Hurry up Jimmy

Now I was never an ordinary kid. I was always one to do what felt right in the minute even if it meant being stuck with the consequence. But this isn’t about any of my dangerous activities sadly. This is the story of how I met my best friend Jimmy. Now my name is Ronald McGee. My family is well known for our farm in our part of the state. We are the leading producers of pretty much anything you can buy at the store. Yeah, we are a pretty big operation. 

Anyway, one night I was laying in bed when I heard a tapping at the window. I thought it was a tree branch so I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but it happened again. I got up and boy was I surprised to see a small creature sitting on the tree next to my window. Now me being me I decided to open the window. I reached out to grab this bundle of hair and when I did two arms slowly made their way out of the cousin it looking mop of hair. They wrapped around my arm but didn’t try to hurt me so I brought my arm back inside the house. Two beady little eyes poked out from beneath huge eyelashes and I’d never been in love in my life but at that moment I knew that I would do anything for my tiny friend. I studied him for a minute wondering what he was then it clicked. This weird-looking creature was a sloth. We definitely didn’t have any of these at the farm. My question was where did it come from? 

I took this tiny bundle of rags to the bathroom and began trying to clean him up but it was a useless endeavor. Between him hanging onto me in a death grip and my lack of knowledge about sloths I gave up. I went down to the kitchen to try and find some food for him.

My dad walked in as I placed a bowl of cereal in front of the creature. Now it was not uncommon for me to bring home strays but the look on my dad's face when he registered what this animal was could definitely be classified as priceless. My dad yelped at the same time the sloth moved to pick up the bowl. The poor animal spooked and “jerked” back. Now, this took about two minutes but, hey, he was surprised. My dad looked at me and I just shrugged. I mean what could I do? 

“Ronald,” my dad asked cautiously as if the sloth would attack him. “Why is there a sloth eating cereal at my dining room table?” 

I looked at him and grinned. “Well dad, he rang the doorbell and asked politely for a place to rest because he is a weary traveler. I told him that we have plenty of food and that he could rest for as long as he needed. He thanked me for my hospitality and walked into the kitchen. He fixed himself a bowl of cereal and was going to fix me one when you walked in.”

While I thought this was hilarious, my father was not amused. He regarded me with a scowl and my grin fell.

“Has your mother seen it yet?” He asked.

“Well, I’m guessing not considering it is still quiet in the house.” Again he didn’t smile. Tough crowd tonight. 

“Let me guess you already have him named and plan on keeping him.”

“ I hadn’t thought that far ahead but I will get right on that.”

“Ronald, we know nothing about this critter. What are we going to do with this thing?”

“Hope he doesn’t run away I reckon.”

“You are just full of jokes this evening.”

“Thank you. I’ll be here all night folks.”

About this time I hear a shuffling should coming down the hall and before I can say something my mom walks in. She takes one look at the table and shrieks.

“There is a rat at my table! What are you two idiots doing just looking at it! Kill it.”

“Mom,” I said as gently as I could manage while almost falling on the floor laughing, “He’s not a rat he is a sloth and his name will be Jimmy.”

“Why is it at my table,” she asked a little more calmly but still eyeing the table warily.

“Because he wanted a bowl of cereal and who was I to deny him?”

“Ronald David McGee, do, not get that tone of voice with me while I am starting at a rat eating out of my fine China.”

I looked over at the sloth who I have now named Jimmy. He didn’t seem concerned about the scene in front of him. He was to busy eating his cereal to realize that people were deciding his fate. O walked over to the table and picked him up he slowly looked at me and I knew that he was mine. I looked at both of my parents and they saw it too. My mother sighed and walked into the living room to call the vet. My dad studied the creature some more before he turned around and disappeared into his office.

         I was still curious about where he came from but that was a problem for another day. I took my little jimmy to my room and made him up a sleeping box. He snuggled down into the blanket and closed his eyes. The alarm clock on my bedside table read 12:30 a.m. I slipped back into bed and pulled the covers back up to my chin. A few minutes later I felt a pressure on my covers and looked down. There was my little furry friend crawling up the bed. He settled on the pillow next to my head and looked at me. I rolled over and left him there to sleep.

         I woke up the next morning with him laying on my chest. And that was the day that jimmy felt like family.