Maggie and the Pink Rat. Märt Saar

top drawer held her school supplies; nothing else was there.

      The second drawer had her crafting things, and nothing else was there either.

      That left the third and fourth drawers, but Maggie knew there couldn’t be anything in the fourth. That one was completely filled with bars of soap that she had collected, and it smelled like a delightful summer flower garden. That meant the scratching had to be coming from the third drawer, which held only a puzzle, if she remembered correctly.

      Then the drawer opened!

      As soon as it cracked open, a nose poked out. It was long and had a sharp tip, and Maggie knew that shape was called a cone. It started sniffing here and there, gathering information about the room, as if wanting to find out what was in store.

      The girl’s heart pounded in her chest like a drum solo, but she had to pull the drawer open wider. The cone crept out farther and farther until suddenly, out popped a head. It was pink!

      Squarish ears, buttonlike black eyes, and long red whiskers. And that same long, pink nose that never stopped sniffing. The animal seemed somehow strangely familiar to Maggie. She opened the drawer all the way and finally the creature appeared in all its glory. It twitched on the puzzle box, its nails making little scraping noises. It almost looked as if it was ready to jump out, but as soon as it saw the girl, it held itself back. They just stared at each other.

      The animal’s body was long, and its legs short like a Dachshund. But at its hind end was a long wriggling tail, which was suspiciously rat-like.

      And finally she recognized the animal! It was the same one she had drawn in kindergarten! She had named the picture Pink Cat, but looking at it now it seemed more like a pink rat. Maggie had to admit that the animal did have similarities to her picture.

      “Come here, let me hold you.” She gathered her courage again and lifted the animal carefully onto her knees. It yielded and stood there on four legs. Its feet felt warm, and Maggie liked it.

      “You’re the Pink Rat!” declared the girl, just like that, and looked at it with admiration. Okay, so it looked a little funny, a bit like a kindergartner’s doodle, but since it was her very own pet, that made it very special!

      Maggie realized suddenly she didn’t itch and didn’t sneeze. For her, that was a big deal.

      3. Eight pieces of popcorn

      Maggie showed the Pink Rat to her parents in the morning, when they were in the kitchen. Mom was drinking coffee and Dad was making porridge.

      “Look what I got!” Maggie beamed.

      “What is that?” Dad asked. He seemed not to notice the sticky drips from his spoon that were falling the floor.

      “It’s my new pet, Pink Rat,” explained Maggie and pet the animal. It had buried its snout under her arm. It seemed to be afraid of her parents.

      Now Mom chimed in: “Where did you get that? Did someone give it to you?”

      “Erik the Elf gave it to me. It’s straight from Santa Yugo.” Her eyes shone with joy.

      But her parents didn’t appear to be very convinced. They had more questions. And they did not want to even hear about, let alone believe, any stories about elves or that this was a real live animal.

      “But look! It’s breathing! Here, see its tummy! It's going in and out! And feel how warm it is!” explained Maggie.

      “Maggie, sweetie,” said Dad, and laid his hand on her head. Another glob of porridge dripped off the spoon, this time landing on Dad’s sock. “No real animal looks like that. We understand how much you want a pet but I’m sorry, we can’t do it. We’ve told you over and over.”

      “Dad! It is a real animal. It’s breathing! It was in my drawer and scratching with its nails. I know it. I heard!”

      Dad and Mom exchanged a look, as if forming a secret pact to let their daughter believe whatever she wished, and returned to their activities. But Maggie saw it all, and what aggravated her most was how her parents had smiled at each other. As if she were just some naïve child.

      “Anyway. It’s Pink Rat and from now on it’ll be in my room,” Maggie replied and took the animal back to her bedroom.