(This story is brought to you by myself, my mother, and my father. Sadly, my sister doesn't have a say in this story because it would make me look VERY bad..) (Please remember, the "me" in this story was seven. I didn't have a clue about cause and effect. Nor did I have a conscience. Maybe I should just blame this on Jiminy Cricket since he was obviously boozing when he should have been on my shoulder..)
"Okay, Mom. The kid's in bed. Now tell me the story, or what you remember."
Mom looked up from her stitching, her eyes wide. "What story?" She was stretched out on the bed in our guest room, playing with her quilting project.
"You know, about Lee's gerbil."
Mom rolled her eyes. "What do you remember?"
"I remember that Lee brought home the class gerbil for the weekend, got the hankering for a pet of her own and you got her a black gerbil which she named Black Beauty, which still confuses me since she never saw the movie or read the book when we were that young."
My father walked in and settled down next to Mom. "I remember. We kept the gerbil's cage on the back patio since it used to claw up the shavings and make a mess."
"How long did we have it?"
"Not long enough," Dad laughed.
"And it was Lee's gerbil. She didn't want you touching it," Mom added, "and if you hadn't taken it out of the cage, the thing would have lived."
"But I didn't kill it. You did."
Dad laughed harder. "Yeah, but Jen, you let it out of its cage which led to its demise. You brought it all the way from the back patio to the family room-"
"No, the cage was already in the family room. Wasn't there a table in the corner?"
Dad pondered a second. "Yes, we had an extra patio table in there."
"The cage was on the table. I was alone. I wanted to pet the gerbil. So I took it out of the cage and brought it to the couch where I sat down with it. It ran up my chest, up the cushion and down the back of the couch. And that's where my memory fades." I turned to Mom. "So, how did you find out the gerbil was loose? Did I tell you?"
"No, your sister came screaming and having a fit, saying you had lost the gerbil."
"And then you killed it," I interrupted.
"Oh come on! I tried to catch it! I don't even like animals, and I did my best to capture it."
"By stepping on it."
Dad started laughing.
"It kept avoiding me! I moved left, it went right. I went right. It went left. And then it went right."
"Yeah, right under your foot."
"Ha ha."
"What do you remember, Dad?"
"I wasn't even there. I came home from work, pulled into the driveway, saw you sitting there on the front porch with your head in your hands looking so forlorn. When I opened the car door, I heard bloodcurdling screams coming from Lee inside the house. 'You killed my gerbil!' I didn't know what to think since Mom didn't like the dog we had. I had a second where I thought the gerbil just pushed her over the edge." He trailed off in a fresh peal of laughter as I joined him, Mom just smiling wryly.
Dad recovered to continue. "I just remember passing you by because of all the drama going on inside, never thinking about why Mom had sent you to the front porch since she NEVER let you out of her sight that young. It only struck me about WHY the look was on your face when I got the full story from Mom and your sister."
Mom snickered and pointed her finger. "See, Jen? It was YOUR fault!"
I shrugged. "Nope, still your fault."
"I tried to save-"
"You shouldn't have left me alone with the gerbil."
I didn't know it was possible to be grounded in your thirties..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, my dad corrected me. When I told the story last week about my dad trying to entice a hamster out from behind the bathroom cabinets with lettuce and carrots, (you would think by the above story, my parents would have learned their lesson about letting us have rodents as pets) it turns out he had actually used a dog bone which got the hamster out in record time. So, all of you rodent rounder uppers, and there are so many out there, try a dog biscuit next time you need to rescue Mr. Nibbles from the bowels of the washing machine.
And check out these Spins!
Joanie over at Joanie's Random Ramblings
Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings
Ginger over at When Ginger Snaps...
Jae over at Stinky Angels -Prom Spin!
Rikki over at Cowgirls Like Me
Robin over at Cinnamon and Honey
Jen over at Blissfully Caffeinated
Camille over at Archives of Our Lives
Janine over at Cape Veneer -New to the Spin Cycle!
Kingsmom over at Servant to a King
Mrs. Bear over at Outnumbered Two To One
Ginger over at When Ginger Snaps... -Ginger's a Grandma! Congrats!!!
Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings -Part II!
Rachel over at The Ramblings of Rachel
Rikki over at Cowgirls Like Me -A second Spin!
Wicked Step Mom over at Life and Times of a Wicked Step Mom -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Casey over at Half As Good As You -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Lisleman over at A Few Clowns Short -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Lisleman over at A Few Clowns Short -Updated today! Fresh Spin! A second Spin!
Kendra over at Life in the Slow Lane -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Shangrila over at My Bella Figlia -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Sarhi over at Random Wiggles -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Heather over at Geez Louize!!! -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Mama Badger over at Out of the Boondocks and Into the Burbs... -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Heidi over at Heidi's Hell Hole -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Jen over at Coconut Belly -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Bex over at Adventures of the Grigg Boys -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Laurie over at Storch Stuff -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Maureen over at A Chronicle of My World Travels -Updated today! Fresh Spin!
Pseudo over at Pseudonymous High School Teacher -Updated Saturday! Fresh Spin!
A big hello to the new Spinners and the veterans!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next week's assignment: Dating.
Best date, worst date, longest date, weirdest date, shortest date, date that never happened, date that almost didn't happen, the list is endless on this one!
Thanks to John for the topic. Yes, that's right. I asked him for a topic on Thursday night while standing in front of the microwave waiting for my 100 calorie bag of Kettle Corn to pop. And he came through!
