A Hobby for Jenny

A Hobby for Jenny
Written by Lisa Shepard
Illustrated by Rosalie Beard
“I can show you what you’ll need,”
said Dennis as he came around the counter.
Just then Jenny called out to her
mother. “Mom, come see this.”
“I’m coming,” said Nicole.
When Dennis and Nicole found Jenny, she was looking in
a cage that contained one small, curly-haired animal.
“Mommy, please, can I get this one?”
“I don’t know, honey. What kind is it?”
Dennis said, “She’s a breed of curly-haired guinea pig. She
just came to us yesterday. Sometimes we get really good quality
guinea pigs like this one from local breeders.”
“I don’t know anything about guinea pigs,” said Nicole.
“Are they small and quiet?”
“They will weigh about two pounds, but they do make
squeaky noises,” explained Dennis.
“Honey, that‘s a little bigger and noisier than we planned.”
“Two pounds is not that big,” begged Jenny. “I don’t think
she’ll make too much noise. She’s such a sweet little girl.”
“What are their squeaky noises like?” Nicole asked Dennis.
“They make noises that sound like a bird.”
“Mom, I’ll do everything to take care of her. Please?”
begged Jenny.
“Okay,” sighed Nichole, “You do all the research on the
internet on how to care for her.”
“Okay, okay.” Jenny excitedly jumped up and down.
“Dennis, could you show us what we’ll need for our new
guinea pig?” asked Nicole.
“There are kits you can buy that come with everything you
need to get started. I’ll show you,” said Dennis as he led them to the
end of the isles. On the shelf were boxed up cage kits called My
First Home. These kits had pictures on the boxes of their contents
and what kinds of animals they were designed for.
The next morning Nicole and Jenny entered a small pet store.
“What about this one?” Nicole asked Jenny as she pointed
Jenny quickly headed to the small animal cages without saying a
to the first one she saw.
word. She drifted along the row of cages as her mother went
Jenny peered down at the boxed up cage and read its size.
directly to the checkout counter to talk to a store employee. The
“It’s not very big, Mom. Shouldn’t she have room to play in it?”
store employee smiled at Nicole and said, “Good morning and
“I don’t know. Get the one you want, but remember it has
welcome to our store.”
to
fit
in
your
small room.”
“Thank you,” said Nicole as she read Dennis’s name tag.
“I
want
this one because it’s big, but it will fit in my
“Dennis.”
closet.”
“How can I help you?” asked Dennis as he thought to
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
himself how frail like a ballet dancer the woman looked. She was
“If you’re all ready, I’ll put the guinea pig you chose in a
thin and pale with dark hair. Her face was pretty, very doll like.
“I promised my daughter a small animal as a pet, perhaps a carrier,” said Dennis.
“I think we’re ready,” said Nicole, but she sounded
hamster. You see we live in an apartment but I thought that if it was
uncertain.
small and quiet we could have one.”
Nicole watched as Dennis lifted down a card board box
“I understand,” said Dennis, who had heard this before.
carrier,
the
kind she had seen used to transport cats. The box also
“I need to know what kind of cage to get and food.”
Nicole took a seat in the apartment manager’s office.
She was
there to sign the paper work on a new apartment. As she sat down,
she looked around at the dingy cream-colored walls. The office was
little more than a closet. It had no windows and was lit by a single
light bulb hanging in the middle of the ceiling which was turned on
by pulling a small dangling chain.
Before Nicole signed papers the manager handed her, she
read the lease agreement. She carefully read all the rules of the
apartment: No knickknacks in the windows, only patio furniture on
the patios or balconies. No flags on the patios, no toys, no shoes and
no towels used after swimming left to dry on the patios. Even
though it was a pet-friendly apartment complex there was a twenty
dollar a month per pet rent on dogs and cats. This was the part of the
lease that she read with care.
Nicole’s daughter Jenny had become so shy since her
father died. Her teacher told Nicole she no longer spoke out in class
and she had become a loner. Nicole had noticed that whenever she
and her daughter went anywhere together Jenny never addressed
anyone directly. She would talk to people through her mother.
