I was living in Chicago and working for a large government audit organization.  My job often required me to travel to different areas of the country.  And several years ago, I had to fly to Montgomery, Alabama on an audit assignment.

I really wasn’t looking forward to this particular trip.  It was the middle of August, and it was my birthday.  Spending time in the 100-degree southern heat and humidity, and being away from home on yet another birthday, didn’t sound very appealing to me.  I had expected another routine business trip.  But what I found was anything but normal.  I still have trouble believing it. 

As I settled into my airplane seat, I opened my birthday present from our office secretary, Cynnde.  She, like myself, is an animal lover, and she had given me a book by Dennis Bardens entitled, Psychic Animals.  By the time that 737 lifted off from O’Hare International Airport, I was deeply immersed in this book.

It contained numerous eyewitness accounts and documented examples of the amazing psychic abilities of dogs, cats, birds, horses, monkeys, and whales.  These tales fascinated me.  I even wished that I could somehow experience some of the things that I had just read about.

Before I knew it, my plane had landed and reality had harshly returned as I stepped off that airplane into a broiling southern sauna.

Two of my co-workers had arrived in Montgomery a week earlier, and I caught up with them the next morning.  We soon ventured out into the stifling southern heat for lunch.

As we were heading back to our work site, a small beagle dashed out to greet me in the parking lot.  She ran right up to me and rolled on her belly at my feet.  She was extremely friendly, and she acted like she already knew me.  I examined her tags and found her name and her owner’s telephone number engraved on them.  I quickly jotted down the information.

Just then the building’s security guard approached and told me that he had tried calling the owner with no success.  He also told me that he had also called the city animal control division to pick up this stray dog.  I petted and played with Sissy until they came and got her.

As they carted her off, I was determined to contact her owner concerning her plight.  Sissy was just too sweet a dog to be left lingering in the city pound.  I called that telephone number all afternoon but couldn’t reach her owner.

Before we left work that day, my co-workers announced that they were buying me dinner for my birthday.  They also told me to pick the spot.  I did, and we agreed to meet there at 6 PM.  But before dinner, I was finally able to contact little Sissy’s owner.

The gentleman on the telephone thanked me profusely for calling him and told me that his wife had been frantically searching the city all day for their beloved pet.  I felt extremely good about being able to reunite them.  I also had a strange feeling that Sissy had somehow known exactly who to run to for help.  I better quit reading that book, I thought to myself, as I headed off to dinner.

Both the dinner conversation and the meal were very pleasant.  I also told my co-workers about my success in reaching Sissy’s owners.  Larry, one of my co-workers, looked at me and matter of factly announced, “I knew you would.”  This trip was getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

As we stood in the restaurant’s parking lot saying our goodnights, Larry jokingly said, “Don’t go off looking for any more animals tonight!”  And in the midst of our laughter over his remark he yelled, “I don’t believe it.  Turn around!”

I quickly turned to find a tiny jet-black kitten racing down the parking lot directly towards me.  I knelt down in the parking lot to await its arrival.  And my co-workers laughed as they drove off into the night.

This tiny creature raced into my arms, meowing, purring, and dancing excitedly all around me.  It acted like we were long lost friends who had just been miraculously reunited.  I had never seen a stray cat behave like this before.

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