He and his twin sister, Stacy, drove in their new green car to Cullen’s Critters, a pet store in Pacifica, California. The pet store, which opened eight years ago, included all pets that weren’t cats and dogs, such as fish, snakes, and lizards. And of course, Sam’s favorite animal, guinea pigs.
While the twins took the ten-minute drive from their neighborhood to the pet store, they decided to listen to some tunes on Stacy’s phone. And what better lyrics than those about animals? Unfortunately, Sam couldn’t seem to agree with Stacy about what song they should listen to; he wanted to hear a song about guinea pigs. And clearly, there were no hit radio singles about those cute, cuddly critters. So Sam began to sing a parody of “Soft Kitty” from The Big Bang Theory, but replaced “kitty” with “hamster” (just because he believed guinea pigs and hamsters were one and the same) and “purr” with...out of all things, “squeak” before bursting into laughter. The only place guinea pigs squeaked, however, was in Sam’s head.
The twins just finished talking to their parents, Rodrigo and Sandra, about buying a pet for Sam. Stacy already had a pug, Shadow, and their parents just bought an aquarium full of tropical fish. Sandra couldn’t bear to bring another pet into the house, and Rodrigo felt Sam might have a meltdown when …show more content…
Once he stared at a furry guinea pig in a glass exhibit, he knew he was in love. He’d always begged his parents for a guinea pig - with his sister’s prodding - but instead, they pacified him with an Xbox One, a debit card, and a Kia Sorrento to share with Stacy. Sam always wondered if his parents didn’t think he was as responsible enough to take care of a pet as his twin sister because of his disability. But they always told him it wasn’t because of that. Sam knew, or thought he knew, they were