When Nicole asked her why she did not make friends with the other
children at school, she said she felt different now because she had
no dad. She said when the other children asked her about her dad
she had to tell them he had died. Then they treated her differently.
Jenny was only eleven but she was very bright and Nicole
was determined to get her into college. But, she needed to get her
involved in something to get her out of her shell. Nicole was hoping
she could have some kind of pet, a fish or bird. Not a cat or a dog
because of the extra rent came along with owning one. Since the
apartment was pet friendly, she would not let the other rules bother
her. Nicole signed the last of the papers.
JACBA V14 — I1 Winter - 2010 Page 38
had a logo of a dog and a cat on it. Nicole
became concerned that it would look like she
was bringing home a cat. “Is there a carrier
that is less obvious that it contains an
animal?” Nicole knew she had the right to
own a small pet, but she would rather avoid
trouble from nosy neighbors.
“We do have carriers for sale that
look like a purse.”
“I think we should get one of those
to carry her in. Can you show them to us?”
“Sure.”
Once in their car Nicole told Jenny,
“When we get home, you take the guinea pig
upstairs to the apartment. Then come back
down and help me get the cage upstairs.
Okay?”
Jenny nodded her head as she
smiled down at her new pet.
Once they had the cage upstairs,
Nicole went to work putting it together. She
was very handy with such things because she
made her own picture frames and painted
canvases. When the cage was done, she went
back to her painting.
surprised at how long the cavy’s curly locks
had grown.
“Morning, Mom,” said Jenny as she
sat on the edge of her bed dressed and ready
for her trip outside with Gabrielle’s old,
soiled bedding.
“Didn’t you say Gabrielle needed
more food?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t we take her in her
carrier to visit the pet store and show off
how beautiful she is?”
“Okay.”
On their way out to the pet store,
Nicole found a note from the manager
tacked on her door. The note was notifying
her that the maintenance man was going to
enter the apartment to check things on
Tuesday.
“Mom, what is it?’
“The manager is informing us of an
apartment inspection. Someone will be
entering the apartment today. He must have
left the note on our door last night.
“I didn’t see it there when I took
the trash out.”
“It’s okay. We’ll be at the pet
Later, Jenny got busy on her lap top
store.”
researching her new pet.
The cow bell on the pet store door
“Jenny, did you put your new
clanged as Nicole opened it for Jenny.
guinea pig in her new cage?”
Dennis came up from the back of the store to
“I named her Gabrielle and she’s in see who had entered the store. “Good
her new home in my closet. Mom, it says
morning!”
here on this web page that she needs fruits
and vegetables everyday for the vitamin C in
them.”
“I think we have some in the fridge
to get by until we go shopping tomorrow.”
“Mom, you should see the long hair
Gabrielle’s breed gets. On this web site it
says to mist the hair everyday using a
sprayer bottle. And they are not really called
guinea pigs, they’re called cavies, and
Gabrielle’s breed is called a Texel.”
Nicole looks at the web page,
“Reminds me of how you take care of
permanent waved hair. It looks like a
person’s hair with spiral curls too.”
“It looks like doll hair to me. I want
Gabrielle to have long, curly hair.”
“It says here that, if you want long
pretty tangle free hair, the cage has to be
kept clean.”
“I will,” said Jenny as she closed
her lap top and headed for her bedroom
door. She turned and said to her mother,
“This is so much fun, Mom!” Jenny
scampered off to bed.
Six months later, Nicole entered Jenny’s
room at pre-down to wake her. She looked at
Gabrielle’s freshly cleaned cage. She was
JACBA V14 — I1 Winter - 2010 Page 39
“Good morning,” said Nicole.
“Who do you have in there?”
“We brought Gabrielle so you
could see her. Jenny, let me show her to
Dennis,” said Nichole.
Jenny gave her mother the carrier,
“I’m going to get her food. I want to see if
they have the good food I read about on the
Internet.”
“Okay,” agreed Nichol, and then
she lifted the carrier up so Dennis could see
Gabrielle. “Isn’t she pretty?”
