The Adventures of Henry the Hamster

Hello future readers,

This past Friday, Miss LaSalle asked if I could please take Henry, our class hamster home, since I'm the only one who hasn't had a turn yet. You see, there's a good reason for that. My mom doesn't like hamsters. Can you believe  that? She says they're too much like mice and rats, and she won't allow them in the house. But I really love Henry and I wanted a chance to take care of him before the end of the school year. So...I told Miss LaSalle I'd take him. I know, I know...I shouldn't have done that. But hamsters are pretty quiet, and there was a good chance my mom wouldn't find out. I met my friend April after school. She carried my book bag home, so I could carry Henry's cage.

My mom was in the kitchen when we came in. Really quick I said, "I'm home, Mom", and we ran up to my room. So far, so good. I set the cage down and took Henry out. My dog Boomer wanted to see what was going on, so he jumped on my bed.

While April and I were talking, Boomer kept sniffing at Henry, so I sat Henry down on my bed.

At first, everything was OK. Boomer was sniffing away and Henry kept scampering between my legs. Then all of a sudden, Boomer started barking, and he wouldn't stop!

Henry got so scared, that he ran under the bed and wouldn't come out! I put Boomer out in the hall, and then April and I tried to get Henry to come out.

Every time we reached for him, he'd scurry to the other side of the bed. Finally I put his food dish down by my bed to lure him out. His cute little nose peeked out and sniffed the food. When he came out to eat it, that's when I grabbed him.

I put the cage up on my bookshelf so Boomer couldn't get at it if he came back in. But I think Boomer must have gone down to the kitchen and barked some more when I put him out. My mom came upstairs to see what my crazy dog was barking about.

My mom took one look at Henry and said, "Julie Ann Newman, what is that RAT doing in my house?" I told her Henry wasn't a rat he was a hamster. She said it didn't make any difference, and I knew better than to bring him home. She made me call Danny to come and get Henry, and sent April home.

I was in BIG trouble. Not just sitting through a lecture kind of trouble...this was not being allowed out of my room trouble. I was grounded for the entire weekend! Except for meals, the bathroom and Sunday School, I wasn't allowed to leave my room ALL WEEKEND! And I couldn't watch TV, play my records or tapes or use the phone either! My mom said I should use this time to think about how wrong it was to disobey her. She also told me I had to spend at least 2 hours Saturday and Sunday studying. This was just too much! I know I deserve to be punished, but come on! I wanted to beg for a lighter sentence, but I knew if I opened my mouth, I would have made things worse. Well, my mom can be a very groovy person, but if you get on her bad side, watch out! (sigh) I guess there's nothing I can do except tough it out. This weekend was really gonna be a drag.

At least I got a new issue of Dynamite magazine yesterday. I'll study tomorrow. I'll write more when I get out of "prison".

Until next time, future readers,
Your "grounded" friend,
Julie Newman