Best Friends

By Amina Ali Syed

One day Emily was walking in her compound when she heard a noise.

“Who’s there?” she immediately asked.

“Squeak!”

The voice came again. This time she thought that she’d rather roam around and check from where the voice was coming from.

She went behind a bush and stared. A squirrel was standing there! There were no squirrels in that compound so she decided that she would take this squirrel home and feed it and pet it.

The poor squirrel must have got lost, she thought.

She entered her house. Her mother was making a cake.

“Who’s that cake for, Mom?”

“Oh, have you forgotten?!” her mother asked in surprise.

“Forgotten what?”

“By the way, what’s that in your hand?”

“Mom, I found this poor squirrel behind a bush. Can we please feed it and keep it as our pet?” asked Emily. “Or it won’t be able to live, since there aren’t any things for a squirrel in the compound.”

“Okay, and if you are responsible, then we’ll also get you another pet, one that you want. Because we know you love pets, dear,” her mother said.

The next morning was bright and perfect for a poor animal that had lost its way, and almost got run over by cars.

Emily thought that she would give the squirrel a bath. Her mother said that she would help her. They had decided to call the squirrel “Butter” because it was soft and fluffy.

Now they were in the bathroom, ready to bathe Butter. As Emily got the water ready (not too hot, not too cold), her mother fed Butter biscuits.

“Mom, I’m done with the water! Should we start now?” Emily asked.

“Of course.”

Emily put Butter in warm water. Then her mother took out some liquid soap.  She rubbed it on Butter with Emily. Soon after its bath, Butter was perfectly clean.

“Oh my! That was hard work!” Emily said.

The next day, her mother told Emily to go outside with herself and her father to the park.

Emily agreed and said that she’d be only too glad to. “But with Butter,” she insisted.

When they reached a big and perfect park, her mother took out a shopping bag. When she opened it, it was a cake!

“Happy Birthday!!” her father said.

“Oh my! How could I forget it was my birthday? And that’s the reason you were baking a cake, Mom!”

They ate the cake and had fun.

After a month, Emily had proved that she was ready for her own pet.

Her mother told Emily to get in the car with her and her dad. Emily sat in brimming to the top with excitement.

They parked right in front of the pet store. Emily ran inside even before her parents got out. They went inside and looked at the animals. She wanted them all! But she liked the cat, a parrot that repeated what you said, and a furry rabbit. She liked these three the most.

Her mother told her that she could buy only one of the three animals. Emily chose the one she liked most. It was the cat. She decided that she’d call the cat Paws.

After they had reached home, Emily made her new pet make friends with Butter. “Paws, this is Butter!”

Then they had fun. They played, they went to parks, they went to shopping malls!

- Total nr. of readings: 2,274 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.