Rugby's Adventure, Mommy's Heart Attack

Last week I had the scare of my life. When I feed everybody in the morning, Rugby didn't come to eat. This is very strange, as he's always the first to eat, and walks around meowing until he's fed. I instantly started freaking out. With my cat experience, if they don't come to eat, they're either, sick, dead, or missing. I searched the whole house, calling his name, looking in drawers, cabinets, closets, and anywhere a cat might hide or get stuck. My heart started beating way too fast! When I still couldn't find him, that's when I got really worried, called Robb crying and went to look for him outside. Now, the chances of finding a cat who got out, especially an indoor cat, is very slim. He doesn't know his way around the neighborhood or how to look for food, so I got really scared. I went in the back woods, calling and crying for my kitty. No Rugby- starting to have a heart attack. So I went to the front of the house, and decided to walk around the streets to see if I could find him. I got as far as my neighbors' driveway when I swore I heard a "meow" that sounded like my Rugby! So I called him again, and there was another meow. It sounded like he was up in a tree between our houses. I'm thinking, "great, how am I going to get him down?" I kept calling, and he kept meowing... then between the two houses out came my rugby, meowing all the way! I was so relieved to see him, picked him up and carried him home! He had been out all night, and must have snuck out when we let Koby out and didn't see him. We are so very happy that he didn't run far away and that I found him. It would be so sad with no Rugby. He was also very relieved to be home, and completely exhausted from his adventurous night outside. He slept ALL day and ALL night, since we figure that he didn't sleep at all outside. He's back to normal now, and we are all so glad he's home. My heartbeat has returned to normal!