Mr. Sticky

No one knew how Mr. Sticky got in the fish tank.

" He's very small, " Mum said as she peered at the tiny water snail. " Just a black dot."

In the morning Abby jumped out of bed and switched on the light in her fish tank.

Gerry, the fat orange goldfish, was dozing inside the stone archway. It took Abby a while to discover Mr. Sticky because he was clinging to the glass near the bottom, right next to the gravel.

At school that day she wrote about the mysterious Mr. Sticky who was so small you could mistake him for a piece of gravel. Some of the girls in her class said he seemed an ideal pet for her and kept giggling about it.

" I think he's grown a bit, " Abby told her Mum at breakfast the next day.

" Just as well if he's going to be eaten up like that, " her Mum said, trying to put on her coat and eat toast at the same time. " But I don't want him to get too huge or he won't be cute anymore. Small things are cute aren't they? "

" Yes they are. Now hurry up, I'm going to miss my train."

At the weekend they cleaned out the tank. " There's a lot of filth on the sides, " Mum said. " I'm not sure Mr. Sticky's quite up to the job yet."

They took the fish out and put them in a bowl while they emptied some of the water. Mr. Sticky stayed out of the way, clinging to the glass while Mum used the special 'vacuum cleaner' to clean the gravel. Abby cleaned the archway and the filter tube. Mum poured new water into the tank.

" Where's Mr. Sticky? " Abby asked.

" On the side, " Mum said. She was busy concentrating on the water.

Abby looked on all sides of the tank. There was no sign of the water snail.

" He's probably in the gravel then, " her mum said. She put the fish back in the clean water where they swam round and round, looking baffled.

That evening Abby went up to her bedroom to examine the tank. The water had settled and looked lovely and clear but there was no sign of Mr. Sticky. She went downstairs.

Her mum was in the study surrounded by papers. She looked impatient when she saw Abby in the doorway and even more impatient when she heard the bad news.

" He'll turn up." was all she said. " Now off to bed Abby. I've got masses of work to catch up on."

Abby felt her face go hot and red. It always happened when she was furious or offended.

" You've poured him out, haven't you, " she said. " You were in such a rush."

" I have not. I was very cautious. But he is extremely small."

" What's wrong with being small? "

" Nothing at all. But it makes things hard to find."

" Or notice, " Abby said and ran from the room.

The door to the bedroom opened and Mum's face appeared. Abby tried to ignore her but it was hard when she walked over to the bed and sat next to her. She was holding her glasses in her hand. " These are my new pair, " she said. " Extra powerful, for snail hunting." She smiled at Abby. Abby tried not to smile back.

" And I've got a magnifying glass, " Abby suddenly remembered and rushed off to find it.

They sat beside each other on the floor with the tank between them and peered into the water.

" Ah ha! " Mum suddenly cried.

There, perfectly hidden against the dark stone, sat Mr. Sticky. And right next to him was another water snail, even smaller than him.

" Mrs. Sticky! " Abby breathed.

They both laughed. Then Abby put her head on her mum's chest and smiled.