The week seemed to drag, but Friday finally arrived. I was so excited I could barely concentrate in school. Robbie was going to have a sleepover at my house because he is a science genius and an animal expert. He knows everything you need to know about taking care of animals, and he promised he would show me how to take care of Harold.
When the bell rang at the end of the day, we had to wait for my mom to pick us up because I couldn’t take a hamster home on the bus.
While we were waiting for my mom, Robbie and I were planning what we were going to do with Harold.
“So what’s the first thing you want to do with Harold?” I asked.
“Let’s build him a castle out of Legos, and he can run around the castle and be the king of the land!”
“Didn’t I tell you that I’m not allowed to take him out of the cage?”
“You’re not?”
“Nope. That was one thing I promised my mom. You know how she is about pets. She didn’t want Harold at all, but I promised her that I would only take Harold out to clean the cage, and even then, he would just stay in his exercise ball.”
“That doesn’t sound like too much fun.”
“Well, it was that or nothing,” I said. “I really wanted to bring Harold home, so I had to agree to her rules. Sometimes I wish I had a mom like yours who lets you have all the pets you want.”
“Yeah, my mom’s cool that way. I’m really lucky. Don’t worry, though, Freddy. We’ll still have a good time.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait!”
“We can still build the castle and put Harold and his cage inside. We can pretend that he was put under a magic spell by an evil witch who locked him in the tower, and we have to rescue him.”
“Great idea, Robbie! You and me and Harold are going to have so much fun!”
Just then my mom came running in. “So, where is he?” my mom asked.
“Over there! Over there!” I yelled, pointing to the far corner of the room.
Mrs. Wushy got up from her desk and came over. “Hi, Mrs. Thresher. Freddy is so excited about taking Harold home,” she said, “but I have to say I’m a bit surprised you said yes. I thought you didn’t like to have any animals in your house.”
“I don’t,” my mom said, “but I felt Freddy would be missing out on a wonderful opportunity, so we made an agreement.”
“You did?” said Mrs. Wushy. “Freddy, what was the agreement?”
“I promised my mom that I would not take Harold out of his cage, except to clean it. And Suzie and I are going to share the responsibility over the weekend.”
“That’s a great idea. Do you think you can do that?”
“I know Suzie and I can take care of Harold together!” I said, jumping up and down. “Let’s get him.” I ran over to pick up the cage.
“Slow down a minute, sweetie,” my mom said. “We have to get instructions from Mrs. Wushy. You need to listen carefully, since you’re the one taking care of him. And you’re going to have to tell all of this to Suzie.”
“Freddy, I have all the instructions taped right here on the side of the cage in case you forget anything I tell you, OK?”
“OK.”
“First, here are the shavings for the bottom of Harold’s cage. You need to change them once over the weekend. Just dump out the old shavings, and line the bottom of the cage with a fresh layer.”
“Do we need to put newspaper under the shavings?” my mom asked.
“No. Just the shavings are fine. You should put fresh water in his water bottle once a day and put a handful of this hamster food in his little feeding dish each day as well.”
“What about the toast?” I asked.
“The toast? Freddy, what are you talking about?” asked my mom.
“Oh, Mrs. Thresher, we discovered that Harold likes toast, so feel free to give him some for a snack.”
“That’s the funniest thing I ever heard,” my mom said, smiling. “A hamster who eats toast!”
“Well, I think you’re all set,” said Mrs. Wushy. “Oh, wait! I almost forgot to give you the Hamster Journal.”
“The what?”
“The Hamster Journal. The kids record their weekend with Harold in this Hamster Journal, and then they share their adventures with the class. They can draw, write, take pictures and paste them in—whatever they want.”
“So now are we all set?”
“Yes, I think you have everything,” said Mrs. Wushy. “I hope you and Harold have a great weekend, Freddy.”
“Oh, we will!” I said, grinning from ear to ear. “I think it’s going to be a weekend I’ll never forget!”