My Life & Pets
By Artemis Harbert
5th Grade
1. Slippers
When I was five years old, my sister Elissa and I had been bugging our parents about getting a dog. They seemed tired of it, because they eventually gave up and took us to a pet store. And even though we really wanted a dog, we were extreamely happy to get what we got. And I think it’s a good thing we didn’t get a dog. We got a rabbit. A little white one with black points. “Oh, what should we call him?” my sister asked.
“How about Fluffy or Sweety?” my mom suggested.
“He’s a Boots for sure!” my dad exclaimed.
I preffered the name King Tut. Anyway, we tried all the names, including Muffin, Cuddles, and Hairy. We were all almost sure he was a King Tut when Mom said, “I’ve got it! Slippers!” And so, he was Slippers.
I worshipped him. I made toys for him, and I even tried to get him a little bonsai apple tree. Or better yet, a bonsai banana. Little did I know, they don’t exist. Slippers loved cherrys, bananas, apples, and peanut butter-chocolate girl scout cookies. My mom found his autobiography he had written.
Slippers tolerated most of the stuff I did. You must remember, I was five at the time. I dressed him in doll clothes, stretched him, posed him, and refridgerated him. He was a real rabbit. Not the kind you find in petstores todays. He wasn’t a tiny, fluffy, cuddly, slow hopping, live one month and die bunny. He was a large, smoothcoated, fast running, smart rabbbit. His wild ancestors lived in the Himalayas. Running to escape predators. He live for three years. Then, die of a heart attack, shortly after my kitten, Sunny ded. But Sunny is another story.
2. Gold,
Silver, Bronze
When I was six, I remember, it was a warm spring day. My dad was cleaning the attic windows from outside. I was playing outside when three pink squirky things dropped near dad. He looked at them and called my mom.
“Rats!” he said. “We have rats in our attic!”
Mom said, “Yuck, lets flush them down the toilet.”
At that point, I ran inside to get Elissa. After a long argument with mom and dad, it was decided that Elissa and I would take care of them. We picked the three baby rats up carefully and made a bed out of cold socks for them. We thought of names for them. And since it was right after the Olympics, we named them Gold, Silver, and Bronze.
After taking care of them for a while, we decided they were awfelly strange looking rats. They had long, bushy tail, and soft grey fur. They also had extremely good climbing skills, for rats. I still don’t know why they were like this. Elissa kept telling me they were squirrels, but I don’t believe her. Dad said they were rats, they were rats.
I noticed that Silver was the only one growing up well. Bronze was dead. And if you have noticed, being dead is bad for your health. Gold had developed a large lump on her rear leg. We had to give Gold to a lady who could cure her. Silver was fit and trim. She was looking more and more like a squirrel every day, and I was worried about her.
“What strange thing would cause a rat to look like a squirrel?” I asked.
Elissa replied, “I told you, she’s not a rat! She’s a squirrel!”
Well, maybe she was a squirrel, but I didn’t know. Eventually, were heard from somewhere, that Gold had been cured and put into the wild. Well, we were glad. And Silver was almost ready to be released. We kept her in a big cage outside near a tree. Every afternoon, we would let her out. Every evening she came back. Finally, we decided it was time to release her for good.
And every time my family has seen a squirrel, we wonder could it be Gold or Silver, or maybe one of their relatives.
3. Sunny
When I was about seven years old, I wanted, yet another, pet. My new pet would be perfect. My new pet would not die, would be loyal and would rescue me from danger. Then I found out that these pets were not real, so I got a cat.
An orange cat. We named him Sunny. He didn’t deserve that name, though. He was thin and scraggly. And his cat food smelled bad. He got run over by my dad within a week. I cannot say I was happy, but I neverr really wanted the orange cat. I wanted the black cat. I got the black cat.
4. Sassifrass
No! This chapter is not about gardening. It is about my little black cat. She was the sweetest. She was so soft and cuddly. Running up to you and rubbing on your legs. When you picked her up, she would purr in your ear. We named her Sassifrass, Sassy for short. She was with us only for a short time, sadly. Then we found out she was a he. It was too late to change the name, so he was a Sassy. Still, my cousin had two he-cats named Monica and Lacy.
Sassy was always such a frisky thing. And he still is. And you know what? My little black cat is till my little black cat. He is also my little black cat. And you can probably guess that he is still black. And you definetly have to know he is still a cat. And if you don’t, I suggest you throw yourself into the loony bin. Especially if you thought he was a dog.
5. Teotihuacan
Yet again, I wanted another pet. This time, my pet would be a big, outdoor dog. Elissa and I begged for hours, and our parents thought, “Well, maybe.” But then the maybe turned into an absolute “no!” When my dad thought about setting up a fence. After a while Elissa and I thought, “What about a small indoor dog?” We didn’t say anything, though. We didn’t want to lose hope.
One day, we went to Ed’s Pet World. I usually go and look at the kittens, but this time, something caught my eye. A tiny dog. Elissa and Mom had spotted it too. “Oh, a Chihuahua, I used to have on of those!” she said.
“Oh, it’s so sweet,” Elissa said. Elissa and I looked up at Mom. “Please?” we both said.
Mom said “We have to see what dad thinks first.” And the next day, we went to pick her up. Then we had to name her. Twas a hard choice between Tenochtitland and Teotihuacan but we decided on Teotihuacan, because I couldn’t pronounce Tenochtitland.
I have never regretted getting a chia, but mom isn’t crazy about the constant barking and growling. Or the horrid stench of the dog. Teo, her nickname, is always so sweet. I hope she lives a long time.