When most of us were probably gathering together with our families for Christmas on December 23, poor little Miracle was strayed somewhere in Newark. He kept walking to where his feet led him.

Suddenly a parked sport utility vehicle attracted his attention. His inquisitiveness then encouraged him to climb into the guts of the SUV. He played until he grew tired and fell asleep there. A moment later, the sound of an engine woke him from slumber. He started to panic when he realized his new home was moving. Terrified, the cat--yes, Miracle is a cat, mind you--grabbed on where he could. After a 70-mile journey along the New Jersey Turnpike, a person at last noticed him through a wheel well.

The woman who was driving the SUV--she wished to remain anonymous--took him to the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, NJ, where they do not normally take in strays. He was in quite good condition despite some burnt paws and a missing claw. But nobody can tell how he escaped the fan blades inside the car.

Since then, his journey has attracted inquiries from more than twenty people who are interested in adopting him. Karen Dixon-Aquino, shelter director, estimates that he is about eight months old and weighs about six pounds. "It's amazing that he lived," she said. "I've never heard of one surviving the engine being turned on, let alone surviving a ride down the turnpike. He's certainly used up eight and a half of his nine lives."

Before Miracle, however, there have been several stories involving cats' survival, including a year-old kitten that stowed away in paper bales shipped from Wisconsin to Chicago, then to Belgium and France back in September. She made it back home, compliments of Continental Airlines, after the owners listed on her name tag were contacted.

One of the co-authors of the book Mews Items: Amazing but True Cat Stories says that cats find themselves surviving the most precarious situations. And Miracle, he said, would have made his book.