Hi! Welcome to Peg Tales. I hope you enjoyed reading my other tales, "Moe the Crow" and "Snowy Footprints".

Kids in Kindergarten, gather round. I have a tale especially for you. It's about a little girl named Maggie and a guinea pig named Racer.

Here is "Weekend with Racer".

Maggie Crouse liked Kindergarten. She liked her teacher, Mrs. Woodly. She liked all her classmates. She liked coloring, doing numbers, and learning to read. But, Maggie LOVED Racer, the guinea pig. He was the class pet.

Every month Mrs. Woodly made a list of children who would be allowed to take Racer home for the weekend.

Racer had a carrying cage for traveling, and a larger cage for his home. In his home cage, he had a big excercise wheel. He was fast, faster than most guinea pigs. That's why he was called Racer.



Mrs. Woodly had owned Racer for several years. He was friendly and liked all the kids. He had been to many different homes on the weekends.

Now, it was Maggie's turn to take Racer home. She was very excited. Maggie loved animals. She once had a pet turtle and a hamster.

Friday, Maggie's mother picked her up after school. They loaded Racer's home cage into the car. Maggie carefully carried Racer in his traveling cage. She held his cage on her lap and talked to him on the way home.

When they got home, Maggie and Mom put Racer in his home cage. He jumped right on his wheel and ran as fast as he could. Maggie's brother, Rick, who was nine years old, called Racer a fat rat, just to tease Maggie.

Saturday morning, Maggie fed Racer and gave him water.

Mom said, "Maggie, you and Rick and I will have to go to the shopping Mall today. Dad's birthday is tomorrow and we must buy him a gift."

"Oh, I can't go," said Maggie. "I can't leave Racer. He'll be lonely. I need to stay with him."

"Maggie, you creep," said Rick. "You mean you'd rather stay with the fat rat than get Dad a birthday gift?"

"Now, let's not scrap," said Mom. "Racer will be fine without us. He can eat and have a nice, long nap. Don't worry, Maggie, he'll be okay."

They arrived at the Mall and Mom was about to get out of the car when Rick said, "Maggie, are you going to leave Racer in the car while we shop?"

"What?" said Mom, in her loudest voice. "Maggie, did you bring Racer along with you?"

Maggie knew she was in trouble. "I didn't think you'd mind, Mom. I have him in his traveling cage and I can carry him around with me. He'll love seeing the Mall."

Rick said, "Now we have a major problem.

"Well," said Mom, "We can't leave him in the car. It's much too cold for him. You'll have to take him with you while we shop. But we do have a major problem...they don't allow pets in the Mall."

"They have a pet shop, so there are pets in the Mall," said Maggie, hoping to make things better.

Mom, Maggie, Rick and Racer went into the Mall. They decided to buy Dad a book for his birthday. They went to the book store. Mom began looking for a book. Rick looked at comic books and Maggie and Racer went to look at Children's books. Maggie set Racer's cage on the floor. She looked at one book after another. She loved the colorful pictures.

Meanwhile, Mom bought the perfect book for Dad. She found Rick and they soon found Maggie still looking at books.

"There you are, Maggie," said Mom. "Come on, we're going to look for birthday cards."

Maggie put the book back and reached for Racer's cage. The door was open. Racer was gone!

"Where's the fat rat," asked Rick.

"What did you do with Racer?" asked Mom.

Maggie's hand went to her mouth. She was about to cry.

"I don't know what happened. The door to his cage must have come open. Oh, Mom, what will we do? Where did Racer go?" she cried.

"Don't panic," said Mom. "He can't have gone too far. Let's begin looking down the aisles very slowly. We'll find him, I hope."

Rick and Maggie and Mom walked down every aisle. Racer was nowhere in sight. Then, from the front of the bookstore, a lady let out a terrible, high-pitched scream.

"Help! Help!" she yelled.

Rick said, "Quick, I think we've just found Racer."

The three of them ran towards the screaming lady. So did the manager of the book store. The manager arrived first and said to the lady, "I'm Mr. Carlton Goodson, the manager. What's the problem, madam?" His eyes were bugging out and his eyebrows were going up and down.

"This rat-like creature came out from behind that bookshelf and ran towards me." the lady cried, clutching her throat. "I was scared to death. What kind of store is this? You have critters running around frightening people."

"I'm terribly sorry." said Mr. Goodson. "I have never had anything like this happen before. I have no idea what kind of animal or rodent could be in this store."

