"DOUG'S HAMSTER"
by Beau Levitt

I had a friend named Doug. He was the proud owner of a pet hamster he called "Stumpy," so named because the poor animal had been born with an ineffectual pink peg in place of one of hi s hind legs. Doug claimed to love Stumpy, although he displayed this alleged affection by pulling out the bottom of his t-shirt and bouncing Stumpy up and down, sometimes several feet in the air, on the makeshift trampoline. He insisted that Stumpy loved this.

One afternoon after school, I stopped by Doug's place on the way home. His mom answered the door and told me he was upstairs in his bedroom. I went up and found Doug sitting on his bed, staring at the floor. I asked him what was wrong, but he just shook hi s head. I noticed that Stumpy’s cage was empty. "Where's your hamster?" I asked him. Doug didn't say anything, but he did flick his eyes briefly upwards at the ceiling fan twirling, twirling, twirling away above his bed.

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Trained as a librarian but currently working as an archivist, Beau's writing betrays the influence of the dustiest aspects of both professions. He currently lives in Toronto, where he combines his interests in beer and sleeping by drinking until he passes out.

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PREVIOUS WORK

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"EASY" by Miriam N. Kotzin

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