Houdini

It's 3AM CDT. I've been up for about forty-five minutes. I should be in bed.

At a little after 2AM, I suddenly awoke: there had been an unexpected noise. I lay there for a bit, then, sighing, got up to investigate.

I couldn't find Ben.

Bedroom? No. Bathroom? No. In the cubby? No. Living room. Front hallway. Dining room. Kitchen.

Garage? No. That leaves the back yard. (But the outer doggie door is blocked!) Get bathrobe and flashlight.

Nothing. Begin to panic. Tramp around in the yard: look into every little nook where Ben has been known to take refuge. Nothing.

Come back inside. Ben is there. His feet are damp. Damn. He got past the block on the doggie door. There's a small gap in the back fence, too small for Murphy, too small for Ben...

Too small for fat Ben. The new skinny Ben can slide right through.

I've put a better block on the doggie door, but I'll have to do something about that gap.

The adrenaline has not worn off yet.

Copperfield?

Ben just got out again. This time it was in daylight, so I was able to go bring him back. Unfortunately, he was bleeding a little when I got to him. It seems to have stopped, but I really can't let this happen again. I've improved the block on the doggie door again, and I've got a makeshift seal on the gap in the fence. I'll have to do something better about that later, but for the moment I don't think he can get out of the yard.

I'm washing my sheets for the fourth time in three days.