"Wow look at them go, Sam!" Billy exclaimed. He was referring to their new pet gerbils that they had just received on this bright Christmas morning. The fluffy gerbils were sprinting around their cage, exploring their new home.

“Yeah, they’d be pretty hard to catch if they ever escaped,” Sam said.

Billy and Sam were two boys who lived in a small town in Iowa. Along with their parents, they lived in a cozy little house that right now smelled like cinnamon and pine needles. Billy was 12 and Sam was 14. Billy had short blonde hair and freckles while Sam had curly brown hair and not a single freckle. Billy could easily become worried about things while Sam usually was easy going.

After the two brothers had discovered their new pets, they were so excited and wanted to take them upstairs as soon as they saw them. But there was a problem. “Billy, I’m the oldest so I should get the gerbils in my room,” said Sam.
“No, you are too careless so I should have them in my room,” Billy snapped.

“Boys!” their father yelled. “If you don’t stop that fighting right now I might have to take those gerbils right back to the pet store!” The boys looked at each other angrily.

Billy whispered, “We are going to have to settle this more quietly.” The boys moved into Billy’s room and shut the door quietly. Sam then remembered that they had just received presents that morning. He could try to make a deal with Billy.

“Billy, if you give me five of your all-star football cards I will let you have the gerbils in your room two weeks out of the month.

“What?” Billy complained. “That’s not fair.”

“Okay,” Sam sighed. “You can have the gerbils three weeks out of the month if you give me six all-star football cards.”
“It’s a deal,” Billy said shaking Sam’s hand
The boys had to be gentle carrying them up the stairs so that the small animals wouldn’t be hurt. They each had a hold of one end as they gingerly went up stair by stair. Finally they made it to Billy’s room and set the cage on a small table. The room was lined with shelves with sports trophies and books. After thinking for a while, the two boys decided to name them Peanut and Butter. The gerbils were both a light brown color. Peanut was a very curious gerbil who loved to explore things, while Butter, on the other hand, was content to just relax in a corner and munch on some nuts or seeds.
Billy and Sam both felt their stomachs grumble and went downstairs to get some lunch. Billy looked around and noticed that Snickers, the family cat, was missing. He usually was waiting in the kitchen for some Salmon Cat Deluxe at this hour. Then he realized what their cat might be up to.
“Sam, Snickers might have discovered our gerbils!”
The boys rushed upstairs to Billy's room. There was the cat clawing at the gerbil's cage! The gerbils looked very frightened! “Snickers, stop that now!” Billy barked.
“Silly cat,” Sam said in an annoyed tone of voice. Snickers hissed as he was pulled away by Billy and stormed off, fur sticking straight up in the air. At that moment Billy and Sam knew that they needed to keep a close eye on Snickers.

The next morning, with Sam and Billy sledding outside, the gerbils were finally left alone with some time to talk. “Cage life is okay but I still think getting out and exploring around wouldn’t hurt,” said Peanut.
“Oh, I’d be too afraid,” replied Butter. “I remember when I was a pup; one of my friends got out of his cage in the pet store and was never found again. I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I’m gonna try to escape and risk a confrontation with that hideous cat. I just want to stay in here and relax in our comfy cage.”

“But think about all the food the humans must have in the pantry,” tempted Peanut.

But Butter continued to shake his head no. The gerbils just couldn’t reach an agreement. Just then they heard the brothers coming down the hall. It was playtime.
“Wow, their fur is so soft,” remarked Sam.
“Look at Peanut crawl up my arm!” Billy exclaimed. After some good quality time with the gerbils the boys put them back in their cage.
Once the boys were out of the room, the gerbils again began conferring. Peanut coaxed, “Butter, think about it. Getting out of the cage would be wonderful. “Remember back in the pet store when people would talk about hundreds of rodents exploring people’s houses. They would get to eat and run around to their heart’s content,” Peanut contemplated.

“Peanut, those rodents were pests that would eventually get exterminated!” Butter screeched.

“Butter, the humans are not going to kill us! We’re their pets,” Peanut exclaimed. “And guess what the humans have in their pantry? I overheard Sam talking about sunflower seeds!”
“Sunflower seeds!” Butter squeaked, remembering when a pet store employee gave him some of those tasty treats.
“See what I mean?” Peanut replied.
“You know what, Peanut, let’s go for it,” Butter said enthusiastically.
“That’s the spirit,” Peanut said happily. They planned to wait for the right moment.

Later that day the boys were talking in the living room which still had wrapping paper scraps from Christmas. “Sam, I have to go to my cello lesson soon. You can go in my room and watch the gerbils but don’t do anything foolish,” Billy cautioned with a serious look on his face.
“Relax, Billy. I think I can handle it,” Sam said sarcastically.
After Billy left, Sam decided to go in to Billy’s room to see what the gerbils were up to. He opened the lid and fed the gerbils some oats. The gerbils tickled him as he fed them. “You guys are so funny,” Sam laughed. He continued to pet and feed the gerbils. But then the phone rang downstairs. Sam rushed downstairs to get the phone. It was his friend calling.
“Sam, are you watching the big basketball game right now?”
“Oh, I forgot about it. I’ll start watching it right now!” Sam replied. Sam said goodbye and hung up the phone. He ran into the living room, turned on the TV and started watching the game. At halftime a commercial for a pet store came on.
“Oh shoot!” Sam shouted. “I think I forgot to put the lid back on the gerbils’ cage!” Sam rushed up the stairs and to his horror he found that the gerbils were missing! He searched all around the cage but Peanut and Butter were nowhere in sight. Sam heard the garage door opening. “Oh no,” he groaned. “What is Billy going to think?”
A few minutes later, Billy entered the room. “Sam, are the gerbils okay?” Billy asked.
Sam stuttered, “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know,” Billy asked sternly.
“Billy, I’m so sorry. I got distracted when the phone rang. My friend Nathan called to ask if I was watching the basketball game so I went and started watching it. I’m so sorry. While I was gone, they escaped.”
“Sam! What were you thinking?” Billy yelled.
“I didn’t mean to, honest!” Sam said mournfully.
“Well, start helping me find them!” Billy shouted. So the boys began looking for Peanut and Butter. They searched for the next hour but they couldn’t find their lost gerbils.

