Stowaway.

I must preface this story by saying -- if you told it to me, I wouldn't believe you. This is the stuff Disney movies are made of.

This morning, I left heinously early for work as I do 4 days a week. Around 6 am, I went out to my truck, DC in one hand, keys in the other. The kittens have taken to using the truck as their own personal jungle gym, and we have recently caught them playing in and around the tires on several occasions. This morning was no exception. In addition to honking profusely and revving the engine in neutral, I woke up Deane and he jumped up and down on the tailgate until all kittens were scared out from underneath. Just to be safe, I drove v. slowly down our road, giving them ample time to jump out and return to the safety of their yard.

I drive to work as I usually do (obeying the speed limit as I think to be reasonable, etc.). Around noon, I drove over to the bank to pick up a change order. When I had my window rolled down in the drive thru lane, I heard a series of squeaking noises. I was pretty sure something was wrong with the truck, so when I got back to the store, I listened again. More squeaking. Huh. I dropped the money off at the back door and then looked under my truck to see if I could tell what was going on (like I would actually be able to diagnose any sort of problem). Before my very eyes, meowing up a storm, was Baby Grey, perched atop my spare tire! I started screaming and crying hysterically, and one of the guys at work crawled under the truck and retrieved the crying baby. He (the kitten, not the guy) and I hightailed it across the street to PetSmart for Purina and Aquafina, me apologizing and crooning the entire time, cranking the AC as high as possible. Lots of horrible people in PetSmart thought I was a negligent mother and wanted to charge my 9 bucks for a cardboard box. I hated them all. I took Grey back to my office where he would have nothing to do with my (free, from my own stockroom) cardboard box, instead deciding to chow a ton of food, purr fanatically, and climb up my (once tweed, now destroyed) pants. I left him alone in their while I ran a quick errand to a neighboring store. He had a lot of fun when I was gone, and ended up sitting on my desk by the time I got back. All he wanted to do was purr and be pet, and he eventually settled down for a nap in a ball under my desk.

No one could believe this tiny creature had survived a 52 mile journey with speeds upwards of 80 mph, in addition to braving the insanely hot weather. It made me love him so much more (he was my favorite already...!) for making the trip -- I thought he really did want to spend the day with me at work! A few people at the store had expressed interest in having one of the new kittens, so I called one of my employees who lived nearby and I knew loved cats. She came in right away and picked up Grey. She has 2 indoor cats already, and they have millions of toys, beds, scratching pots, cat condos, and the like. I let her take Grey home to add to her cat club... reluctantly, but happily. I know he will live the good life as an inside cat. She even said she might name him Beall :)

Good luck in your new home, Baby Grey! We miss you already!