Stories, Fables and Cautionary Tales #3

Gobie and the Deciding Kick (with, once again, sincere apologies to the "Musser"* Family)

dedicated to the three who commented on the last post

I begin rather than end with a word of caution: If you are a teddy bear hamster, either stay home, stay in your cage, or quit biting. If you are the owners of a teddy bear hamster, do due dilligence in finding an appropriate host family to care for the pet while you are away, making sure everyone in the host family is familiar with this particular rodent species. If you are the host family, take care that all family members are aware of the strange little visitor in the house and that all are able to identify the host pet. Otherwise, everyone should just stand clear.

When Gobie came to visit, he was confined to Kelle's room because he had a biting problem. He was consequently forgotten (kind of) by the rest of us. I could have saved Gobie's life but refused to leave the laundry room when Paul from the other side of the door yelled, "What is THAT?"(see the cautionary tale about the mice in our house). Paul had been out of town for a week and knew nothing about our little guest and had somehow missed the debacle with the trespassing mice. Someone didn't secure the latch on Gobie's cage door. Paul had never seen to identify a teddy bear hamster before, and it was his destiny to cross paths with the thing. His instinct (after yelling for me) was to protect his family (so he says).

It was a perfect storm.

*I've changed the name since publishing to protect myself and perhaps my husband. The "Musser" family has forgiven us, but I don't want to press my luck.