Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney Page B

room. ‘Nice and neat,’ he said.
    That was true. Mrs Brisbane’s room was always nice and always neat.
    Then he saw our table by the windowsill. ‘Oh!’ he said. ‘Aldo left me a note about you.’
    As he walked towards our table, I squeaked, ‘Where is Aldo? And who are you?’
    He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a carrot stick. ‘Aldo told me to give the hamster a treat – I guess that’s you.’
    ‘Of course it’s me,’ I squeaked. ‘Does anyone else around here look like a hamster?’
    He pushed the carrot stick between the bars of my cage.
    ‘Thank you,’ I said, even though I had no idea who this person was.
    The man scratched his head and looked around. ‘He said to give the frog something.’ Luckily, he spotted the jar of Froggy Fish Sticks. ‘Ah!’ he said. He opened the jar, took out a few sticks and threw them into Og’s tank.
    ‘BOING-BOING!’ my froggy friend said.
    The man scratched his head again as he stared at the tadpoles. ‘He didn’t tell me what to do about you.’ He leaned in closer to look at them. ‘Whatever you are.’
    I understood his confusion. ‘Who are you ?’ I squeaked.
    ‘Sorry I don’t know the ropes,’ the man said. ‘I’m just filling in for Aldo! His wife had twins. A boy and a girl.’
    ‘YAY-YAY-YAY!’ I squeaked. ‘Did you hear that, Og?’
    ‘BOING-BOING-BOING!’ Og replied.
    The man smiled. ‘Aldo said you guys have a lot of personality.’
    Aldo has a lot of personality, too. I tried topicture a baby girl who looked like his wife, Maria. And a son who looked like Aldo. Did he have a moustache like his dad?
    The man took his broom and began to sweep the floor. He didn’t do the funny things Aldo did – like balancing a broom on one finger. But he swept and dusted, straightened the tables and worked very hard.
    ‘I’m telling you – even if you can’t understand me – I really need this job,’ he said.
    ‘But it’s Aldo’s job!’ I squeaked.
    I was happy when Og agreed. ‘BOING-BOING!’
    ‘He’s about to graduate from college, and if he gets a teaching job, I hope I can move up to being a full-time caretaker,’ he said. ‘Right now, I just fill in when someone can’t make it.’
    He stopped talking, but I kept listening. After a while, he spoke again.
    ‘I have a wife and kids, too,’ he said. ‘The shop where I worked closed down, and I’ve only been able to find part-time work.’ He stopped and looked over at us. ‘Hey, why am I talking to a hamster and a frog?’
    ‘Because we’re listening!’ I squeaked.
    ‘BOING!’ Og said.
    The room looked fresh and shiny as the man stopped and leaned on his broom. ‘I’d do anything to get this job,’ he said. ‘As long as Aldo has a better job. He’s a good guy.’
    ‘The BEST-BEST-BEST!’ I agreed.
    The man was finished, but as he pulled his cart towards the door, he said, ‘My name is Bob. And I hope I see you again.’
    He switched off the light and I sat there in the dark for a long, long time.
    ‘Og, Aldo wants to be a teacher,’ I squeaked. ‘And I want what Aldo wants. But I never thought about him not being here every night.’
    Og leaped into the water side of his tank and splashed around.
    ‘If Aldo can’t be here every night, I hope Bob gets the job,’ I said.
    Then I moved towards the window and looked up at the moon. ‘I’ll miss Aldo so much,’ I squeaked. ‘But Bob needs a job, too. And he did give us treats.’
    ‘BOING-BOING!’
    I was glad that Og agreed with me.

12 Family Matters
    The next morning, my classmates ran over to our table to check on the tadpoles – and they didn’t even say ‘good morning’ to me.
    To squeak the truth, I was trying not to look at the tadpoles.
    ‘Look!’ Simon shouted as he raced to our table. ‘Wow!’
    I couldn’t help it. I hurried to the side of my cage to look at my neighbours. There they were, swimming around their aquarium. Their heads and legs had changed overnight.
    They didn’t