Laundry Basket Mayhem
I remember always wanting a pet when I was a child. But no matter how many times I asked, Ma continually said no to an animal and made up some reason why not.

Well, all that changed one day so steaming hot, you could tell you were in Louisiana. It was a laundry day. Ma had told me to hang the washings up on the line after she cleaned ’em on the washboard. We’d been at it for a while and I was near losin’ my mind of boredom when it happened.

All of a sudden Ma hollered, “It’s a spirit of the good Lord come back among us! Run, Jamie girl, run!” It was funny watching a stout woman like my ma jump on that ironing board so fast. By now, Jefferson and Emma, my twin brother and sister, had come running out of the house when they were supposed to be watching the baby, Polly, and yelling about what all the ruckus was for.

Turns out, a scraggly old golden yellow cat was hidin’ out in the cool, washed laundry trying to keep from getting heat stroke. Ma was handing the basket over to me when she saw two glowing green eyes starin’ up at her.

Well, in all the commotion, I asked Ma if we could keep her and Ma, being so shook up by the incident and not knowing what to say or do, said yes. I jumped for joy and gave her the name of Spirit on account of what Ma had called her. From then on, Spirit was ours, and she ran in and out of the house, catching irksome mice at will.

That cat was just about the best, most amazing cat I ever owned. Not only because of the way she acted, but because of the way we met on the best day of my life.