So dig through your dried out flowers, movie stubs, and memories and meet us next Friday ready for a good time!
Remember, have your Spin ready by May 29! It's a date!
(Um, due to the Recession, we're going Dutch, okay?)
ohhhhhh, poor gerbil! Well, someday I'll tell you more about the gerbil (Houdini) in my spin. I bet you'll feel much better.
Posted by: Rachel | May 22, 2009 at 04:50 AM
A dog bone? I wish we would have thought of that!!!
http://lifeandtimesofawickedstepmom.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/spin-cycle-the…at-gerbil-hunt/
Posted by: WickedStepMom | May 22, 2009 at 07:09 AM
You know, I'm all animal friendly and stuff (yeah right), but if gerbils were to become extinct, that would be totally ok by me.
Posted by: Cameron | May 22, 2009 at 07:56 AM
That story just enlightened me on why my parents never let us have any rodents for pets...because my mom probably would have 'accidentally' stepped on it at some point... ;)
Posted by: Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) | May 22, 2009 at 08:27 AM
Has anyone else noticed that most of the truly horrifying pet stories involve gerbils?
Posted by: Libby | May 22, 2009 at 08:36 AM
oooh, good topic for next spin! now i just have to dig through all my horror stories...i already have an idea brewing in my head....hmmmm.
Posted by: gathering.dust | May 22, 2009 at 08:43 AM
We had a black kitten when I was in kindergarten and my mother killed it by accident, too. Fortunately, no one could blame that one on me.
I've already written about some dating horror stories; I'll have to see if I can come up with something else. If not, I'll just recycle it - the post is over 6 months old.
Posted by: Jan | May 22, 2009 at 09:16 AM
LOL-love the give and take between you and your parents! We had a hamster once that always ran to the EXACT SAME SPOT she s/he escaped: the closet we kept the dog food in-lol!
I'm up, sweets! http://mybellafiglia.blogspot.com/2009/05/spin-cycle-take-this-kitteh-and-call-me.html
Posted by: Shangrila | May 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Wow. I can relate to your mom and not wanting pets.
I am upp with my pets Spin addition "Batman is really.....Catman?" over at http://randomwiggles.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Sarhi Wiggins | May 22, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Oh that's priceless and very much a kid growing up story. :)
Posted by: Kyooty | May 22, 2009 at 11:07 AM
We've had two hampsters that have also met a tragic death....
I spinned...sorta...
http://www.geezlouize.com/2009/05/whatda-ya-knowits-finally-friday-whooo-hooo/
Posted by: Heather | May 22, 2009 at 11:20 AM
So, your mom killed it, in the end? Sounds like she has pet issues...
I have spunned...
http://outoftheboondocks.blogspot.com/
Posted by: mama badger | May 22, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Kids and gerbils always seem like a really bad mix in general. They're just too freakin' small and are asking to get squished. By somebody!
Posted by: Robin | May 22, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Remind me not to buy my son a gerbil.
I once had a parakeet that meet it's end when my grandmother put it by an open window (in Dec). That was rough when I was 7.
Posted by: K | May 22, 2009 at 12:03 PM
I wonder if a huge foot coming down on him reminded him of Godzilla? Probably not, since he was a gerbil and all.
Posted by: Casey | May 22, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Poor gerbil! Although I think mom should own up to her part in his tragic death. ;) The fur is on her foot...
Posted by: mrsbear | May 22, 2009 at 12:28 PM
I SPUN! We have special pets!
Posted by: Heidi | May 22, 2009 at 12:41 PM
the fact that your dad though your mom had "snapped" and killed the gerbil in a fit on animal hatred is just priceless.
Posted by: jenni | May 22, 2009 at 12:45 PM
That? Is awesome. Squashed gerbil supreme. Hug your mom for me because I love her.
Posted by: blissfully caffeinated | May 22, 2009 at 12:49 PM
oh my. i nursed a dying gerbil ... all night long ... until it finally gave up the next afternoon.
so ... apparently ... i took on your karma?
i'm up.
http://coconutbelly.blogspot.com/2009/05/jeremy-and-jen-plus-10.html
Posted by: jen | May 22, 2009 at 02:13 PM
Between you killing gerbils and Casey killing birds...I just don't know about you folks. Really. I'm not sure I can associate with you any longer.
*snicker* yeah right. I lost my hamster. Lost him. he was gone. I think he died behind the piano. See, I suck with pets too!
I love your parents. I can tell I would love them. They sound like mine. They need to start their own blog!
Posted by: Lisa | May 22, 2009 at 02:41 PM
in the eleventh hour! i was working on something else when my BFF's cat returned home from a 5 week sabbatical from domesticity (this morning!) so i wrote a whole new spin today!
http://griggboys.blogspot.com/2009/05/spin-cycle-diggery-doo-where-are-you.html
Posted by: bex | May 22, 2009 at 02:50 PM
i just read your gerbil story! poor black beauty! i thought that maybe you had stepped on it as i was reading. your mom rocks. it takes a real woman to step on a gerbil or a mouse or anything of the rodent variety!
Posted by: bex | May 22, 2009 at 02:54 PM
My hampster also had an unfortunate demise....poor little rodents!
http://storchstuff.blogspot.com/2009/05/spin-cycle-pets.html
Posted by: Laurie | May 22, 2009 at 03:10 PM
I'm so glad we don't have gerbils, but it's not for lack of trying on G and C's part. Blech.
They remind me of mice. I don't like mice.
:)
Posted by: Sammanthia | May 22, 2009 at 04:49 PM