While the boys were searching, the gerbils were planning what they wanted to do next. They had escaped into the hallway and were sitting behind a bookcase. “I think we should wait here ‘til nighttime” Butter said.
”I think you’re right this time,” Peanut said. “Then at night we can sneak into the pantry.”

At dinnertime the family was having a conversation about the missing gerbils. “I do not want rodents running all over my house,” their mother said.
“We’re trying to find them, but if it wasn’t for Sam’s carelessness they wouldn’t be missing in the first place,” Billy snapped.
“You can stop talking about that Billy. I’ve already apologized and we need to focus on finding them,” Sam shouted.
“That’s enough now,” their mother said.
“We’re going to have to keep an eye on Snickers and hope he doesn’t find the gerbils,” their father said.

That night the gerbils crept out from behind the shelf. “I think the kitchen is downstairs,” Peanut whispered.

The gerbils crept down the stairs in the shadowy night. They tiptoed through the dark family room. The carpet felt very soft on the gerbils’ feet.

“There are Billy and Sam,” Butter said pointing to a picture on the wall. Finally the gerbils made it to the pantry.

“Let’s find those sunflower seeds,” Peanut and Butter said at the same time. They searched the different shelves. It was hard work to climb up the tall shelves. As Butter was searching he saw an orange bag that read ‘Baker’s Delicious Sunflower Seeds’.

“I found the sunflower seeds,” Butter said with delight. The gerbils gnawed hard and opened the bag. The gerbils began to feast.
“This is wonderful,” Peanut said. But as they were enjoying the seeds they heard a hiss!

“Uh oh,” Butter squeaked. The cat lunged at the gerbils but missed and the gerbils dashed out of the pantry. Snickers chased after the frightened gerbils but the rodents were too fast. Peanut and Butter hid under the couch in the family room and didn’t dare move for a long time.

The next morning Sam and Billy went downstairs to breakfast.

“Sam, I still cannot believe how careless you were yesterday!” Billy said in an irritated tone.
“You could have made the same mistake,” Sam retorted. As Sam was picking out his cereal he noticed that their bag of sunflower seeds had been chewed through. “Billy! Sam called. “Come look in the pantry. I think our gerbils have been here.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Billy said excitedly.

“I know what to do!” Sam exclaimed. “We need to set up a trap using sunflower seeds as bait.”
“We need to make sure the trap doesn’t hurt them though,” Billy said. “And how are you ever going to do that?
Sam found a tall plastic bucket. He then made stairs out of tin foil using some origami techniques he learned in school. He took quite a bit of time to carefully fold each part of the stair. “Just one more fold… there!” Sam exclaimed.

Sam placed the stairs next to the bucket so that the gerbils could climb up to get the seeds. He then dumped some sunflower seeds into the bucket. He placed the trap in the family room. “There we go,” Sam said.

“Hmm. I’m not so sure that’s gonna work,” Billy questioned.
“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see,” Sam replied.
The brothers left the family room.

The gerbils were still hiding under the couch at the time.
Sniff, sniff. “I smell something good,” Butter told Peanut.

“The coast is clear,” Peanut whispered. “Let’s check it out.” So the gerbils crawled out from under the couch and surveyed the scene. They sniffed around and found the bucket of seeds. “Wow! It looks like the seeds were left out just for us,” Peanut squeaked with delight.

The gerbils climbed up the tinfoil stairs and jumped into the bucket. The gerbils began to feast again on sunflower seeds like they had done the previous night. “Yummy,” Butter said happily. “What great luck we have.” Soon the seeds were gone but then Peanut and Butter realized something.

“Oh, no! How are we going to get out?” the gerbils screeched. They tried to jump out but couldn’t. They scratched and squeaked in horror. Then Snickers realized what was happening. He ran towards the bucket; the gerbils could not escape.

Then all of a sudden Sam ran in the room and cried out, “Stop, Snickers!” The cat angrily slid to a halt on the carpet. Sam ran to the bucket and Billy, who heard the commotion, ran behind him.

“There they are!” Sam cried with delight. Sam and Billy had found their lost gerbils at last. The boys took the gerbils up to Billy’s room and placed Peanut and Butter safely in their cage.

“I’m sorry that I was blaming you so much and yelling at you,” Billy told Sam.

“I’m sorry how I was pretty careless with our pets,” Sam apologized. Their parents came into Billy’s room to join in the celebration.

“Let’s celebrate by going to a burger joint,” their father said.

“Yeah!” The boys shouted.

“Just be sure the lid is on the cage,” their mother said with a smile. The family made sure to lock Snickers in a room on the main floor.

With the family gone to eat burgers, the gerbils began to relax a bit and looked at each other a little sheepishly.

“I’m sorry that we almost got eaten by the cat,” Peanut said apologetically.

“It’s okay. I agreed on our plan to escape,” Butter said.

“Let’s agree to never escape out of the cage again,” Peanut suggested.
“It’s a deal and besides, maybe the boys will give us sunflower seeds since now they know how much we love them,” Butter said with a grin.