It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Part I.Current mood:quietI used to teach second grade. One afternoon a former student showed up with a tiny baby Teddy bear hamster in a shoe box. His mom wouldn't let him keep the new litter (Who could blame her? They are worse than rabbits!) and he was 'sure' I'd like a classroom pet. Of course I would. Who could turn down such a tiny, plaintive puff of blonde cuteness? So Puff began her sojourn in room 17 in a shoebox.The next morning, I brought an old Habitrail from home, which of course I had, being the mother of a future professional animal rescuer. We provided Puff with water, food, litter, toys, exercise wheel, the works and left for the evening. The old Habitrails were/are made of clear plastic with circular vents and attachable modules providing infinite ways for the thing to break. The next morning it was obvious that the sweeper had bumped the crummy tube attaching Puff's sleeping module to her gym module. The tube was askew and Puff was nowhere to be found. 28 heartbroken seven-year-olds and their guilty teacher searched everywhere. I informed the office and neighboring teachers so they would know whom to notify when they found the tiny corpse, and life went on in room 17. With sadness. And gloom. And vile self-blame on the part of the teacher who was too cheap to buy a pricey new hamster set-up. Just before lunch one of the boys went to the wall sharpener to sharpen his pencil. His cries, "I found her! I found PUFF!" filled my heart with dread. ("Please, god, let her be asleep!) Poor Puff had exited her cage to newfound liberty only to fall from the edge of the table smack into the plastic bag lined wastebasket below. She had apparently thought to chew her way out, which left her falling through the plastic bag into the bottom of the waste can, where she had curled up and fallen asleep. A groggy and confused Puff was gathered up, dusted off and put into a hastily repaired cage. Yay, Puff! But this was just the beginning of the long and harrowing life of our little blonde buddy.