Bobby had always been fascinated by little furry animals. His favourite was hamsters. He liked the way that they dig frantically into the wood shavings, turn a few rounds before settling down into little fur balls to sleep. He had asked Mommy if he could have one, she had patted his head and said, “Honey, we’ll see,” before walking out of the door for work. Little Bobby was sad. He wanted to have one very badly.
“Come, it’s time for school,” Grandpa told him. Sighing, Bobby went to get his school bag from his room. After the class had finished, Bobby walked up to Grandpa as usual. They started walking the path as usual except that they were not walking home yet. It was when they reached the pet shop that Bobby realised that they were not going home yet. “Why are we here, Grandpa?” asked Bobby. Grandpa smiled and opened the door to the pet shop, Norman’s Pets. They were greeted by a woman who asked them what kind of pets they were looking for. Grandpa smiled, “My grandson wants a hamster, can we take a look at them?”
Bobby stared wide-eyed at Grandpa. He knew! Excited, he followed the woman to the hamsters’ cages. There were so many of them! Some were sleeping on top of one another. Some were running in the wheels. Some were eating. “Wow,” was all he could say. There was one hamster which he loved at first sight. It had patches of brown and black all over. None of the other hamsters looked like it. It felt special. They bought it.
“Grandpa, what shall we call it?”
“I don’t know, Bobby. What name would you like?” Grandpa looked at him.
Thinking hard, his face lit up. “It’s a boy, right?” Grandpa nodded, Bobby continued, “I like Patch; he has brown and black patches on him.”
“Alright then, let’s get Patch to know you better, shall we?” They spent the afternoon playing with Patch. An hour before Mommy got home, Grandpa said, “Now, about your homework…”
“Oh! I have to write a story and draw my family.” Bobby locked Patch in his cage before running into his room to start on his homework.
~~~
“Dad, why did you get a hamster for Bobby?” Mommy asked Grandpa that night when Bobby was asleep.
“He wanted one, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but who will clean the cage, Bobby or you? Dad, there’s a smell that we can’t get rid of. Hamsters can’t be bathed.” Mommy was worried that the house would be smelly.
Grandpa just looked at Mommy and said matter-of-factly, “The boy will learn.” With that, he went to bed.
~~~
“Bye, Patch! I’m going to school now.” Bobby waved to Patch before setting off the school with Grandpa.
During recess, Bobby told his best friend, Andy, that he had a hamster. “Wow, your mommy allowed you?”
“No, Grandpa bought it for me,” Bobby beamed. Andy’s eyes grew bigger. “Do you want to see him?” Andy agreed, excited.
~~~
When they reached Bobby’s house however, Patch was not in the cage. The cage door was ajar. “Patch! Where are you?” Bobby shouted frantically. At that moment, Andy noticed a movement under the sofa. He went to take a closer look, and found Patch sniffing around.
“Bobby, I think I found Patch,” Andy picked up Patch, taking care not to let himself get bitten. He gave Patch to Bobby who chided Patch in a light tone, “Why did you not wait for my return? You nearly gave me a heart attack, Patch.” Patch didn’t seem to care and kept his best to get away from the cupped hands.
Meanwhile, Grandpa was done with examining the cage door. He let Bobby put Patch into the cage before locking it, for double protection, he clipped a key chain on the door. “That’s to make sure he can’t open it again,” he smiled at the two boys. “Now, shall we have some orange juice, boys?”
