by Patricia J Dennis

Created on: March 22, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

Sister was a tortoiseshell cat that had a hobby of collecting.

It was first noticed one icy morning when I was on my way out to pick up the morning paper. I opened the door and was faced with this hideous character with big bug eyes and an open gaping mouth staring at me. Later I learned it was a stuffed Elmo toy. The mystery was how did it get there?

The next morning, oh my gosh, there was a complete baby outfit stuck on the screen door. (Now that Elmo, he was styling!) The following morning it was a left hand white worker glove. It was the glove that gained Sister a name for herself.

The following day, the mate showed up. And the day after that two more gloves appeared stuck to the screen. It became a ritual, open the door, and there was the morning glove.

Now there Had to be someone out there that was missing gloves?!

3 months later, we had 150 gloves in a cardboard box on the porch. No one in the neighborhood said a word about missing anything.

One morning I was up a little earlier than normal, and had the opportunity to watch Sister in action. The neighbor across the street, Les, was in the Plaster business. I watched him load his supplies in his truck undoubtedly the same thing he did every morning. He then went back in the house for his cup of coffee.

Then it happened. From a bush, I saw Sister stick her head out. The whiskers were twitching, the eyes were narrowing. Inch, by inch, she stealthily made her way to the truck. She jumped in the bed, and as quick as she had jumped in, out she came with the prize. A white glove and she was on heading to our screen door!

So the mystery was solved. What floored me was what Les must have thought every morning when he got to his work site and found himself short a ''glove''. What is even stranger is he didn't even come over to get the cardboard box I put on the lawn with a sign "Found Gloves". Gloves must be a dime a dozen. I always hoped the Goodwill found use of them.

The story didn't stop there. It continued as Sister developed a taste for higher quality. The door was opened in the morning, and there, still in the package, was a lovely set of Leather Gloves with the price tag still attached. My mind was racing. Hey, now we were getting somewhere! However, I am sad to say, I am still waiting for the matching coat.

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