Josie and Her Cat by Joyce Scaggs

Josie stared out the classroom window anxious for the school day to end.


Not only was it a beautiful Spring day which made most the students restless, but Josie had a more pressing weight on her ten year old mind. Her cat, "Tiger," had been very sick when she left for school that morning.

It was 1958 and people didn't usually take their pets, especially strays, to a vet. For one thing they could not afford to. .

When at last the school bell rang, Josie and her cat-loving friend, Sherry, hurried home. The girls lived next door to each with a wooded area between them. Not finding Tiger, they headed for their makeshift play house in the woods. There on the path they saw Tiger. He was dead.

Weeping, the girls found a box to put him in, dug a grave in a clear area near the woods and buried the beloved cat. Then, they said a prayer over him. For the next week they visited Tigers grave. Then the Spring rains began and they were not able to visit in the woods or go to the grave for nearly a week.

The next sunny day, the girls headed for the grave, but much to their dismay and horror there was a brook streaming over the grave. They looked at each other with tears in their eyes and realized they had buried Tiger in a dry creek bed. Once over their initial shock, they burst into hysterical laughter, knowing God would be with Tiger.

(This is based on a true story.)