I am the mighty Napoleon! All others quaked where I tread. If I wanted the wheel, I got the wheel. The other hamsters cowered in the corners of our home. That's why my human selected me! And why he named me Napoleon! He also bought me a wonderful, very squeaky wheel.
Ah, how many nights I spent exercising inside my wheel! I have no idea, because, as you know, we hamsters don't bother learning to count. No, we just go ahead and do it and enjoy it. I'd heard my human complaining many times that he couldn't get any sleep, due to the constant squeakiness of my wheel. Well, he wasn't very smart! No self-respecting hamster ever sleeps at night. Why my human wanted to, I never could figure out.
But finally, one night he got up and turned on the light. I, of course, was runnng inside my wheel, enjoying the noise and the chance to exercise. 'Bout time my human got up and enjoyed the night, too. He removed the screen top of my tank. I stopped running and stared up at him with my bright beady eyes. Oh NO! He picked up the wheel and unceremoniously dumped me out of it! He removed it and then fastened the screen cover again. Then he turned out the light again and crawled back into bed!
I felt mightily bereft. What was I to do with the rest of the night? Go to sleep? Heck, no! That was out of the question! I sat in a corner and stewed. I resolved revenge.
That opportunity came the following morning. Again my human removed the screen top and reached in to pick me up. He liked to do this and hold me in his lap while he patted me. I hadn't minded this before. But revenge it was--and I BIT his finger! He yelped and tossed me back into my tank. Clunk went the screen top and two more clicks as he fastened the clips. Guess what? He didn't try to pick me up with his bare hands again!
One day not too long after this incident, my human was putting food in the tank and clipping the water bottle onto the top edge. He stuck the screen top back on, but I heard only one clip fall into place. I waited until I was sure he was gone for the day. I stood on top of the oatmeal cylinder in which I usually slept during the day. I gave a strong push with my nose and the screen top moved aside. I can flatten myself and squeeze through the smallest of spaces. So I proceeded to do just that.
Freedom! After I plopped on the floor, the first thing I saw was the space under his closet door. I ran under it and found myslf in the most marvelous mess of papers, clothing, and bits and pieces of goodness only knows what. This mountain of mess was so high I couldn't see the top of it. But I could burrow through it until I came to a back corner. And there I made my nest. That paper was marvelous to tear and chew up into just the right sized pieces. Soon I had myself a very nice fluffy nest.
When my human returned, I heard him exclaim loudly, "Oh no! Napolean got out!" Another human came in and suggested that he'd find me in that messy closet. I sure didn't want to be found again! I huddled in my nest, experiecing fear for the first time in my life! I felt the paper mess shifting all around and above me. But thank goodness, my human decided it was too much trouble to clean out the whole closet. So he put my food in a small bowl and hung the water bottle on the outside of my tank where I could reach it. Whew! Saved! |
