Ariel Strauss
It happened to be the year 1999, and the Strauss family had received a lovely hamster named Yankel. She was brown and white, and just the sweetest little pet. When the Strauss family heard that they were going to be getting a new pet hamster, they bought a new cage for her, hamster food, and brand new cedar chips. Although the Strausss were incredibly excited to get a new pet in their house, and they anticipated on keeping her for many years, they soon learned that their seemingly perfect pet was not so perfect.
The day Yankel joined the Strauss family, she was very docile, and she just liked to be coddled. She did not bite, she ran on her wheel like a good hamster, and she squealed just like every other baby hamster does. The Strauss' truly enjoyed her companyíŸÓuntil she became a nuisance. The new cage that the Strauss' had gotten her turned out not to be so ideal for a hamster because she constantly tried to escape, and many times, succeeded in doing so. She had torn holes in the cage, and the first time she escaped from her cage, she was found shortly, after. The Strauss family had bought her a new plastic cage, and she cut through that one as well, but this time, the StraussíŸÙ did not have as much luck finding her this time.
Yankel was no longer a great hamster because she drove her family insane. Yankel was biting through all her cages until one day she actually was able to escape for quite some time. Nobody in the household knew where the hamster went, and even the family dog, Sushi could not sniff out the troublesome hamster. Hours went by, and still no sign of Yankel, then days went by without any sign. Where could she have gone?
When Yankel escaped, the Strauss' knew that the range of where Yankel could have gone was very limited. Due to YankelíŸÙs tiny frame, she could not have possibly climbed a flight of stairs, so the upstairs and the basement were ruled out. Also, even though Yankel was tiny, she could not fit into the tiniest of places, so little creases in the walls were ruled out. It was days, and there have been no sightings of Yankel. Every step the Strauss' took at night, they were afraid of stepping on the tiny little creature, but fortunately, that did not happen.
It was nearly a week since Yankel had been missing, and the Strauss' thought for sure that the hamster was dead. All three of the Strauss children thought the hamster was dead and had accepted the fact that they had lost their first pet hamster. All was well, until one day, mysterious actions started to happen. The refrigerator stopped working and then started, the water and ice line in the freezer stopped working, and nobody could understand why this was happening. Finally, Mrs. Strauss knew that this was not normal, and decided to pull out the refrigerator, and there she was, nibbling away at the wires, the long lost hamster, Yankel Strauss.