Missing Sal

My big cat, Salvatore, isn't the friendliest guy I ever met, but he is my big boy and I love him. A few days before Thanksgiving, he didn't come home. He likes to wander, howls if I try to keep him in the house, and I have always let him. He's been gone before, but never for more than a few days. I went out and called for him, asked the neighbors, called the shelter. No one knows where Sal is. Despite his wanderlust, I really think if he were able to come home, he would. Which leads me to a very sad conclusion: he can't come home.

Sal seems older than his four years, aloof especially in comparison to my little cat, Sophia. She tends to be very needy. Mazie and Sophia don't seem to miss Sal. They have each other. Tonight my granddog, Jean-Claude, is staying overnight and he doesn't miss Sal either. I hope I'm wrong about Sal's fate and that someone took him in. It's sad to think I might not see him again, but I feel better believing that he has a new home than accepting the alternative.