Unexpected Hamster Adventures: A Search Party at Four In the Morning

Yes, I think the title just gave away everything this post is about. 😂 I recommend you keep reading, however, as this is a musing you surely won't want to miss . . . 

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Those of you who are Andi fans probably know about Mrs. Marlow's story Overgrown Kitty. (And if you haven't yet read that story, but would like to, you can find it HERE.) 

Why am I bringing that up, you ask? Well, today's events (which are featured in this post) reminded me of this one scene from her story:

The next morning, Riley and Andi stood in front of the enclosure. The empty enclosure. Riley yanked a broken plank from the top of the cage and sighed.
"Our curious cougar cub is on the loose."

Today, at approximately 4:40 AM, I awoke to someone jumping on me and saying, "Ellie, you gotta wake up." 
Somewhere in my sleep-fogged mind I thought, What time is it? Have I overslept? 
I decided to play it cool and act like I'd been awake for a while. It wouldn't do to have my family think I'm a sleepyhead. 6:30 is our usual "get-up" time, and I'm generally downstairs by 7:15 after having done my devotions and restored some sense to my bedraggled hair.
Okay, yes, now I'm digressing. Sorry. Back to the story . . . 


My eyes flew open, and I stared blearily at my sister. "What's going on?"
"Harmony escaped."
"What?" I shot to a sitting position, no longer needing to pretend I was awake. This unexpected announcement from my sister dissolved any grogginess I had in me. 
At this point in the retelling you're probably wondering, Who's Harmony? Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, we adopted a hamster for my sister's birthday and named her Harriet, after Harriet Oleson in Little House on the Prairie. As it turned out, however, Harriet was sickly and died less than a week later.
So, we went back to Petco and found another hamster that was both healthy and energetic. (And boy, is she ever energetic!) My sister chose to name her after a Bible verse we'd read the night she received her new pet:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Jesus Christ. ~Romans 15:5

So, yes, Harmony is our hamster. And yes, she somehow managed to wriggle out of her cage and get lost. 
At four o'clock in the morning.
I'm gonna go ahead and be honest with you all, but I am so *not* an animal person. I've never touched Harriet or Harmony, and I always keep my distance when my sister is holding her pet. 
Understandably, then, knowing that this bundle of warm fluff could skitter across my feet at any moment made me flinch.
After checking Harmony's cage to reassure ourselves that she was indeed gone, my sister went for Dad, who came upstairs with a flashlight. I held Ruby against my shoulder and climbed back into bed, pulling my feet up with me.
No way was I going to let a hamster run helter-skelter over my toes!
The search in my sisters' room proved unsuccessful, so we fanned out further. We checked all the bedrooms and bathrooms on the level, then headed downstairs. Mom called us the "Homeschool Detectives." :D
By five o'clock, many areas of our home had been scoured, but still there was no Harmony. One of my sisters found what looked like a piece of her bedding on the staircase. Other than that, we had no clues to go off of. 
Where, oh where, could that hamster be?
I suggested searching in the basement, but the idea that she could be down there seemed unlikely. After all, was it really possible that a teensy little hamster could make it down four flights of steps??
As it turns out, YES, it was possible. Very much so.
We found Harmony, curled up and awake with wide, beady eyes, hiding out in one of my brothers' homemade Nerf forts in the basement. Dad caught her and carried her back up the steps and to her cage. How the door got open so that Harmony could escape is yet to be discovered, but we're not taking any chances. Dad plans on taping the small door closed.
Scary? Yes. Funny? Now that it's all over, yes. We all lost a bit of sleep (and a bit of sanity), but "all's well that ends well." It sure wasn't a very restful way to start our Sabbath. 😂

My sister, Mom, and me. :-)

Anyway, just a quick update of what's been going on in my life. What have you all been up to? :D