The following is an email received by Houghton Mifflin editor Margaret Raymo from her husband, while she was attending the Frankfurt Book Fair. Click here to read her impressions of the fair.
To: Margaret_Raymo@hmco.com
Date: 10/14/2008 11:17 PM
Subject: Bad news—gerbils dead
Hi Sweetie,
Girls OK now but it was not nice—girls went into house before me and found gerbils mauled to death on living-room floor, presumably cats had managed to open cage door. Girls were hysterical. Managed to calm them down but they want you to call them when you get a chance.
I managed to distract the girls while I cleaned up. One gerbil was missing its head—Holly I think. The girls had not seen this. I dreaded one of the girls finding it so I sat them in front of TV while I did a thorough sweep of the house for the missing gerbil head but did not find it. Presumably a cat ate it. I hope the girls don’t find it somewhere.
Promised to take the girls to the pet store this weekend. Kate said with tears in her eyes, “I was sure they would last at least till Christmas.” She says we should get something cute that can protect itself from cats —Charlotte says “how about Bunnicula.” Kate wants a guinea pig and Charlotte wants a snake. Kate says “let’s make a list of all the good things about our choices” and says “Guinea pigs are cute and fluffy.” Charlotte says about snakes “you can wrap them around door handles.” I tried to explain that a gerbil dying was worse than a fish dying but not as bad as say a cat dying. Charlotte said “what if a catfish died?”
I put Kate’s mattress in Charlotte’s room so we could all be together until they fell asleep. They do want you to call them in the morning. Any time between 7:00 and 8:15 would be good but I didn’t promise them. Anyway, I’m sure they’ll be OK.
Love,
Mark
[Postscript from Margaret: I came home to a hamster named Rachel. They decided against a snake when they learned they had to feed it live mice. Gerbil head never showed up.]
