Big Ben The Mean Guinea Pig E-Book

A.E. Stanfill

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Justin has always wanted a pet. A dog a cat even a turtle would work.

His parents would always tell him no; he wasn't responsible enough for that yet. Until one day his Mom and Dad agreed to take him to the pet store.

That's when Justin saw him: the perfect pet. A guinea pig that was different from all the others. Colors, fur, looks and all.

That was the one Justin wanted, and that was the day his life would change forever.

The fourth book in A.E. Stanfill's Monster Files series, Big Ben The Mean Guinea Pig is a fun, action-packed story for readers of all ages.

Leseprobe

BIG BEN THE MEAN GUINEA PIG

MONSTER FILES BOOK 4

A.E. STANFILL

CONTENTS

1. A New Pet

2. Strange Happenings

3. In Need of Help

4. Ben Wages War

5. Magical Cage

6. A New Home For Ben

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About the Author

Copyright (C) 2021 A.E. Stanfill

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2021 by Next Chapter

Published 2021 by Next Chapter

Edited by Icarus O'Brien-Scheffer

Cover art by CoverMint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author’s permission.

1

A NEW PET

All I ever wanted was a pet. A dog or rabbit, perhaps a turtle, maybe a lizard. Any kind of pet would be great. But, as much as I begged and pleaded with my parents, they always told me no. I got the same old speech. “You’re not mature enough,” and “responsibility isn’t your thing.”

I got so mad every time. For crying out loud, I’m thirteen years old! And I’m an only child, with both my parents working all the time. Life can be boring. Also, a little lonely. But again and again, I got turned down.

Like being told no was going to stop me. My plan from then on out was to annoy my parents every day until they gave in.

With hard work and a little persistence, eventually, they caved. Not without arguing with each other at first.

My dad was sticking to his guns, while mom was tired of hearing me complain. It wasn’t like I wanted them to fight. However, it did work to my advantage.

They told me what kind of pet I could have. I had three choices: a white rat, a hamster, or a guinea pig. After I chose one, there would be rules. If I didn’t take care of the pet, or if I slacked even once, my parents would take my pet away.

“Let’s go to the pet store,” my dad sighed out. “Come on, Justin. We haven’t got all day!”

“Have fun,” Mom said, and looked at my dad. She smiled.

My dad shook his head. “Oh, you’re not getting off the hook that easily,” he said.

“Not going to happen,” she responded. My dad grabbed her arm and slowly pulled her out the front door. “I have to stay. There are things that I need to do,” she protested.

At the pet store, we walked around, looking at all the different animals and reptiles. The birds were cool, and the puppies were very cute and fluffy. My mom and dad pushed me past all of those. When I stopped to look at the snakes, they shoved me forward.

Both reminded me of the three pets I could have. I remembered what they told me. It was just fun to yank at their chains.

I looked through the mice and none of them were what I wanted. The hamsters looked lifeless and not very energetic.

That’s when I saw him—what I considered the perfect pet.

A pure black guinea pig … except for the spiky fur on top of his head, which was white. The guinea pig looked excited to see me when I walked up to the cage. There were others, but those guinea pigs didn’t seem to care about me being there.

“What do you think?” Dad asked when he walked up beside me.

“He looks cool,” I replied.

“He’s cute,” my mom said with a very fake grin. “Do you want that one?”

“Yes! He’s perfect,” I told them.

My dad went over to the counter to get some help. I could see him pointing at us and saying something to the lady. She glanced over towards us with a weird expression on her face. At first she seemed scared, but after my dad said whatever he said, she looked excited.

She grabbed a small cage and rushed over to us. Then, the lady fumbled with the keys to the larger cage until she found the right one and unlocked its door. The lady went to reach in, but the guinea pig jumped out and into the little cage she was carrying.

That was odd to me, but I brushed it off. I was just excited to have a pet. Before we left the store, my parents purchased a bag of feed, another bigger cage, and shavings for its floor.

I was so happy that I thanked my parents about a hundred times that day, even though I could tell neither one of them was happy with me. As I was sitting there holding the guinea pig in my hands, a name popped into my head.

Ben. Big Ben, To me, it sounded like the perfect name for him.

“Big Ben,” I said as I looked at the guinea pig, “Do you like that name?” His eyes seemed to light up while he stared at me. So, I took that as a yes. “Big Ben it is,” I said.

That night, I spent all my time with Ben. Why wouldn’t I? Ben was my new best friend and I didn’t want him to be lonely. When my mom called me down for supper, I brought Ben with me.

“That thing is not staying down here while we eat,” my mom said.

“But I don’t want to leave him alone,” I argued. “It’s his first night here.”

“I said no,” she snapped. “Take him back to your room!”

“I can’t—he’ll be lonely,” I insisted.

“No!” She shouted. “Do it now!”

Dad was quick to take Mom’s side. He demanded that I do as I was told. He looked irritated with me, probably because I was stopping them from eating. My dad gets cranky when he can’t eat his food while it’s warm.

Eventually, I gave in to my parents’ demands. Heck—I even tried refusing to eat, That didn’t work either. I grabbed the cage and reluctantly took him back to my room. Looking down at him, I thought he would act sad. Not that I knew what a sad guinea pig would look like.

His eyes seemed to glow red in the darkness. I swear he looked angry with me, but it was probably just my imagination. Ben turned his back towards me, making weird noises. I always thought guinea pigs were loud when mad, but Ben made quiet noises that sounded like whispers. It was odd. Even a little scary.

2

STRANGE HAPPENINGS

I spent the rest of the summer playing with Ben. We did everything together, and he met my friends. He went to movies with us—we found it odd that he loved popcorn. Not only that—he seemed to really be into the movies we would watch.

Ben was happy and I was happy. Also, I took care of him exactly as Mom and Dad wanted. I would clean his cage and feed him, but not the food you would think. Ben seemed to want the junk food I would eat. He would eat my chips, my candy, and he would drink my Coke.

Thought for sure those things would kill a guinea pig, but not Ben. He acted like it was normal for him. It didn’t seem to bother him, so why would I stop? Summer was coming close to an end and things were slowly starting to change. There were days that I had to leave Ben home alone, like when my parents took me out to shop for school clothes.