"Good morning. Was your first night in your new home okay?" Terry asked Bianca as he peered into her cage.
Bianca's nose twitched eagerly, the sight of her new owner clearing all traces of sleep from her. She gave a little squeak and let the boy stroke her chin through the bars of her cage.
Bianca ate breakfast as Terry dressed for school. As he left the room he bid her farewell with a "See you when I get home! Be good!"
Bianca was sad to see him leave. It was a little while later, after Terry had eaten his own breakfast, when the front door slammed shut. Bianca made her way to the side of the cage which looked out the window of Terry's room. This window happened to peer out onto the front yard, which Terry was crossing at the moment. Another young boy met up with him and the two set off down the sidewalk, Bianca watching sadly the whole time. "I can't wait for summer vacation," she thought to herself. She knew school was important, yet she also knew that she was going to miss seeing Terry every day while he was gone. And this was just her first full day as his hamster! "What am I going to do?" Bianca thought, meaning both what would she do to keep herself busy each day while he was gone, and also what was she going to do right now.
She just happened to glance out the window again when something caught her eye. Two hamsters were scurrying across the yard! One was orange and cream colored, and the other one, who was a little bigger, was gray and cream colored. Shocked to see two hamsters running loose, through her yard no less, Bianca watched them until they were out of sight.
"Who are they? And what are they doing outside?" Bianca wondered. She watched and waited to see if they would reappear, or if any more hamsters would show up, but they did not.
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It was almost 3 o'clock when Bianca peered out the window again. She'd spent most of the day running in her wheel, chewing wood blocks, and napping.
She waited for Terry, but instead, saw the same hamsters she had seen that morning scamper across the yard. Bianca watched with fascination, until the sight of Terry making his way home distracted her from her fellow hams.
A few minutes later and Terry was in his room, happily scooping Bianca up out of her cage and letting her nuzzle his face.
"I missed you, Bianca!" Terry said. "A couple of girls in my class have hamsters, too, so when I told them about you they suggested we all get together one day for a hamster meeting. What do you think?"
Bianca gave her happiest squeak. Terry laughed as he let her scurry about
on the floor.