[Prudence]

Mostly cross-posted from elsewhere:

No Boris this morning. We got up in the middle of the night last night and went around a lot. The Rat is going to print up flyers and hit more neighbors while I'm at work. It was great to run into that elementary school teacher last night - that might help a lot with spreading the word. People have mostly been really nice - calling to see if he's home yet, asking us if he's home yet when we're out walking, reassuring us that they're keeping their eyes open for him.

Mornings are the hardest for me. I spend the day getting increasingly hopeful that he will come home that night. By bedtime, I nearly manage to convince myself that he'll be there in the morning. In the morning, he's not there and I'm so sad that I haven't found a word that is powerful enough to encompass the scope of my sadness.

Wherever he is, I don't want him to suffer. If he doesn't want to come home, for whatever reason, if he wants things to end, I hope they end swiftly. If he's already dead, I hope it was painless. But what I hope most of all is that he comes back soon, worn out from adventure and ready to spend some quality time in my lap.

****
We're going to continue to talk to neighbors and spend evenings outside. And probably still sleep with the door open. (The Rat sleeps in the living room to guard against whatever, and I sleep with Sasha locked up in the bedroom, which she doesn't seem to mind at all. In fact, she spent the whole night on the bed with me, which is really unusual for her.) The Rat's mom gets here next week for a few nights, so then the door will have to shut. That will make about 1.5 weeks, so probably a good time for closure.