You Name It

“You can name it “
“What! I don't want anything to do with it”
“Oh mum” nine year old Jessica whined. “Dad said if you named it you would bond with it.”
“Well your Father was wrong and he was wrong to go behind my back and let you have an animal without talking it through with me, Where is he anyway?”
“He's putting the car away”
“Hiding more like because he knows I'll be furious.
It will have to go back”
“No way Mum No please you can't do that”
“I think I just did Jessica so you can tell your Father to get the car straight back out and take this thing with you.”
“It's not a thing it's a hamster”
“It's a ratty micey thing and it's not staying in this house”
Jessica could see her mother was serious and tears started to form in her eyes,
“Crying will get you nowhere” Janet said rather more sharply than she meant, but it was just too bad. David should never have let Jess bring it home It really was the last straw.
Jess couldn't move she knew her mother was getting angrier by the minute but she couldn't quite get her legs to work either and she stood there helplessly holding a small box from which noises were beginning to emerge and out of which to Janets horror two ears, two eyes, a nose and whiskers appeared.
She took an involuntary step back and demanded that her daughter take it back to the shop immediately in a voice that would have scared a Tyrannosaurs Rexa let alone a little beast that weighed less than five ounces.
Terrified the hamster leapt out of the box as Janet and Jess screamed simultaneously, Janet in horror and Jess in concern. David who had been standing outside the door counting to a hundred and then another fifty had been hoping that if he counted high enough the crisis might pass and Jess would win her mother round. But when he heard the screams he knew that his best laid plans had gone seriously wrong and he was in deep trouble.
Going into the living room he found Jesss scrambling on the floor trying to see where the hamster had fled to and Janet barking orders from the kitchen doorway
Seeing her husband her rage instantly reached the next level of decibels and intensity,
“This is your fault. The bloody thing has escaped and goodness only knows what damage it will do. You pull one more stunt like this and I swear David you'll be packing your bags”
Jess in the mean time was desperately looking under the sofa and behind the television but the hamster had well and truly disappeared.
It took two hours for David and Jess to get sight of it and then like a Tom and Jerry movie they chased it from one hiding place to another. Thankfully Janet had gone to Waitrose for a free coffee, leaving them to it. But she was sure to back any minute and as much as he loved his wife, David knew if they hadn't caught the escapee by then there would be disastrous consequences.
Suddenly Jess gave a whoopee of joy, “I've got him. I've got him, look he's there Dad and he can't get out.”
David could see a little fluffball wedged between the pile of books he had kept meaning to put away and the statue of Buddha which was so heavy it was there for life
He watched as Jess carefully put her hand into the space and gently picked up the hamster who seemed resigned to its fate and didn't struggle as it was put back into the box in which it would be transported back to the pet shop. Jess was just going to get back up off her tummy and ease herself out from the corner when she said excitedly 'There's something else here hang on a minute dad.
Triumphantly she pulled out a ring. It was Janets late mothers and it had been missing for months. Janet had worn it a few times then lost it which had caused her great sadness as it had been her mothers favourite.
Just as Jess retrieved the ring Janet came through the door
“Have you caught the wretched......"
She didn't finish the sentence because she spotted the gold ring in her daughters hand.
“The hamster found it” Jess said.
Her daughters eyes were pleading with her and she could feel her husbands gaze fixed on her too.
The hamsters future was hanging in the balance and she suddenly found she couldn't speak.
“Please mum” Jess said
“Alright alright” her mother gently conceded
But you name it!