"Pat" wrote in message
...
I went out last night to close the tailgate on my van, in case the horses
busted into the yard during the night. (It was open during the day to keep
the boxes of tapes I had loaded for the swap meet from melting.) Going
down
the steps on the way out, I failed to notice Lily laying on the top step
and
nearly fell down the stairs, rolling poor baby Lily under my foot in the
process.

She promptly disappeared, crying, under the house. I ran back inside for a
flashlight and could not find one quickly so ran back outside and called
for
her under the house. She responded weakly. I ran back inside to search for
a
flashlight again, couldn't find one, ran back out to check on Lily,
worried
sick about how hurt she might be, but I could not see her. She was still
responding to my calls with pitiful small mews.

By this time I was going berserk with worry and didn't want to waste
another
second hunting for a flashlight. I grabbed a 100' extension cord and a
lamp.
Plugged them in and unwound the cord to the back of the house to crawl
thru
a hole and shine the light on my baby girl. I finally coaxed her to come
to
me and she appeared to be unhurt, but she hasn't wanted to come near me
yet
today. Now even tho I have apologized fifty different ways, I can't blame
her for feeling the way she does.

If she had been badly hurt I would never forgive myself for being so
careless.

Aw Pat, I don't think there's anyone here who *hasn't* tripped over or
stepped on one of their furbabies! I did much worse than that last summer
when Sammy was still a little kitten. In the 10000000% humidity here in
Houston in the summer, our doors tend to swell and stick really badly, so
you have to slam them hard to get them to shut completely. I was coming in
from outside and Sammy picked just that time to try to dash out the door and
I *SLAMMED* the door on her. I still get sick to my stomach when I think
about it - I don't know *HOW* I didn't kill her then and there! I breaks my
heart because to this day she sneaks up to any door she has to pass through
and then *dashes* through as fast as she can! I thought she would hate me
forever for that, but she forgave me in just a few minutes. Cats are such
noble creatures!

Hugs,

CatNipped