Hamster: A Dark and Twisted Children's Story

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"Hal and His Wheel"

flash fiction, (c) 2012 by C. N. Nevets

Hal is a hamster.  Hal lives in a cage.  It is a small cage.  The cage is in a house.  It is a big house.

One day, Hal finds a new place in his cage.  The place is pink and hard.  The cage floor is brown and soft.  Hal steps onto the new, pink place.

Hal starts to walk.  The pink place moves.  Hal keeps walking.  Hal does not move.

One day, Hal looks up.  He sees that the pink place is a wheel.  He is standing in the wheel.  He walks.  The wheel moves.  Hal does not move.

Day after day, Hal walks.  Day after day, the pink wheel moves.  Day after day, Hal does not move.

One day, the cage door is open.  Hal sees a plastic ball.  It is clear.  It can roll.  Hal thinks it can roll around the big house.  Hal walks off the wheel.  He walks to the cage door.  He walks into the ball.

Hal starts to walk.  The ball moves.  Hal moves, too.  The ball rolls around the house.

Hal loves the ball.  When he walks, it moves.  When he walks, he moves.  He is not in the cage anymore.   He is moving around the house.

One day, Hal looks up.  He sees how close he is to the top of the ball.  He looks around him.  The ball is not very big.

Hal walks.  The ball rolls.  Hal moves.  Hal is still inside the ball.

Hal cannot leave the ball.  He walks and walks and walks.  Always, the ball is around him.

The ball feels small.  Hal thinks it is too small.  Hal can walk.  He cannot stretch.  He cannot jump.  He can see the house.  He cannot feel the air.

Hal looks at his cage.  He looks at his plastic wheel. In his cage, he can walk and jump and feel the air.  In the ball, he can move.

Hal sees a mouse.  The mouse is walking around.  The mouse is moving.  The mouse is not in a ball.  The mouse jumps.  The mouse can feel the air.

Hal sits down inside the ball.

Hal watches the mouse.  The mouse is having fun.  Hal grows old and dies.