Read Trouble According to Humphrey for Free Online Page B

making a big mistake. “Not Miranda!”
    For once, Aldo didn’t get it. “I know, pal. It must have been pretty scary being out of the cage like that. Mrs. Brisbane will take care of it.” He folded the note and put it on her desk.
    My stomach was bumpy and jumpy, the way it feels when I have to ride the school bus with somebody. Aldo finished cleaning and ate his dinner, but I was so upset, I wasn’t even interested in the carrot he offered me.
    Aldo got up and pushed his cart toward the door. “Lights out, guys. Gotta save that energy.”
    After he left and the room was dark again, I squeaked to Og. “Thanks for trying to warn me, Oggy. Next time, I’ll pay more attention.”
    “BOING-BOING,” he replied.
    “I’ve got to get over to Mrs. Brisbane’s desk and throw that note away,” I told him. He twanged in agreement.
    I went right to work on unbending the paper clip. I used my paws, my teeth (ouch) and even my tiny pencil. I wiggled it, jiggled it, pushed it and pulled it. But by the time the sun came up, I was still locked in.
    I’d failed Golden-Miranda, a person who wouldnever do anything to harm me. (The same does not apply to her dog, however.)
    No wonder Mrs. Brisbane didn’t give me a real job. As a classroom hamster, I deserved an F for Forgetting-to-pay-attention-to-everything-I-was-supposed-to-do!
    EMPLOYMENT PICTURE BRIGHT
FOR HUMPHREYVILLE!
    Students start a variety of jobs today.
    The Humphreyville Herald

Miranda in Trouble

    M y paws were practically raw and my teeth ached from trying to remove that paper clip from my cage when I heard the doorknob turn, saw the lights come on and watched Mrs. Brisbane enter.
    “Morning, fellows,” she called out to us. She took off her scarf, her coat, her hat and her gloves and walked toward her desk.
    Aldo’s note sat squarely in the center of her desktop. It might as well have been screaming, “Read me! Read me!” I held my breath while she combed her hair, checked her face in a mirror and locked her handbag in a drawer. Then, she sat down at her desk. My whiskers drooped and my heart sank as she picked up Aldo’s note and began to read.
    “Oh!” she said out loud. “Oh, dear!” She studied the note for a while before walking over to my cage.
    “So, Humphrey, I hear you had an adventure last night.”
    “Not really,” I squeaked weakly.
    “Squeaking will get you nowhere.” She bent down and examined the lock on my cage. She tested the paper clip. “I see Aldo didn’t want to take any chances.”
    She turned toward Og. “I suppose you witnessed the whole thing.”
    Og stayed motionless. Good. He wasn’t going to squeal—or rather croak—on me. A true friend!
    Mrs. Brisbane was staring down at my cage when Garth and A.J. arrived (they took the same bus and always arrived together), with Sayeh and Tabitha right behind them.
    Mrs. Brisbane went to the door to greet the students as they bustled in and headed for the cloakroom.
    Kirk came in, then Seth, then Heidi and Gail (Heidi always waited outside until Gail got to school because they were best friends).
    Next Miranda came through the door, a practically perfect person who never did anything wrong on purpose and who was about to get in BIG-BIG-BIG trouble all because of me!
    I wished Ms. Mac had taken me to Brazil with her.
    Mrs. Brisbane went about the morning routine. First we studied the planets.
    I wished I was on the planet Mars instead of in Room 26.
    The teacher wrote out the words for our next spelling test. I almost fainted when she wrote the first one: trouble . Trouble was something I could spell. Trouble was what I was in. Trouble was what I had caused. My pawwas shaking and I wasn’t able to write all the words down. I wasn’t worried about next week’s spelling test. I had bigger things to worry about.

    By mid-morning, Mrs. Brisbane still had not mentioned the incident from the night before. Maybe she didn’t believe Aldo’s note. But that couldn’t be, because