First Pets: Wild Thing
Written By Jane Hammerslough
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The books Phin brought home from his school library began to take on a distinct theme, with titles like ASPCA Pet Care Guide for Kids and Dogs Working for People. I watched him sigh over the pictures of cute little puppies and felt downright sad. But not sad enough to actually agree to a puppy of our own.
Zach brought home our next pet in a birthday-party goody bag. What parent in his right mind believes that surprising another parent with a live goldfish in a plastic bag is a "favor" in any sense of the word? As the guy in the pet store explained, we now needed a hundred bucks' worth of tank, filtration systems, and chemicals, "unless you want your pet to die . . ."
The goldfish did die, in 11 days. Now we had an empty tank. Enter Gus, a Madagascar hissing cockroach. Horned, wingless, and great at emitting a loud, fierce — or was it romantic? — wheezing sound, Gus was longer than Zach's thumb. He wasn't cuddly, but at least my kids liked telling people they had a giant pet cockroach.
One night, however, Gus's hissing didn't stop. It grew louder. After a few hours it woke the kids. I hauled the tank down to the living room, moved aside Phin's library copy of A New Owner's Guide to Great Danes on the sofa, and sat vigil with Gus. Was he in pain? In love? One thing was clear: That bug could belt.
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