Ticktack-Toe

"Mom, Mom!" Raleigh said excitedly.

Yes sunshine?" replied mom.

"Guess what Guess what!!!" said Raleigh.

"What my sweet pea?" mom asked.

"To-tomorr-tomorrow," Raleigh said out of breath. "Tomorrow is "bring your pet to school day"" Raleigh said finally. "Could I please bring Ticktack"? "PLEASEEEE?"

"Raleigh, I don't think they would allow Ticktack at school....." Mom answered.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?????"😭 whined Raleigh.

"Because of the kind of animal Ticktack is..." replied mom.

Ticktack is a cute little hedgehog. She got her name because of her little spikes on her back. Ticktack is a beautiful brown color. She has the tiniest feet. Raleigh also LOVED the candy tic-tac's. So she named her hedgehog Ticktack.

"Can't you ask Miss Annika?" Raleigh said hopingly

"Ok baby, I will ask her," said mom.

Raleigh's Mom called Miss Annika hoping she wouldn't have to let Raleigh down.

"Hi Miss Annika? Yes yes this is Raleigh's mom. Nope Nope Raleigh King. Yes her. Yes actually she was wondering if she could bring her hedgehog Ticktack? She can? Amazing! Ok, alrighty, I will let her know. Thank you."

"Raleigh!!" mom called. "You can bring Ticktack tomorrow"

"SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!" Raleigh squealed. "TICKTACK!!!!!!!" "YOU'RE COMING TO SCHOOL WITH ME TOMORROW!!!"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK" Ticktack squeaked quietly.

The next day...

"Raleigh! Wake up" Mom called "Time for school!!!!!"

"UUUUUGHHHHHHHHH NOOO LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP!!!" "GOOO AWAYYYYYYYYYYY!" , complained Raleigh.

"Ok, fine I'll just call into your teacher to say you're sick..."Mom said jokingly.

"THANK YOUUUUUU!" Raleigh answered.

" That's sad. I really thought Ticktack would be excited to go to school." Mom reminded Raleigh

Raleigh sat up instantly.

"HAHA SIKE!" shouted Raleigh.

Raleigh got up got dressed, did her hair, got her back pack, got Ticktack and her cage, and was out the door.

When Raleigh got to school, she put Ticktack on her desk.

The teacher started to let the students introduce their pets to one another.

Raleigh got to her friend Mila's desk, who had a hedgehog named Toe. Toe was a lot like Ticktack, but had bigger feet. His hair is brown, well hair or quills.

Ticktack seemed to like Toe. They sniffed each other to decide.

It was time to switch, and Raleigh had to go to a new desk. Ticktack didn't want to leave Toe. Ticktack started to squeak and whine.

Raleigh had to pick her up and move her so she would move to the next desk.

After Raleigh finished going to all the desks, Raleigh thought she locked Ticktack's cage. She must have not gotten the latch all the way down.

When Raleigh was paying attention in class, and distracted from Ticktack, Ticktack snuck out to go find Toe.

During recess, they got to play with their pets in the classroom.

Raleigh looked down at Ticktack's cage to let her out. She saw that Ticktack was no longer there!

She looked everywhere except by Toe.

"Wait," Raleigh thought. "Ticktack didn't want to leave Toe. What if she is by Toe?"

So she went to Toe's cage. There was Ticktack hiding in Toe's cage!

"Ticktack, naughty hedgehog!" scolded Raleigh. "How did you get all the way across the room and in Toe's cage?"

"Oh," said Raleigh, "I must not have closed your cage tightly enough to lock the latch!"

"I'm glad you are here, but I sure wonder how you go into Toe's cage!!" said Mila.

"Should we let them play for a little while?" asked Raleigh. "They really seem to like one another!"

"Yes, sounds like an amazing idea," replied Mila.

Soon recess was over and they had to put the pets back into their original cages.

"I promise we will visit Toe and Mila again soon," said Raleigh.

"Great idea!," said Mila. "Let's plan to get together this weekend, if its ok with our parents."

After school, Raleigh ran home and told her mom all about it. She told her that Ticktack met a new friend, another hedgehog! She told her mom about Ticktack getting out of her cage and sneaking to Toe's cage during math. She told her mom how she looked all over and finally found her in Toe's cage. "We have no idea how Ticktack got out, across the room, and into Toe's cage!", explained Raleigh. She asked her mom about visiting with Mila the next weekend and her mom said it would be ok, as long as she could call Mila's parent to confirm.

Raleigh went to her room where Ticktack was in her big cage. The big cage had toys and her food and water. Ticktack liked carrots.

"I think I will get you a carrot after I eat supper" said Raleigh.

After supper, Raleigh returned to her room. She brought Ticktack a carrot and played with her for a while. Ticktack didn't want to play too much.

"Raleigh," mom called. "let's go get ice cream!" "you and Ticktack were so good at school, I think you deserve a treat!"

The next morning was Saturday. Mila and Toe were going to come over in the afternoon. Ticktack seemed to mope around in her cage. She wasn't interested in eating or playing.

That afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was Mila and Toe!

"Hi Mila, Hi Toe, why don't you come up into my room?" "I'm not sure what is wrong with Ticktack. She has been moping in her cage since yesterday."

"Toe has been also!", said Mila. "You don't think they are both sick? Do you?"

The girls ran up the stairs. As soon as the door opened to Raleigh's room, Ticktack knew something was happening. She started to squeak.

"Wow, you have energy all of a sudden, Ticktack." noticed Raleigh.

Toe started jumping around, excited to see Ticktack.

The hedgehog's played all afternoon in Ticktack's big cage. They played on the spinning wheel, ate carrots and cuddled when they got tired.

After a while, Mila and Toe headed home. The girls found out the hedgehogs were just lonely. Being unusual pets, there are not many hedgehogs around the town.

Ticktack and Toe got together a few more times and one morning when Raleigh and Mila had a sleepover they woke up and there were babies in the cage!!

But that's another story.

The End