The Hum of the Tumbler

Mmph! I shuffled through the double glass doors of the laundromat, ducking right past a rolling wire cart. Down near the corner, a loose kickplate under a rumbling commercial dryer had rattled open. Mmmph! I dropped to my belly and squirmed underneath, dragging my boots through warm, fragrant clouds of lint. The giant motor above vibrated through my whole body like a roaring purr. Halfway in, stuck in a dry blue clump of static fluff, was a shiny flat washer and a bendable aluminum twist-tie. I snagged the wire in my mitten and tugged, rolling onto my back to watch the spinning drive belt whirl just inches above my face. Mmmph-rmph! Cooled off and cozy in the hum. Mmph!