Scamper has settled into a routine that for her is pretty dependable. It includes coming inside about five or five-thirty in the morning, eating, playing around, wadding the rug into a ball and then going under the couch for a snooze. This has gone on for a few weeks now with her showing up most mornings.

So last night, she saunters in about 8:30 or 9 in the evening and scoots behind the couch. Hm. Our normal procedure, one she knows about, is to shut and lock the door. This means she doesn’t have access to the cat door. Hmm.

Well, just before Husband went to bed, she decided to scoot out. Okay, that is more normal. Close and lock door; go to bed. Oh, but wait, there is a cat ringing the doorbell. Husband got up and let her in. Back to bed. We never heard the bell indicating that she left. so pretty soon, Husband went out to the living room and shut the door.

Back to bed and to sleep.

Around midnight, I heard a *meow*. Yes, a genuine MEOW. Keep in mind that Junior kind of squeaks. He never got the meow thing. From the sound I heard last night, I’d say that both Junior and Scamper were hiding behind the door when God handed out meows. But I got up and checked the living room. There was Scamper waiting politely in the spot by the couch where I could see her–and where she could easily dive back under the couch while I opened the door. Never mind that she had just meowed, asking me to open the door; she still has to pretend she’s in mortal danger when we walk by.

I opened the door and went back to bed. The bell rang so we knew she had scooted outside.

How about that! I’ve told her several times that meowing is a much better idea than body slamming the door or digging underneath it! She finally decided to try it!

The only problem, of course, is that I might not always hear that tiny little peep she thinks of as a meow.