Butterscotch and Squeaky Wheels

“Aww, wook at da puppies, Mommy!” Ellie cried. “Can we go see dem? Pwease?” Ellie tugged on her mother’s sleeve.

“We can look, but Justin already has a dog. We’re not going to get another one,” Mom said as she opened the door to the pet store.

Ellie skipped straight to the window where the puppies were. She watched them romp and play. “Mommy.” Ellie looked up with pleading eyes. “Can I pwease get a pet fo’ me?”

Mom thought for a moment and looked around the room. “How about a hamster?”

Ellie squealed and jumped around. “Yes, yes, a hampter! I get my vewwy own hampter!” Then she stopped and asked, “Mommy, what’s a hampter?”

Mom smiled. “It’s a hamster, with an s. These over here are hamsters.” Mom led the way to another little window where Ellie stood on her tiptoes and peered in. Tiny furry creatures ran back and forth, busily munching on seeds and running on little wheels.

Ellie was fascinated by the fluffy little balls that moved around on teeny-tiny feet. “I wan’ dat one, pwease.” Ellie pointed to a fuzzy, orangey-brown hamster. It had a white face with a pink nose that quivered as it chewed on a sunflower seed.

“He’s cute,” said a shopkeeper standing nearby. “Shall I grab him out for you, ma’am?” he asked Ellie’s mother.

Mom sighed then said, “Yes, please.”

Ellie clapped her hands in glee. “I’m gonna have my vewwy own hampter!”

“Yes, you are little lady,” said the shopkeeper. “But I’ll tell you a secret.” The shopkeeper drew Ellie closer. “See this little guy?” he whispered to Ellie.

“Uh huh,” Ellie whispered back.

“He likes quiet voices. If you talk too loud, you might scare him. And you don’t wanna scare him, right?”

“No,” Ellie replied softly.

“Then I think he’ll like you.” The shopkeeper gently put the hamster into a carry box with a handle while Mom picked out a cage for him.

When Mom and Ellie got home, Ellie raced out the back door to find her dad and her brother, Justin. “Daddy! Jussin! Come see my new hampter!” she shouted.

Dad and Justin came in to see what Ellie was talking about. They gathered around the kitchen table, watching as Mom laid paper on the bottom of the cage and poured wood shavings in.

“What’s dat fo’, Mommy?” asked Ellie.

“It keeps the hamster warm and cozy,” Mom replied. Finally, she opened the little box and set it down inside the cage. The whole family peered through the clear sides of the cage to watch the fuzzy creature as he crept out of the box to explore his new home.

“Cool! He’s cute, Ellie,” said Justin.

“What are you going to name him?” asked Dad.

“Buddascotch!” said Ellie proudly.

“That’s a good name for him,” Justin agreed. “He’s the same color as the butterscotch syrup we put on our ice cream yesterday.”

Ellie watched her new pet all afternoon. Mom helped her feed him a piece of carrot, then Ellie got to pet him.

“He’s so soft,” said Ellie as she held her little friend. “I wuv you, Buddascotch,” she whispered.

The next morning, Ellie hopped out of bed and ran straight to the hamster cage sitting on her dresser. “Good mo-ning, Buddascotch!” she called and peeked through the cage window. But to her surprise, Butterscotch was nowhere to be seen. “Where are you?!” Ellie cried.

Ellie ran to her mother’s room in tears. “Mommy, Mommy! Buddascotch is lost!” Her parents hurried down the hall to Ellie’s room. They peeked into the cage, but they didn’t see any hamster either.

“Oh dear!” said Mom. “What’ll we do?”

“Well,” said Dad, “first let’s look around in here. He might just be under Ellie’s bed or curled up in the closet.”

Justin soon joined them, and they all searched Ellie’s bedroom, looking high and low for the little lost pet. Ellie crawled under the bed and felt around in all the corners. Mom looked through the laundry basket while Dad checked behind the dresser. Justin felt around in the closet. When his fingers touched something small and fuzzy, he shouted, “I think I found him!” He grabbed the furry thing and pulled. Out popped—a sock. “Ahh! Sorry, it felt like a hamster.”

Everyone heaved a huge sad sigh. “Wow! He’s a sneaky little thing, isn’t he?” said Dad.

Suddenly, they heard a strange noise— squeak, squeak, squeak. Ellie jumped up and sprinted to the cage. The rest of the family followed. There, inside the cage, the fuzzy little hamster was running as fast as his tiny, pink feet could go. Squeak, squeak went the wheel as it whirred round and round.

“He’s here! Buddascotch is here!” Ellie shouted joyfully as she danced around the room. “Yay! He came back!” Ellie ran around giving happy hugs to everyone.

“I don’t think he was ever gone,” said Justin, pointing into the cage. “See? There’s a hole in the wood shavings where he was hiding.”

“I think you’re right,” said Dad. “Butterscotch was sleeping where it was nice and cozy.”

“But now he came out to get some exercise,” said Mom. The family watched Butterscotch jump off his wheel and nibble on a seed from his dish.

“He’s eating his brekfus,” said Ellie.

“Yes,” said Mom. “And I say we should eat breakfast, too. Come on, everybody. Let’s celebrate with waffles and butterscotch syrup!”

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