Dennis looked in the window of the
carrier. “She has grown. Why, look at those
curly locks of orange hair, and her fluffy
round face with curls flowing off the top of
her head. Why, she looks like curly haired
Pekingese dog!”
“She does look like the old
fashioned sculptures and paintings of those
dogs, doesn’t she?”
“Why don’t you enter her in a
guinea pig show?” asked Dennis.
“A what?”
“A Guinea pig show, we got the
notices for one just last week.” Dennis
pulled a flyer off the bulletin board and gave
it to Nichol. “It only costs three and a half
dollars to enter one guinea pig in the youth
show.”
“Jenny, come check out this flyer.”
“Mom, I found the healthier cavy
food!”
a great show pig.”
While Nicole worked to build a
show board for her daughter using the tools
she had on hand, Jenny filled out and mailed
off an entry form she printed up from the
online show catalogue. When Nicole was
done with the frustrating task of making a
show board from scratch, Jenny began
training Gabrielle to stay on the show board
for her favorite treat. However, Gabrielle
was a natural at behaving like a show cavy.
said Nicole as she opened her apartment
door and went in. She was hoping Jenny
hadn’t heard what this man said, but she
found her standing just inside the door with
Gabrielle and all her travel stuff. Her face
was all sad and concerned. Her lower lip
was in a pout as if she was one step away
from crying.
“What are we going to do, Mom?”
“Get in the car. Come on, let’s go
to the cavy show.”
“But, where will we live now?”
“I know the rules and we haven’t
The morning of the cavy show, Jenny got broken any.
He thinks we have a cat or a dog
up early as always and took out the trash.
in Gabrielle’s cage. I’ll straighten it out with
Then she and her mother got ready for a day the apartment manager when we get home.
at a cavy show. Nicole packed up food and
But we’re not going to be late to the cavy
drinks for the day because she was not sure show over this mix-up.” Before Jenny could
what would be available at the show.
get more upset Nicole picked up Gabrielle’s
Meanwhile, Jenny got Gabrielle ready to
show board and ushered Jenny out the door
travel. On her way back from loading
closing it behind her.
folding chairs and their picnic in the car,
The cavy show was held outdoors
Nicole turned around at the front door to
but was fully covered by awnings. The show
find the apartment maintenance man.
tables for the judging of the cavies were set
“You scared me,” exclaimed
up in the middle of the pavilion. All around
Nicole.
the judging area, the cavy exhibitors had set
“I told the apartment manager that up their cavy carriers around their folding
you have a small pet cage in your apartment. chairs. The judge’s tables were tall but not
He wants to see you about the rules of this
wide. There was just enough room for the
apartment.”
cavy holding pens and a carpeted space in
“I know the rules of the apartment.” front of each set of holding pens for
“They are cracking down on
examining the cavies. When the long coated
Once at home Nicole found the note left by unauthorized pets, you know?”
cavies were brought up to the table, these
“I do not have an unauthorized
the maintenance man stating he had done the
holding pens were removed and each cavy
pet,” said Nicole
inspection of their apartment. Jenny put
was brought up on its show board. If all the
“You could receive a thirty day
Gabrielle back in her home in the bedroom
exhibits of one breed could fit on the table at
eviction notice.”
closet then rushed to her lap top to Google
one time they were all brought up together.
“I’ll talk to the manager about it,”
cavy shows. She found instructions on how
The tables were all set to waist high and the
to enter and what was needed to show a long
coated cavy. “Mom,” she said with concern.
“It says here that we need to have a show
board for Gabrielle.”
“A show board?”
“See?” said Jenny as she turned the
computer so her mother could view the
picture of the show board.
“Do they give instructions for
building one?”
“Yeah,” said Jenny as she scrolled
down the page to display building
instructions. “It says we’ll need plywood
pine boards and burlap. Can you build one?”
“If I can stretch canvas for my
paintings, I can cover a board in burlap. I
only have a hand saw so we can’t use
plywood to cover the top. We’ll use my
staple gun to cover the top with thick card
board we can cut with scissors.”
Jenny gave her mother a concerned
look.
“Don’t worry, I can get it done.
