Cookie's Escape...and Return

For those of you that don't know...the Oh family adopted a couple of hermit crabs. We found one, whom JT named Cookie, half drowning in our pool soon after we moved here, so we "rescued" him. And the other one, we found at the playground, whom Nate named Elmo, so we "rescued" him, also. They live in a tupperware container filled with sand in our living room and live off of fruit loops, teeny pieces of fruit, and Daniel's protein powder. They get to come out and "play" with the boys in the living room for exercise once in a while, but for the most part, are given their space. All in all, a happy hermit crab existence.
Now, the next part remains a mystery because there is only one witness, Elmo, and he doesn't speak. Sometime during the night, Cookie escaped. Nobody knows how he managed it. Forensic evidence shows that it is possible he might have climbed up some rocks placed too close to the walls of the tupperware, but we cannot be certain. All we know is that he was there during the day, and the next morning...he was gone! Naturally, our family was very upset. The boys were frantic. We turned the house upside-down looking for him. We moved the sofas and started a detailed search of the house. Daniel and I were crawling around looking for him everywhere...we searched every nook and cranny but couldn't find the little guy! Yes, it was tragic, but we called off the search and gave him up for dead. I was just hoping that I would find the little lifeless shell before he started to stink.

Then, the miracle happened. A couple of days later, Daniel went to close our patio doors before going to bed and noticed a little shell outside on the terrace. When he went outside to examine it, he found a scared and most likely, very hungry, Cookie sitting outside. Back in the safety of his tupperware container, he ate and drank all he could before passing out. In the morning, JT and Nate saw that their pet was safe and everyone was very very happy and relieved. It was a touching reunion.

We are not sure how he got outside, maybe the screen door wasn't shut properly and Cookie took his chance at freedom. All we know is that, it is a miracle that he didn't plummet to his death since we are 5 floors up! Some of our faithful readers will remember that not too long ago, we lost a sand crab to that terrible fate. The memory stays with us even to this day. The important thing is that our brave little Cookie managed to survive two days out on the patio by himself, but he is safe and back with us again! A very happy ending.