing,' says Daisy. 'We are just going to open the box. Release the beast within.'

And they do, and out jumps Pandora.

'Pandora's Box!' they all shout, and fall about laughing on the floor.

I am not amused. 'Do you know how long I have spent trying to find that cat this morning?' I say.

'YES!' they shriek in unison. 'That's what makes it even funnier!'

'There had better be some chocolate in that Advent Box tomorrow,' I mutter, as I leave them to recover their hysterics.