Torture

Digging...

My baby boy has been gone now for a week. I wander the yard daily looking for clues to his disappearance. Was he attacked and hauled away by a vicious eagle? If so, there would be fur as I know he would have put up a fight. Or body parts if he was eaten. I can't imagine anything but an eagle could have lifted his fat body so it would have had to have eaten him on the spot. I've checked for holes in the dirt or holes in fence. Did he somehow escape? No sign of him.

I have dreams about him every night and spend my days feeling some kind of weird survivor guilt. Why couldn't I have protected him better? Should I have jailed him in his hutch?

Digging...

At the same time I feel lucky to have had him in my life these many years and I'm sure he appreciated being free to hop around the yard and sample the wonderful plants rather than being confined to the sterile life of a hutch.

I finally came to terms with his disappearance: removing his dishes, cleaning his toilet area, removing the chicken wire from the gardens, and closing the gate between the front and back yards. Some items like his bed, his food, and his herbs I've kept, just in case. I haven't given up hope yet. Everyday I look out the windows of my house expecting him to be back...from vacation, well-rested and eager to get back to his gardening duties.

Today I headed to the front yard and...there is a hole under the gate!!

The hole was dug from the front yard. Whatever it was couldn't climb the gate. A raccoon, opossum, or cat would have climbed the fence rather than worked so hard at digging.

It's the same size as a fat rabbit. Was it looking for food? Peter's food was kept in the backyard.

Motivated by new hope, I inspected both yards searching for holes in the ground or holes in the fence. Did he really just go on vacation? I whispered his name here and there waiting for him to jump out. Still no sign of him.

I'm not sure if I'm crazy or if Peter's ghost is haunting the yard.

This is torture.

UPDATE: I filled the hole and the next morning it was dug again, only this time from the backyard to the front. Hmmmm...I don't think it's Peter. He's never been so mysterious. But I have no idea what kind of animal is digging holes instead of climbing or small enough to go through the fence.