We were on vacation somewhere with a coast. We were going to take a ferry across the bay or sound or whatever it was, to some island for a few days. There was some noise on the radio about an imminent nuclear exchange-- it sounded like it was going to be limited, and planned, some specific set of cities in certain countries were going to be mutually destroyed for some diplomatic purpose. I was a little nervous that the place we were vacationing was to be one of them, but apparently not.
The ferry was getting ready to leave, but I realized I'd left some stuff we needed in our rental car-- an umbrella, a few things like that. I rushed back out to it and opened the hatchback. As I was digging through the stuff in the back, I realized there was something moving: it was a mother cat and a brand new litter of kittens. She must have crawled into the car at some earlier point and had the babies back here, and we just hadn't noticed. It was clear she had been back here a couple of days already, without food or water.
Well, there was no way we could leave them back here a few more days, so I started rushing around trying to find a way to leave them enough food and water that they'd be okay until we got back from the island. Maybe a water bottle tipped on its side? Could I find a small bowl? Perhaps soak a small towel? The crew on the ferry were getting impatient, ready to cast off, so finally I just told them to go without us.