Go Take a Leap!

This morning, Shadowfax finally did what I've been worried he would do...he fell a good 15-18 feet. And, of course, it wasn't intentional.

My bedroom is a loft, with a 5-inch-wide ledge atop a waist-high wall separating me from plunging to the first floor. About 2 to 2.5 feet separate the bed from the wall. Shadow has been fascinated by the ledge, cautiously stepping onto it from my bedside table. Once on the ledge, he'd wander down its length to the dresser and then leap to the bedroom floor. If I responded fast enough, he'd immediately jump off the ledge and curl up on the bed while I scolded him.

Well, he finally found out why I yelled at him. He took a flying jump from the bed onto the ledge, but his momentum carried him right over the edge! I heard a tremendous crash from below.

I took off down the stairs, expecting to see him impaled on a dragon or sprawled broken on the brick hearth -- which both rest immediately below his jumping point. He wasn't there. I couldn't tell where he'd landed, although the dragon's pewter horns had been scattered. Angel looked flabbergasted but provided no clues. I called Shadow's name several times before he darted out from beneath a chair to scurry up the stairs.

I say scurry because he kept low to the ground and the bell on his collar didn't make a sound. (Now that I think about it, perhaps the bell got damaged?) Back upstairs, I found him cowering near the bed...with his tail tucked under and his ears flat.

I checked him for injuries, but he never made a sound or twitched in pain. So I hope he simply was scared. He stayed in the same spot for a half-hour. Eventually, while I put on my make up, he jumped onto the bathroom counter like he usually does. But when I stepped away, he looked uncertain about getting down again. So I put him on the ground.

I hope Shadow learned his lesson. But I fear he'll forget and try this again.