Stuck!

I wish I had less of an imagination sometimes - not always, just sometimes.  There have been 'lost cat' notices around the last month or so.  I always worry a little about the cat and the owners who will be going frantic.  If it was the cute cat from around the back I may have had to frisk bear who was very keen, but it was a large black and white cat which I have never seen.

Yesterday I saw a notice in the local shop window for people to check their sheds.  We don't have a shed as such, just a small space under the steps which used to be an outside toilet and which I convinced bear was home to a dragon.  He was only little, but I managed to convince half the kids in the street as well.  It kept them out of mischief.  I hadn't been there in a while and it had been jammed when I went to put in the bulbs, but the cat has been missing a lot longer and I have popped in and out.

I tried to open the door.  It was an epic fail.  I couldn't budge the dratted thing.  There was one small section of swollen wood that would not move.  It had been jammed for ages, but I have heard of cats surviving for a long time in similar situations and there were always plenty of spiders for cat snacks.  After ten minutes I went to look for the WD40.  I couldn't find that anywhere.  To be honest I wasn't entirely sure that we had some, and nowhere local sells it.  I had another think.  What if it was a dead cat in there?  What if I had failed it?

There was still a sizeable gap at the top of the door so I squeezed in a generous dollop of washing up liquid and tried to ease it in with a thin knife.  Then I pulled again.  I kept pulling and pulling and was just about to give up when I noticed that the door had opened a tiny fraction.  I am really glad no-one was watching as I was tugging away like a crazy lady and I was getting very stressed about the poor cat that may or may not be in there.  Then the door flew open.  I heaved a sigh of relief and looked around the two square metres of space.  There was no cat.

Now I have trashed a load of spiders' webs, left a puddle smelling of citrus burst and the dratted door won't dratted shut.  I'm still glad I looked.