The Hamster and the Vacuum System Name: Annie E-mail: (withheld by request)            This story really happened when I was much younger. When I was in high school I used to keep a hamster in my room. In our house we had a cenral vaccum system that you just plug a hose into the wall and all the dirt etc goes into a canister in the garage.            This story starts after many times of cleaning out the cage of my hamster. Being the blonde that I am I thought that if I use the vaccum to clean the cage out it would be much quicker and cleaner. So, with my antsy hamster in one hand and the hose in the other the cage cleaning chore goes real well till I get the bright idea to clean my hamster. I put the hose up to my hamster and all is going well till there is no hamster in my hand but a small lump going through the hose. I rush to the wall and unplug the hose then run through the house to the garage and pull the canister off, and to my horror no hamster. I go running back upstairs to see if the poor fellow is in the hose, no hamster.            During this time my mom is sitting in the kitchen and watching me run back and forth. She finally asked me what happened and I tearfully tell her I sucked my hamster up in the vaccum while cleaning the cage. With her barely suppressing laughter she suggests call our neighbor, who put the system in the house, and asking him to come over and help. I call him and crying into the phone tell him we have a problem and what happened. He shows up in just a few minutes and checks the situation out and puts the canister back on the vaccum then pushes the button in the wall socket to turn the vaccum on. In just a second we hear a thump. He takes the canister back off and there lying in the dirt and shavings is a small hamster.            We take the hamster out and lay him on the hood of my car. The poor little fellow is breathing very rapidly and there is no hair on his back or stomach. In just a few minutes we check on him and he has passed away. I guess if I took a tour of the house the same way he did I would die of a massive heart attack too. Needless to say after that any other hamster I had and the vaccum stayed very far apart. The only other time I got a vaccum close to an animal was a small hand held model that I used on my horse during shedding time and thourghly enjoyed it. FAVORITE WEB SITE: www.weather.com Send Us Your Story: Access the Submission Form Here HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: CHECK ON THIS FINE PRINTING COMPANY: Promotional Products, Discount Labels, Post-it Notes, Rubber Stamps, etc.