Keisha and Sagwa

Background: I made up this story on the spot for Keisha last night when we went to Steak and Shake. I often like to make up stories involving Keisha and some of the characters she likes to watch on PBSKids or NickJr. One of her favorites is "Sagwa," which is about a Siamese cat that can write Chinese.

Once upon a time, when Keisha was in the third grade, she went with her Mommy and Daddy to the Meijer to get some pictures developed. When they were finished and returned to their car, Keisha looked inside and exclaimed, "Mommy! Daddy! There's a cat in our car!"

Sure enough, her Mommy and Daddy saw the cat in the car, sleeping. "It must have just slipped in the car before we closed our doors," Keisha's Daddy said.

"Can we keep it, Daddy?" Keisha asked.

"I don't know, sweetheart," her Daddy said, looking to her Mommy for her opinion.

"Hey, it looks like it's a girl cat," Keisha said.

"Why don't we call your Nana," Jennie said. "She's got a lot of experience in raising different animals."

"I'll stay here with the cat while you two go make the phone call," Keisha's Daddy said.

"I want to name her Sagwa," said Keisha.

"Okay. Come on, Keisha. Let's go call Nana," Keisha's Mommy said, reaching for Keisha's hand.

Some time later, Keisha and her Mommy returned. "Nana says that we should take it to the vet to see if she is sick and has her shots and everything," Keisha said.

"Well," said Keisha's Daddy," looking to his wife, who was smiling, "I guess we'll need to get some pet supplies, huh? Why don't you both head back into the store and get some kitty litter, a cage, some food -- you know, all that stuff. Sagwa and I will stay out here and wait for you."

"Okay, Daddy," said Keisha. "Come on, Mommy, let's go!" It was hard for her to contain her excitement.

Later, when Keisha and her Mommy came back, Keisha made sure that Sagwa was next to her as they drove home. She was very careful about setting up her cage in her bedroom. Her Daddy and Mommy instructed her about the responsibilities that came with taking care of a cat. For one thing, she would be responsible for making sure that Sagwa had food. Also, she would have to make sure the litter box was kept clean. Keisha agreed to take care of all of these things.

Daddy contacted Dr. Armstrong, the veterinarian, and made an appointment for Sagwa. Keisha went along and helped Sagwa stay comfortable while Dr. Armstrong took her temperature and gave her a shot.

The neat thing about having Sagwa was that, even though she had her own cage to sleep in, she loved sleeping on Keisha's bed. In fact, when Keisha came home from school the next day, she went to her bedroom to change out of her school clothes, and there, on her bed, curled up into a little ball, was Sagwa!

And that's the story about how Keisha met Sagwa.