Story Time – Lost and Found

Lost and Found

By Aarti Gosine

Stacey really wanted a pet of her own. All her friends in school had puppies and kittens. They were always talking about their pets and how much fun it was to have one. Stacey did not have any siblings and sometimes she was very lonely. She knew she would always have a friend if she had a pet.

One day Stacey’s parents decided to surprise her. They could not have a dog or a cat because of the rules of their apartment complex so they got something else. When Stacey came home from school one day, her mom told her to change out of her school uniform and take it to the laundry room to wash.

Stacey thought it strange that her mom was going to wash her uniform on a school day but did as she was told. As she opened the door of the laundry room, she squealed in delight. Sitting in the room was a hutch and in it was a fluffy brown mouse with pink ears and eyes.

As her mom entered the room to share in her daughter’s delight she was greeted with a big hug.

“Thank you, mom. Thank you.”

“Now this mouse is your responsibility. You have to make sure and feed him twice a day, change his water and clean his hutch.”

“Yes I will. I’ll take good care of him,” Stacey said, cuddling her new pet.

She spent the rest of the evening playing with the mouse. Later when her dad returned from work she introduced him to Snowy. Stacey kept her word and took very good care of Snowy. When she was leaving for school in the morning, she left him in the laundry room and made sure that the door was closed so that he could not get out.

She was very happy with her new pet and especially now that she could join in the conversations with her friends when they spoke about their pets. However, one afternoon Stacey came home and before even changing out of her uniform she noticed that the laundry room door was open. She rushed inside and could not find Snowy anywhere.

“Mom! Mom!” she yelled rushing into the kitchen. “Do you have Snowy? Did you let him out?”

“No I haven’t seen him. He must be in the laundry room.”

“He’s not there mom!” she said and broke down in tears.

“How did he get out? Did you make sure the door was closed before you left this morning?”

Stacey slouched to the ground. She had gotten up late and was going to be late for school so she had hastily fed him and changed his water. She could not remember if she had closed the door.

“I can’t remember mom,” she sobbed. “I was in a hurry. It’s my fault he is missing.”

Her mother tried to comfort her. “He must be here somewhere. Let’s start searching.”

With her mom by her side they started searching to entire apartment for Snowy. They when room by room but could not find him. Stacey started to cry again. It was all her fault. Her wandering mind started to imagine all the horrible things that could have happened to her pet.

“We will find him. Don’t cry.” Her mother tried to comfort her distraught daughter.

“We didn’t check the TV room yet,” Stacey said, drying her tears and clinging to some hope.

She raced to the TV room and started searching. As her mom started to push the couch aside, something white caught Stacey’s eye. She started feeling around under the couch. Suddenly she felt something nibbling her hand.

“Snowy!” she exclaimed as she pulled the mouse out and smothered him with hugs and kisses.

From that day on, she made sure to get up early and take care of him and to ensure that they door was properly closed. She was not going to lose her pet again.