It was the last thing I expected to find at the bottom of the hamper. 

Now, as a mom of five, ages one to 25 years, I'd seen just about everything.  My four year old's crayons... (which were not a good match for the dryer)  My nine year old's chapstick...  My six year old's worms... (at least that taught me not to reach into pockets without looking first)  And my oldest and youngest were still in diapers, so we had all sorts of surprises from them.  But this...  A shiver ran down my spine as I wracked my brain, trying to run back through the last two days to see if there had been any clues that would have warned me. 

The only child I could rule out was the baby.  He had barely begun to walk, much less tuck a shocker like this in the laundry basket.  But which of my kids would I think to pin it on?  Or could it be my husband?  I shook my head.  No, I doubted he knew where the laundry room was, much less the hamper.  My oldest was a gentle giant, his brain stuck in perpetual toddlerhood.  I supposed it could be his, but how?  When?  I watched him almost 24/7!  My stubborn, iron-willed little man, who was sure he was Spiderman?  I might suspect him if this had happened several years from now.  Or if the issue at hand was some sort of animal matter.  Age was a problem for my little princess, as well.  Granted, she was even more stubborn than my son, possibly even more than myself.  And I wouldn't doubt that she could do anything she put her mind to.  But I couldn't imagine her mind thinking up anything that would create this mess.  So that left my sweet t'ween.  She wasn't at the ornery teen stage yet, thank goodness.  In fact, I relied on her help the most out of the whole crew.  But she did have the most time on her hands...  Did have the capability to create a mess like this...  But she was also bright, and I had a hard time believing that she would leave this where I would come across it. 

My husband's call shook me from my reverie.  Apperantly he'd been calling for sometime.  Long enough he came searching for me.  Good - now at least he knew where the laundry room was. 

"What the heck is that???" he exclaimed, walking up beside me as I held the basket up. 

I just shook my head silently as we stared at the bloody t-shirt at the bottom of the hamper.