I knew my new pets would cause a stir, and since I didn’t have the energy to be brave that morning, I took Mr. Kangar and Ms. Roo the way back and there of course I met the person I feared the most: my sister!
“Now what,” said Katy, “you got there?”
“Nothing at all-that’s-good-nothing of interest to you. I’m sure of that,” I replied.
“Is it a prairie dog?”
“Katy, I couldn’t!”
“Hmm … Or one of Thim Pole’s cats?”
“Oh no!”
“A bird?”
“Katy, they are a couple of the most precious creatures you have ever seen. You will adore them.”
Katy was hesitant, but with sudden kindness she reached for the box that Cutie the prairie dog had been holding a long time ago. A shelf in the refrigerator was to serve as a lid again. I gently lifted Mr. Kangar and Ms. Roo into their new home.
“Rats,” Katy lamented, “Almost rats anyway. I won’t live in the same house with them!”
Mother rushed inside to see what happened.
“Either they or I are leaving,” Katy said. But the mother calmed Katy in her miraculous way and began the kangaroo rat regimen.
By night, everyone except Dad had fallen in love with Mr. Kangar and Mrs. Roo — even wonder of wonders, the cook.
“The dear,” he crooned. “It’s a shame to call you by such a disgusting name as a rat. You are little fairy things, all of you.” And he put the earth in his big hand caressing the gauze fur of Mr. Kangar. Even the little brother brought the Boy Scout troop to see Mr. Kangar and Mrs. Roo. They spoke in whispers, fearing to frighten those elven creatures. But Mr. Kangar and Ms. Roo were bored with so much attention. They let it be clearly understood that they were sleepy. Hadn’t her parents and all of her great-grandparents slept during the day? And here these absurd giants kept them awake. So Mr. Kangar and Mrs. Roo huddled in the darkest corner and fell asleep.
When I put straw in their box, they leveled it with their little white paws and then fell asleep again. The next day I convinced Ms. Roo and then Mr. Kangar to eat the grain from my hand. The cheek pouches were filled until they bulged, making their heads larger than their bodies. Its front legs worked so fast to get the grain that they were just a blur.