It started with a sound.
A tiny, high-pitched squeak that stood out against the soothing industrial symphony of whirring dryers and sloshing suds.
Mr. Smudg paused mid-sort.
He squinted. He tilted his head.
The meowing grew louder.
“…Please don’t be a haunted towel, please don’t be a haunted towel, pleaseee don’t be a haunted towel…” he muttered.
He followed the sound to a large bin of damp towels. He nudged it. The bin mewed back. Slowly, carefully, he peeled back the top layer of towels, and there, nestled among spa robes and guest-wrapped chaos, were…
Kittens.
Tiny. Fluffy. Confused.
Looking up at him like he was the intruder.
Now, Mr. Smudg has dealt with many things in his tenure, but this? This was a meowing miracle. Three kittens, tucked gently in what looked like a rolled-up bath mat. Luckily, this load of towels (and kittens?) also contained an important piece to the purring puzzle- a room key that read, “Room 507,” which felt… weirdly helpful.
He did what any seasoned laundry goblin would do:
Named them immediately (Linty, Bounce, and Clawdia).
Alerted the front desk where the towels came from.
Called for backup…
Receptionist: “Sir, are you saying there are… cats in the towels?”
Mr. Smudg: “No. I’m yelling at you that there are cats in the towels.”
Turns out, the guest in Room 507 had smuggled in a stray who gave birth during their stay. And instead of informing staff like a reasonable human, they lovingly sent them down in a laundry basket out in the hall like it was Noah’s Ark… but fluffier.
After a frantic flurry of phone calls, the kittens were safely collected, fed, and re-homed by a local rescue (and one might have mysteriously “followed” a lonely laundry gremlin home, but Mr. Smudg isn’t naming names).
This week’s moral?
Kittens do not belong in the towel bin
If something meows during laundry, proceed with caution
And once again: just tell the staff what’s going on. We’ve seen worse. Probably.
Until next time,
Mr. Smudg
Still grumpy. Still allergic. Still secretly Googling “cat bibs for laundry mascots.”
#MrSmudg #LaundryChronicles #KittenCrisis #HousekeepingHumor #MeowMixUp #HospitalityUnfiltered