Where were you at 3:30am? Probably tucked in your bed sleeping. I was until that time then I was woken up by a loud beeping noise and a white light flashing in my apartment--the building fire alarm. The cats started freaking out and I stumbled around for a few minutes wondering what was going on. It finally clicked and I was able to shut off the alarm in my apartment--the sound is turned off but the strobe light continues to flash. You can though still hear the sounds coming from the hallway.

I pull on a pair of jeans, sweatshirt and shoes, grab my keys and start for the door. I stop unsure what to do about the cats. Is it really a fire? If so I need to take them with me. If it's not a fire then they will be ok. I head out the door and make it to the top of the first set of steps when I decide to turn around and go back to the apartment.

I grab a backpack and stuff Hudson into it cause she is closest to me. As I'm trying to stuff her into the bag I find another bag inside it and take it out to put Tundra into. Hudson is in the bag and the bag is moving around as I try to find Tundra. She's terrified and hiding under the bed. She doesn't like to be held at the best of times and by the time I finally drag her out from under the bed she is frantic with panic. Try stuffing a large cat into a small bag in the dark. Not fun.

I grab my computer hard drive, put the backpack with Hudson on, pick up the bag with Tundra in it and head for the door. Everything else can burn. I walk down the 4 flights of stairs and out into the night. Just as I hit the last flight of stairs that pityful mourn that only cats can make comes from Tundra. It sounds horrible. I find a quiet(?) spot in between a couple of trucks and sit to comfort the cats and wait for the fire trucks that have yet to arrive.

There is no visible sign of smoke or fire so I assume it is some sort of false alarm that is attached to the power outage we are experiencing. The fire trucks finally show up and the firefighters go in to check out the building. I sit on the curb and allow one cat at a time to poke her head out of her bag while I pet and try to comfort. Hudson is taking it much better and I opt to, once she seems ok with whats going on, focus my energy on Tundra who has started the mewling again. I open her bag again and the head and a couple paws come out. She was ready to make an escape given the opportunity. I'm watching the firefighters go in and out of the building and notice eventually that the power has come back on. We eventually get the all clear and no matter how hard I push and shove can not get Tundra's head back in the bag. I give up and allow her to watch as I walk back up the stairs to the apartment.

Had it of been a fire I would feel ok with my actions. I saved the cats and my computer. Everything else wouldn't have mattered. My flashlight that stays plugged in all the time in the bathroom was fully charged and able to help me find my way around in the dark. I was also fully dressed and able to be outside in the weather we were having--unlike the lady in the bathrobe and slippers.

When we got back inside the apartment they seemed quite happy and after a quick snack settled down again to sleep. But, let's hope this isn't a regular thing in the building cause I don't think the cats could handle it again. (I'm sure they could but they were pretty scared at the time) Me, I wasn't scared just set in my mind about what I needed to do.