Pets

The screen door slammed. Small feet pounded up the stairs and went up to the bookcase. Flip. Flip. Flip. The pages of the encyclopedia turning. The heavy book closed with a thud and the small footsteps raced back down the stairs and out the door. He soon raced back inside.

“Mom, I found a pet. Look!” The small boy held up a glass jar. A small grass snake writhed inside.

“That’s a snake! It goes outside now!”

“I looked it up. It’s a legless lizard. It gots eyelids."

“Snake! Out!”

He sighed. “It would have been a great pet.”