Flashback to Ellie, the Black Hole Bandit

Glogirly is traveling today so we thought it would be fun to relive one of Ellie's very first escapades. We hope you enjoy the flashback!  

WAFFLES:  Hello, 119? Is this 119? 

OPERATOR:  This is 911. What is your emergency?

WAFFLES:  911? Are you sure? I swear I dialed 119.

OPERATOR:  This is 911. Please state your emergency.

WAFFLES:  Emergency? Well, it's not a major emergency or anything. But Glogirly is freaking out. 

OPERATOR:  There's a girl GLOWING???

WAFFLES:  Glogirly's freaking out. Ellie is stuck in the wall.

OPERATOR:  There's a glowing girl AND a girl named Ellie stuck in a wall???

WAFFLES:  Glogirly isn't glowing. I said she's freaking out. And Ellie is a CAT. Well really more of an inexperienced kitten. And she's stuck in the wall.

OPERATOR:  How did this Ellie cat get stuck in the wall?

WAFFLES:  She climbed through the hole. 

OPERATOR:  What hole?

WAFFLES:  That's what Glogirly said!

OPERATOR:  So we're back to the glowing girl again?

WAFFLES:  Nevermind. Me and Gloman are going to rescue her.

OPERATOR:  So there's a glowing MAN too? 

Wait, WHAT???

Ellie has a new name. The Black Hole Bandit

Last weekend, Glogirly opened the door to our tiny triangular shaped storage closet we have in our master bedroom. Gloman keeps all his tripods, camera cases, and stuff in there. She wanted to grab a spotting scope and tripod to look out the window at a brush fire that had started up in our canyon just a couple of miles from our home. Firefighters were already on the scene and working to keep it contained. She and Gloman were concerned though and wanted a closer look. 

When no one was looking, Ellie slipped into the closet and started rifling around through the camera bags. 

While Gloman watched the fire, Glogirly did a quick cat check. (shaking a bag of treats throughout the house to quickly establish Waffles and Ellie's whereabouts. Waffles was Johnny-on-the-spot but Ellie was nowhere to be found. 

The last place Glogirly had seen or heard Ellie was in that tiny closet. She started moving everything out of it, looking inside camera bags, calling her name...but still no Ellie. 

The back of this closet is opposite our fireplace in the living room. And inside the closet close to the ground and in the way back is a vent that leads from the outside, through the closet, into the wall and behind the fireplace. When she got on her hands and knees, she discovered a small hole in the wall under that vent. The vent is round and the builders must have cut a square hole for it to fit through. And tiny Ellie made her way into the hole. 

A flashlight revealed a fairly large space inside the wall between the fireplace and the closet. Probably about 4' x 6'. The flashlight also revealed you-know-who. But to Ellie this was just a fun game. Glogirly and Gloman tried luring her out with everything they could think of. Her favorite wand toy, treats, her plastic bottle cap fetch toy...she'd reach out to grab them, but would quickly pull her paw back in and wouldn't come out. Glogirly could reach her hand into the hole and pet her, but it was in such an awkward position, there was no way to pull Ellie out. It was such a small hole too, Ellie must have squeezed her way into it.

Meanwhile, back to the fire watch. 

Although a few trees were still engulfed in flames, (very scary!) we'd learned the fire was successfully contained and everyone and their homes were safe, Kudos to our amazing volunteer firefighters! Glogirly and Gloman continued trying to coax Ellie out. Had any sort of evacuation been necessary, Glogirly was ready to cut a gigantic hole in the wall, jump in herself, and get Ellie out. 

Nearly two hours passed and Ellie was clearly not going to budge from her hidey-hole. 

So Gloman took the vent apart and removed a section of it to open up the hole. It had been blocking Ellie's view of the outside world and possibly causing her to be scared to jump back out. With the vent piece out of the way, she could see all of us. Especially Waffles. 

Waffles to the Rescue!

Waffles meowed and purred like crazy. It was like he was telling Ellie it was ok to come out. 

And so she did. The Black Hole Bandit was out. And her hidey-hole is now permanently blocked.

ELLIE:  But I liked my new hidey-hole.