Chapter 1

Meet Snowflake

Sofia heard a knock at the door and rushed to answer it. It was Albert. He came every Friday afternoon to take piano lessons with Sofia’s mom.

Today Albert had a shoe box with him. And Sofia knew exactly what was in that shoe box.

“Hola, Sofia,” Albert said.

“¡Hola! Is that Snowflake?” Sofia asked.

“¡Sí!” Albert said proudly. “I’m the very first person to take care of our class pet.”

“You are so lucky,” Sofia said. “But we have a problem.”

“What?” Albert asked.

“Fur makes Mamá sneeze,” Sofia said.

“Really?” Albert asked.

“Sí,” Sofia said. “Our cat had to move to a new house.”

“What should I do?” Albert asked. “My piano lesson starts in a few minutes!”

“Don’t worry,” Sofia said. “I’ll take care of Snowflake.”

“Are you sure?” Albert asked, looking worried.

“No hay problema,” Sofia said, smiling.

Albert wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t have any other options.

“Snowflake likes to escape. Please don’t let him run away,” Albert said.

“Got it,” Sofia said.

Sofia took the box downstairs. Luisa and Elena, Sofia’s older sisters, were watching TV.

“¿Qué tienes?” Luisa asked.

“A mouse,” Sofia said. “His name is Snowflake.”

“Whose is it?” Luisa asked.

“It is Albert’s class pet,” Sofia said. Luisa looked impressed. Elena looked bored.

“I think Snowflake wants to see what we are watching,” Sofia said.

She slowly lifted the lid. The white mouse stood up on his back legs. He squeaked.

“How cute!” Sofia laughed.

“He is cute!” Luisa agreed.

“Please be quiet,” Elena said. “I’m trying to watch my show.”

“Okay, okay,” Sofia said.

Sofia was just about to close the lid when Snowflake jumped out of the box.

“NO!” Sofia screamed.