I was in the living room getting some stuff for my trip to Cebu when I
heard plaintive meowing from the garden. Uh oh, cat in trouble! I
meowed back, encouraging the cat to continue while I edged closer to
the garden. I couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. Was
the cat trapped in the space behind the airconditioner in the studio
kitchen? Was the cat trapped on the roof? Which cat was it, anyway?
The meow was high-pitched, so that wasn't Neko (who was right beside
me watching her weird human meow)… HEY, WHERE WAS OLLIE?

I panicked and called the cavalry. “Dad! Dad! Ollie's stuck on the roof! Help!”

He told me to get Kathy, so I tore through downstairs looking for my
sister. “Our cat! Ollie! Roof! I heard him from the garden!”

She grabbed a flashlight and headed to the garden, and we meowed to
determine where Ollie was. Kathy headed up to the roofdeck while I
meowed to reassure the stuck cat that help was on the way. Then I
grabbed another flashlight and followed her.

Kathy carefully climbed onto the roof and made her way to the edge.
She swung the flashlight and gasped when she saw Ollie trapped on the
lower side. “Ollie! Sacha, call Papa!”

I ran downstairs and told my dad that Kathy found Ollie on the roof
and we needed his help. He put on his pants and went upstairs. I
grabbed a bowl of food from the planterbox and passed it to him so
that he could give it to Kathy.

Kathy spent a few minutes coaxing Ollie out from the space under the
water tower. After wheedling and holding her hand out to pet the poor
hungry cat produced no results, she got the bowl of food from my dad
(“This is dog food!” “I got it from the cats' planterbox!”), crouched
beside the water tower… and rattled the bowl.

Two cat ears perked up.

She held the bowl out and quickly took her fingers out of the way as
the starving cat attacked the food. After a number of bites, she
grabbed Ollie and walked back to the ladder. She couldn't climb up
with the cat in her arms and she was worried he'd bolt if she put him
down, so I stepped onto my roof (very carefully as I was wearing
slippers) and walked to the edge, taking the cat from her and making
reassuring noises as we all went back inside.

Ollie headed straight for the planterbox and the bowl of food there.
We didn't see much of him; we just heard this steady crunching.

Another daring cat rescue!