Mom stepped up to Mr. Goodson. "I'm the person who is terribly sorry. That critter was a very tame guinea pig. He should be in the cage my little girl is holding. Somehow, he got out and we must find him. Did you see which way he went?"

"Madam," said Mr. Goodson, straightening his glasses, which had fallen down his nose. "Animals are not allowed in the Mall. I'm going to have to report this to the Mall security guards. You have given this poor lady a terrible fright."

"I'm sorry again," said Mom. "But please tell me, which way did he go? We'll catch him and your troubles will be over, Mr. Goodson."

"He headed out into the Mall," said the lady. "I hope you get him before he terrifies someone else."

Leaving the lady and Mr. Goodson jabbering away, Rick, Maggie, and Mom rushed out into the Mall.

"Which way should we go?" asked Rick.

A high-pitched scream came from down the Mall to their left.

"That's Racer", said Maggie. "He just scared someone else."

"Let's go," said Mom. They fled down the Mall towards another screaming lady.

Mom ran right up to her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Did something frighten you?"

A huge, brown rat ran out from under that bench and came right at me," the lady said, waving her ams. "This Mall has rats. They better do something about it. I'm never coming back here again."

"Which way did it go?" Mom, Rick and Maggie asked, all at once.

"Why would you care? It ran down the Mall that way." the lady said, pointing.

"Thank you," Mom said. "That was not a rat you saw, but my daughter's pet guinea pig. He got out of his cage."

The three of them rushed off down the Mall looking under every bench as they went. Finally, worn out, Mom sat down on a bench.

"Kids," she said, "I have to rest. We've looked everywhere except in the stores. He could have gone into one of the stores."

Maggie began to cry, as she sat on the bench with Racer's empty cage in her lap.

Rick said, "If I was a guinea pig, I'd head for the pet shop to find something to eat."

"Yeah, Mom," said Maggie. "Maybe we should go to the pet shop. Racer could be there."

"Yes, let's go there," said Mom. "If someone found him, they might think he escaped from the pet shop and take him back."

They went to the pet shop. Mom explained to the sales lady what had happened to Racer. She wrote down their name and phone number in case someone found Racer and brought him to the shop. They lady promised to call them if Racer showed up.

Mom thanked the sales lady. They decided to buy Dad's birthday cards and go home.

On the way home, Maggie began to cry. Mom and Rick felt very sorry for her.

Mom said, "Maggie, remember what Aunt Helen always said when something was lost?"

"Yeah, I remember," Maggie said, wiping her eyes. "She said nothing is ever really lost. It's always somewhere and someone will find it sometime. But, Mom, what will I tell Mrs. Woodly and the kids at school?"

"We'll tell them the truth. We'll tell them what happened and we'll buy the class another guinea pig. First, let's keep thinking...nothing is ever really lost."

Rick began chanting, "Nothing is ever really lost, really lost, really lost."

Mom joined in and then Maggie. They sang their song of hope all the way home.

When they arrived home, Dad met them at the door. He looked very sad. "Maggie," he said, "I've been looking all over the house for Racer. His cage is empty and I can't find him anywhere. Then, a lady called from some pet shop and said a man brought in a guinea pig he found in the Mall. Can that be Racer? I'm really confused."

Maggie, Rick and Mom began laughing. They were so happy they clapped and shouted, "Nothing is ever really lost, really lost."

"Come on," said Mom. "We have to go back to the Mall and get Racer."

"Wait for me," said Dad. "You can tell me what happened to Racer on the way."

When they got to the pet shop they found racer in a huge cage running and running on a big wheel. They put him in his traveling cage, making sure the door was shut tightly. They thanked the sales lady and she pointed out to them the man who had found Racer, still sitting on a bench in the Mall.

When they went to thank him, he said he sat down to eat some peanuts he bought, and this little critter came out from under his bench. It sat right in front of him begging. He thought it must have come from the pet shop. He picked him up and turned him in.

Dad offered to give him a reward. The man refused. He was glad to help. He loved animals.

A very happy family went home with Racer. When Maggie put him in his home cage, she tickled his furry head and whispered, "Nothing is ever really lost, Racer. You're home again."

And, that's the end.

Remember two things, don't take a pet to the Mall...you might run into Mr. Goodson, and nothing is ever really lost.

Share a story with a friend...it's a gift!

See 'ya...bye,

Peg

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