You just take care of training Gabrielle to be
“She researched cavies on the
Internet,” Nicole told Dennis. “Jenny learned
breeders prefer feeding their cavies only the
very best.” Even though Jenny knew Dennis,
because they regularly came to this pet store,
Nicole noticed that she still would not
address him directly.
“Really,” said Dennis, “I didn’t
know that.”
“Jenny, how would you like to
enter Gabrielle in a local rabbit and cavy
show?”
“Mom, I’d really love to. Can we?”
“Sure,” said Nicole who was
enjoying seeing her daughter brighten up.
“Mom, when we get home, I’ll
look up cavy shows on the internet.”
“Look up how we fill out an entry
form.”
“I will.”
“Also look up 4-H groups in our
area.”
“Why?”
“So we can meet other people with
cavies.”
Jenny frowned.
“You could learn more from other
people who show cavies.”
Jenny’s look of doubt did not
change.
JACBA V14 — I1 Winter - 2010 Page 40
judge stood behind them facing the exhibitors so they could move
about as they looked over the animals.
Jenny watched the judging to try and learn as much as she
could before her turn came to show Gabrielle. Gabrielle was entered
in the youth cavy show which was for young exhibitors like Jenny.
When Gabrielle’s class was called, Jenny became quite nervous, but
her mother helped place Gabrielle on her new show board the way
the other exhibitors were doing and brought her up to the show
table. There were many other Texels on the table with Gabrielle.
The younger Texels were put in the holding pens because
they were too immature to sit still on a show board. There were so
many Texels that they covered more than twelve feet of the judging
table.
Gabrielle was over six months of age so she was entered in
the oldest group of cavies, the senior class, down at the far end of
the table. Jenny was still nervous as she stood at the table with
Gabrielle. When the judge, came to the Texel classes, he looked up
the table once at Gabrielle, then he got busy judging the curly haired
younger Texels and never looked at Gabrielle again.
Jenny’s heart sank as she looked at the other Texels on
their show boards. She fluffed out Gabrielle’s curls so they looked
long the way the other exhibitors did. Gabrielle sat still and statuelike on her show board. Jenny thought that her pet felt sad and
rejected so she bent down and whispered to her, “You’re still the
best to me.”
When the judge examined Gabrielle he was brief and then
left her to go back to the other Texels. Jenny saw that the judge was
awarding the prizes to the junior classes and dismissing the ones
who did not win. Jenny stood tall and braced herself to be dismissed
because she just knew the judge did not like Gabrielle.
Then while the judge was admiring the black Texel’s coat,
a light breeze picked up. Just as the breeze came up Gabriela raised
her fuzzy round doll like head. The breeze lifted up the long curls
trailing off the crown of her head. As her curls floated up in the
breeze Gabriela looked around at the other exhibits. The motion of
her head turning fluffed her flowing curls in the breeze. The judge,
seeing her locks flowing free in the wind, placed his hand on
Gabriela’s show board. The judge was so quick with his decision
that Jenny almost did not register it when he said, “This will be my
Best of Breed Texel and best in her class.”
The crowd clapped and Jenny, who was about to take her
pet away in disgrace, felt her mother hug her from behind.
“Remember to bring your Texel back up to the table for the
Best in Show judging,” said the judge as a stunned Jenny took
Gabrielle off the table.
Back at their area, Jenny prepared to put Gabrielle away
when someone behind her said, “Congratulations on your win.”
“Thank you,” said Jenny.
Nicole looked at Jenny. She was surprised to hear her
readily talk to someone she did not know.
Later, the loud speaker called out for youth Best of Breed
winning cavies to come back to the table for Best in Show judging.
Once again, Jenny got Gabrielle back out of her carrier.
She put her on her show board and headed back to the judging table.
As Nicole headed over to the judging area, she looked at
Jenny with Gabrielle at the judge’s table. All the other young
exhibitors were there with their cavies. Jenny was right in the
middle of the group, happily talking away, about her cavy.
Nicole smiled.
Isaac Pratt
ISAAC’S GRANDMA IS
ROSALIE BEARD
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