It was a small brrrt noise. Not loud and not particularly aggressive. In fact, if it made any sense he’d think it was a cat.

Of course it didn’t make any sense at all. He was trapped hundreds of feet underground in an old abandoned mine. There were no cats down here. It was only the three of them. And hopefully a crew of rescuers. Mustn’t forget about them.

Brrrt.

There it was again and this time he was sure he didn’t imagine it. He really and truly did hear it. Whatever made the noise was real. And it really did sound like a cat.

Well, it wasn’t…impossible. Maybe some stray cat wandered down here sometime in the past years. It could try and find mice or other vermin. Maybe it could live quite comfortably.

Except that they hadn’t found any sign of mice. And there was no water. Ok, maybe it wasn’t such a great theory. Still, what else could he have heard?

Louder this time, brrrt. This time he gave in and clicked his tongue in that universal cat call. Brrrt. He’d been answered. James took a step forward and clicked again.

And then he noticed something. There was a bubble of light up ahead. Kind of orange in tone. Maybe there was another way out! He started moving forward, trying to be quiet, all the while listening for the cat.

Then he saw it. It was an ordinary orange tabby cat. If you saw it in a window you wouldn’t give it a second glance. There was only one thing different about it. It was glowing.

It looked like there was a light bulb inside of it. That’s what James thought. It was like a cross between a lamp shade and a cat. The mine walls were lit up around it.

James looked at the walls on either side of it. Still smooth and he couldn’t see a way out behind it. Then it spoke again. Brrrt. And it did that little back arch that cats do when they want to be petted.

He was a cat person and he knew how to read the signs. He got into a catcher’s crouch and stuck out a finger to be inspected. The cat moved cautiously forward and stretched out it’s neck so it could safely sniff. Once the protocol was satisfied it came closer and rubbed up against him.

“How are you doing that?”, James couldn’t help but ask. He was finally able to take a closer look. The cat looked perfectly normal from head to shoulder and then it was undoubtedly glowing. For a second he wondered if he hadn’t take a blow to the head after all. He was surely seeing things.

But he must be feeling things, too. The cat was very soft and extremely affectionate. As soon as he started to pet, it began to purr. The light seemed to dim and grow brighter in sync with the purring. He didn’t know how it worked but somehow, it really did.

What now? The cat seemed content to just stand there and be petted. This wasn’t a bad way to spend time but James needed to do something constructive. He could pet this strange cat for hours and they’d still be trapped. Should he keep going forward and look for a way out? Maybe he could carry the cat. At least he didn’t need to worry about the flashlight batteries anymore.

“Will you show me a way out? Will you help me in return for some chin scratching?” That seemed a fair bargain and one of the only things he could really offer right now.

The cat looked up at him and gazed into his eyes. Rrrow?

“Sure.” And James started scratching. The cat began to press more firmly against his hand. The purring got louder and the cat glowed brighter. After a few minutes, the cat looked at him again and started walking away.

James followed. He didn’t have much choice. This seemed like a better option than stumbling back to the cave in. Who knows, maybe the cat really did know of some way out. Wouldn’t that be something?

They started moving down through the mine. This had already moved beyond the realm of implausible and into the realm of hallucination. No one would ever believe that any of this ever happened. He was there walking behind the impossible cat and he didn’t believe it.

They made their way deeper and deeper into the mine. James walked about twenty feet behind the cat. He was afraid that if he was any closer he’d distract it. They sometimes have a maddening habit of trying to walk between your feet and he also wanted to avoid that.

The cat stopped and looked back at him. James stopped also and looked back. Then he raised his chin to look at the walls around him. It looked much like the rest did. He looked back down and the cat was walking towards the side. Then it disappeared.

Not entirely as it was still glowing. There must be an opening there! James quickly moved forward and got down to look. There was a hole, maybe two feet wide. It was tough to tell how deep it was but the cat had already moved through it and seemed to be in a larger chamber.

He got down on his hands and knees and followed after. The opening was a little tight but he found he could still move his arms and legs. James made a quick study of the rest of the small tunnel. The worst possible thing that could happen would be if he got stuck in there somehow. And that would be pretty bad. It seemed big enough. The glow started fading and that settled the issue for him. He quickly crawled through.

It couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen feet. When his head emerged he noticed he was in a much larger space. The cat was sitting about thirty feet away, near the middle of the room, facing him. James quickly wriggled out and had a look around him.

The ceiling was very high. It was tough to tell how far up it went in the uncertain lighting. The walls were…stripped? He couldn’t tell if they really were or if the cats fur was somehow shading them.

He moved towards his feline friend. The cat let him approach and give out more chin scratching. More purring and again the light brightened. He started to look around but decided that he should keep his attention on the cat.

After a short time, he was given another brrrt. Then his companion moved forward again to the far wall. Yet another small tunnel. This time James didn’t want to chance getting left behind so he followed closely behind. When he emerged they seemed to be back in the mine.

The cat turned and started walking. James followed. At this point, what else could he do?

After a short while he thought he heard voices up ahead. The cat stopped and looked at him. James gave the cat more scratches and listened. Yes, that really did sound like voices. He took a step towards them.

And then the cat moved back the other way. James was torn. Should he follow his little savior or should he go for help? The answer was obvious but painful.

“Thank you, little guy. I’ll look for you again, ok.”

Brrrt. And with that the cat ran off. After a few seconds the light stopped as if a switch had been thrown.

James turned on his flashlight and moved towards the voices. In a moment he was back in the main tunnel. Off to his side there was a crew of men, moving with obvious tension and purpose.

He called to them. It was his rescue party. They were saved.