My cat brought me the collar of the cat that disappeared 20 years ago

I love my cat, but I’m afraid something similar might happen to him too. And it doesn’t make any sense.

For some context: about 20 years ago, after a lot of begging, my parents finally decided to give me a cat for my 8th birthday. He was a beautiful orange cat, actually the same breed as Garfield. I named him Max.

My first memory with him was customizing his collar. I pressed my thumb into blue paint and stamped my fingerprint on it. Surprisingly, he didn’t mind wearing the collar at all.

I loved that cat. Whenever I felt scared of the dark, he would show up and lie down at my feet, facing the door, almost like he was protecting me. As far as I remember, I had him for about a year.

Until something happened that I hate remembering.

It was just another normal night. He was sleeping at my feet and, like always, I eventually fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, he wasn’t there anymore.

At first, that wasn’t strange. He could have gone to the litter box, gone to eat something, or just wandered around the house like cats do.

But that’s when the problem started.

Bedrooms.

Bathroom.

Living room.

Kitchen.

Garage.

Absolutely nothing.

No warning. No signs. Nothing.

He simply disappeared.

I remember crying desperately while my mom tried to calm me down, saying he probably went outside and would come back soon.

I knew that was a lie.

Not only did we never let him go outside, he was also way too fat to squeeze through the front gate.

That messed with my head a lot, but the world doesn’t stop for anyone. Time passed.

And here we are.

Today I live alone in another city, working a job that isn’t really relevant here. Because of the exhaustion, the lack of interaction, and all that, I started feeling really lonely.

So, you can probably guess what I did.

I adopted another cat.

He’s a lazy tuxedo cat — and a bit fat too. I named him Rabisco.

Ever since I adopted him, I noticed right away that he’s afraid of the street. Probably because of the cars, the noise, and other animals.

The problem is that lately he started doing things he never did before.

Whenever he can, he sits by the window and just watches outside. Even when I close the shutters, he keeps trying to look through the gaps.

I’ve tried following his gaze to see what he’s staring at.

But there’s nothing there.

The strangest behavior started recently.

Even though he’s scared of the street, he started running outside whenever he gets the chance.

The first time it happened, I panicked, thinking he had decided to run away.

But just when I thought he was about to cross the street…

He stopped abruptly right in front of the house.

And just stared into nothing.

Again.

Along with this new behavior, he also started bringing back “gifts” from outside without me noticing when he leaves.

The last three were:

A centipede the size of my finger.

A frog.

And a sock.

But the real problem was what he brought back this afternoon.

The damn collar from Max.

It was extremely dirty, covered in dirt, and the name was almost unreadable.

I only recognized it because of the blue thumbprint I left on it when I was a kid.

What the hell.

That’s impossible.

It’s been 20 years.

And I live in another city.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do?

I’m not exactly scared, but I feel anxious in a very bad way.

I’m thinking about following him the next time he runs outside, but I’m not sure.