Read Online Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney - Free Book Online Page A

sometime,’ she said.
    As I hopped on to my wheel and began to spin, I heard Mrs Brisbane say something I didn’t expect.
    ‘Would you like to take him home now?’ she asked. ‘Over the Easter holiday?’
    Cassie was speechless. I was squeakless.
    ‘What do you think?’ Cassie’s mum asked.
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Cassie said in a soft voice. ‘I would love that.’
    ‘I think Humphrey would love that, too,’ she said.
    I was still squeakless. I’d planned on spending a nice, quiet week with the Brisbanes and Og. Suddenly, that wasn’t going to happen!
    ‘Do you know how to take care of him?’ Mrs Brisbane asked. ‘I have some instructions you can take with you.’
    Cassie’s hands were shaking.
    ‘It’s a big responsibility,’ her mum said.
    ‘I want to,’ Cassie said. ‘More than anything! Can Og come with us?’
    Og hopped up and down. ‘BOING-BOING!’ he said.
    I think he wanted to go home with Cassie, too.
    ‘Well, Mr Brisbane and I would be very lonely without one of the classroom pets,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Let’s share.’
    Cassie nodded, and before I knew it, her mum carried my cage out to the car. I barely had time to squeak, ‘So long, Og!’ on my way out.
    I did hear a distant ‘BOING!’

    All of my friends are excited when I come visit their homes. So am I.
    But I don’t think anyone was ever as excited to take me home as Cassie was.
    She was so excited, she was swinging my cage a little too much for my wobbly tummy, but I understood.
    ‘Where should I put him?’ she asked as she carried my cage through the door.
    ‘In your room, I think,’ her mum said.
    ‘I hope I can take good care of him.’ Cassie set my cage on her desk.
    ‘You will,’ her mum said.
    ‘You’ll do a hamster-iffic job,’ I squeaked.
    Cassie got right to work, filling my water bottle and smoothing out my bedding. Shestraightened my wheel and gave me some vitamin drops, which are yummy!
    Later that night, her older sister, Cammy, came in to watch me spin on my wheel.
    ‘I need to exercise, too,’ Cassie said as she ran on the spot.
    Cammy joined her, and pretty soon, the whole room was shaking!
    After dinner, Cassie got into her pyjamas and came back to her room.
    ‘Would you like me to read you a story?’ she asked. ‘I love reading stories.’
    I didn’t know that, but I enjoyed listening to her read from her fairy-tale books. The first story was about a little girl who was so tiny, she was no bigger than a thumb.
    As a tiny hamster, I could understand how unsqueakably scary it can be to be so small, but it had a happy ending.
    Then she read a more disturbing story about a frog prince. A princess doesn’t realize that the frog is a real prince until she finally kisses him and he turns back into a prince.
    ‘Isn’t that a happy ending?’ Cassie asked as she closed the book.
    I had nothing to say. The thought that Og could be a prince or that a princess would kiss him was – um – disturbing.
    ‘I love happy endings,’ Cassie said.
    Just then, her mum popped her head in the door. ‘Time to go to sleep,’ she said. ‘Have you brushed your teeth?’
    ‘I have,’ Cassie said.
    Cassie’s mum tucked her into bed and turned off the light.
    ‘I’m so happy to have Humphrey here, I’m not sure if I can sleep,’ she said.
    Her mum suggested she try the breathing exercise Mrs Brisbane had taught her.
    Once we were alone, I heard Cassie say, ‘Come on, Humphrey. Let’s breathe.’
    Actually, I breathe all the time. But that night, we did it together.
    ‘Breathe in slowly,’ she said. ‘Hold … and slowly breathe out.’
    We repeated that several times, but after a while, I didn’t hear Cassie any more.
    I was sound asleep.
    I think maybe she was, too.

10 Spectacular Signs of Spring
    Spring almost ruined my week at Cassie’s house.
    Don’t get me wrong; she took excellent care of me. She even took me out of my cage, which I enjoy, especially when my friends make mazes for me to run.
    But