My Strange Adventure

You will never believe what had just happened to me! I was looking for Charles Di Boysenberry (my mother’s purple hamster), when suddenly a wall fell back right by my bed! Behind it lie a vast cavern full of riches and wonders. I decided that maybe Charles, who had a habit of taking my mother’s jewels and burying them under his little hamster bed, along with his hamster droppings. I was sure that our beloved family pet was in reality, a notorious jewel thief. Surely, he was in this giant cave. Part of me wondered how a cave had gotten onto the other side of my bedroom wall, for I was sure that the backyard had been there yesterday. Nevertheless, I stepped through the hole, only to find that there was no Charles, and it wasn’t even a cave at all! It was a pirate ship, sailing on the open water. I turned to go back into my room, but there was no hole there! Now, I was trapped here, in the middle of the ocean, with a bunch of scurvy pirates that would probably think I was a stowaway and throw me in the brig! What is a brig, anyway..? Ah, back on track. So, there I was, trapped on a pirate ship, and it was almost dinner time. I was certain that mother would be looking for me right now, and when she discovered that I had lost her dear Charles… But how could I tell her that it wasn’t my fault? I’d been cleaning out his cage when he somehow opened his hamster ball and ran off. I’d searched everywhere: the kitchen where he liked to eat food off the floor, Mother’s room where he snuggled with her sometimes, and I even searched the bathroom! Now, I was trapped in the middle of the ocean with no way to get home and my stomach was growling. I couldn’t go try to find food! What if the pirates saw me? They would make me walk the plank for sure! I wasn’t even dressed for a day of pirating. Maybe I could find some clothes… No, that would be stealing and then Mother would be even angrier at me. I was a good child, a never stole or lied… Well, maybe a little white lie once about not having taken a cookie from the jar before supper. But wait! That would mean I HAD stolen and lied! So I was a pirate after all! I walked out onto the main deck and looked around, only to find that there were no pirates after all, but the ship was being controlled by blue and red giraffes! The captain was at the helm of the ship, and he waved to me. “Aye, ye scurvy lass!” he yelled, motioning me over and brandishing his sword, “What ye be doing on my ship?” I stood frozen in place and stuttered out my story about Charles the hamster escaping, more surprised that these giraffes could talk than at being caught. He nodded and told me that he had in fact seen a purple hamster on the ship, but that it was too fast for them to catch. I assured him that I would catch the rodent for him, and then asked what so many giraffes were doing on a pirate ship. Since I had learned that giraffes were from Antarctica, I knew that we were in the Antarctic ocean. “We be plunderin’ for Canadian booty,” he told me with a grim sigh, his long neck bending sadly, “But we can’t seem to find Canada Island anywhere!” “I know where Canada is!” I told him, perhaps a bit too loudly. Now every time someone talks to him, they have to yell it. We agreed that if I helped him catch Charles and find Canada Island, then they wouldn’t toss me off the ship. We continued our journey when suddenly, we saw a humongous island with a giant flashing sign on it. THIS IS CANADA, the sign proclaimed, and in smaller letters, SHOP CANADA GIFT STORE. The giraffes all thanked me and set about to their pillaging. I was about to get off the ship, when suddenly, Charles skittered past me! He was on the gangplank and I tried to catch him, but then a giant green elephant (I later found out that his name was Daisy) stepped onto the ship and sent us overboard! I braced myself, preparing to hit the water but instead found myself on a forest floor, surrounded by all kinds of humongous plants. I looked around but there was no sign of my pink hamster anywhere. Oh, did I say pink? I meant purple. You see, I once painted our pet pink because I thought it was a better color for him. To this day, he still has flecks of pink in his coat. I ran down the overgrown path, searching for him and calling out his name, but it turned out that I was just running in circles. Then, I heard the beat of a drum and smelled food. My stomach growled again, and I was reminded that it was supper time, almost dark. Mother was probably looking for me and Charles and here I was lost in the American jungle! I decided that the only way for me to get home was to go towards the sounds and the delicious smells. I ran and ran, crawling under bushes and climbing over rocks, when I finally reached the village. I knew it had to be Tokyo, because there were little pygmy people like on the Woody Woodpecker cartoons Mother watched when she was a child. They were dancing in a circle around a big pot and there was Charles, swimming in it with some orange and white soap chips. I realized that it was the village pool, and that the pygmies were playing ring around the rosie while they waited. I ran over and joined the villagers in there game. Oh, I wished that I had thought to bring my bathing suit! “Unga, gleeba glumba!” one villager cried, pointing at me with a big baseball bat. They began to chase after me, yelling in gibberish. Luckily, I was fluent in gibberish and could understand what they were saying. “Nyuka breeka breeka!” one yelled, and I stopped short. I was dessert? But wait, that meant that Charles was dinner! I looked towards the pot, but he was gone again! I saw rustling by a hut and knew for sure that he must be in there. I ran into the hut but stopped short as I entered. I wasn’t in a hut; I was in a pyramid! Countless riches surrounded me and I thought again about my poor hamster. I circled through the maze of the tomb looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found! I was sure I had searched everywhere, both for the little rodent and for a way out, but it didn’t look like I would ever get out of here. I felt so tired, like I had been here for hours. Well, I probably had. Oh, Mother had probably called all the neighbors by now, and possibly my policeman uncle Bill. She must be so worried… I stopped suddenly, lifting my head up as I heard a sound from the hallway next to me. I ran down it, coming to rest in a big room. A mummy sat at a chess table, playing against himself. I was about to back away, but he spotted me. “Will you play with me, little girl?” he pleaded with a sad look in his black eyes, “A little purple thing was playing, but he said he had to leave…” I nodded, anxious to learn where Charles and gotten off to again. I sat down and he began the game. I tried my hardest, but I had never played chess before, and I was oh so tired. “Checkmate!” he yelled happily as I laid my head down to rest. Mother was going to be mad that I hadn’t found him and that I wasn’t home yet, but I had to get some sleep…
I sat up, rubbing my eyes sleepily. No more mummy, no chess game, nothing but walls and dolls. I was in my own bed, in my room. I ran into the kitchen, where mother was fixing breakfast. Charles was in his ball at her feet, squeaking happily as I set down at the table. “You missed supper last night,” Mother said, handing me a plate of bacon and grits. “I started to come wake you up, but you were so quiet I knew you had to be asleep. What DID you do yesterday to be so exhausted?” she laughed, ruffling my hair. I said nothing and just looked at Charles, the cute little brown hamster with those pink flecks in his fur, smiling at him. And you know something? I could have sworn that he was smiling right back.