Salt And Pepper
A children's story about two new classroom pets - guinea pigs called Salt and Pepper. Listen as Oliver takes them home for the holiday. Will his dog get on well with them? All will be revealed as the story unfolds. I hope you enjoy my story enough to write a comment.
Transcript
Hello,
My name is Jacqueline.
Thank you for choosing my story to listen to.
I wrote this story for my grandchildren and I hope you enjoy it as much as they do.
Now make yourself comfortable and I will begin.
Salt and Pepper Miss Brown arrived at school early.
She went to find Wilson,
The school caretaker,
To ask him if he would carry something rather large in from her car.
Wilson was in the staff room.
He had just that moment finished fixing a hinge which had come loose on one of the windows and was more than happy to help Miss Brown.
In Miss Brown's car was a very large cage which she wanted taken into her classroom.
Wilson grabbed the cage with ease while Miss Brown grabbed her big bag from the boot of the car and followed him into the school.
Where would you like it,
Miss Brown?
Wilson asked as he entered her classroom.
In the far corner over there,
On that table up against the wall,
Please,
Miss Brown replied.
She had placed the table in its position last night before she went home.
It was a perfect height and a great place for the children to see it.
Wilson set the cage down carefully on the table and stood back.
Is this a surprise for the children?
He asked,
Knowing how much Miss Brown valued her position as a teacher.
She loved to see their smiling faces and enjoyed teaching in a fun and interactive way.
Yes,
Wilson,
Sort of,
Miss Brown explained.
We have discussed getting a pet to look after here in the class so that the children understand and learn the responsibility of caring for another living thing,
But they don't know what they will be looking after.
Well,
I'm sure they are all going to love whatever is hiding in that tiny house in there,
He said,
Peering in between the bars,
But unable to see anything move.
Have a good day and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
And he went on his way,
Ready to carry on with his other jobs.
Miss Brown stood back and looked at the cage,
Feeling very happy with her choice.
The cage had two levels and looked rather grand sitting in her classroom.
A tiny ladder went from the bottom of the cage to the upper level,
Where a charming little house sat in one corner.
I do hope the children will enjoy this surprise,
Miss Brown whispered to herself.
She reached into her big bag,
Which she used to carry necessary school items,
And took out an old green tablecloth she no longer used.
She covered the cage over with the cloth,
Ready to unveil the big surprise when her class arrived.
Miss Brown decided at the start of the school year to have a pet in the classroom for the children so they could learn how much work goes into looking after it,
No matter its size.
They spent one afternoon discussing which animal would make a good pet for the whole class to enjoy.
Most of the boys wanted any breed of dog as long as it was big,
Or a snake,
Or a tarantula,
Or any kind of lizard.
A lot of the girls suggested goldfish or a kitten.
But after drawing up a very large chart to show the different care each animal needed,
And a lot of discussion,
It was agreed that the classroom pet would be either a hamster,
A gerbil,
Or a guinea pig,
And Miss Brown would make the final choice.
Before too long the children started arriving at school and gathered in the playground.
At nine o'clock precisely the bell was rung and the children went into their different classrooms.
Miss Brown's children hung their coats and bags on the hooks outside the classroom before going into the class.
Some of them noticed the weird shape in the corner covered with a cloth and ran over to it.
Miss Brown stood beside the table and said,
In a stern voice,
As she could,
Do not touch the cloth.
The children moved away and headed for their desks,
Chattering about what could be underneath the mystery cloth.
Hurry up,
Children,
And sit down quietly,
Please.
Miss Brown's voice was a little kinder in this request.
The children whispered and giggled as they sat at their desks,
Trying to hurry their friends in so they could all see what was under the cloth.
Miss Brown stood at the front of the class with her hands by her side,
Staring straight ahead,
Not saying a word.
Eventually children started nudging one another to be quiet and before long everyone was sitting at their desks and the room was silent.
Good morning,
Boys and girls,
Said Miss Brown with a smile in her voice.
Good morning,
Miss Brown,
Responded the children together.
Are you all well today she asked,
Looking round at every child in the room,
Smiling at each one.
Yes,
Thank you,
Miss Brown,
The children answered,
Smiling back at her.
Are you ready for an exciting day at school?
Yes,
We are,
Miss Brown.
And so am I,
Said Miss Brown,
Clapping her hands together and the children joined in.
Now,
Before we get started on our first lesson,
I expect you are all wondering what is underneath the cloth over there,
She said,
Pointing to where the cage was hiding under the cloth.
Yes,
They all shouted together.
What's under there,
Miss?
Asked Tommy,
Who found it really difficult to keep quiet for very long.
If you are all ready and quiet,
I will show you,
Miss Brown said,
As she moved over to the cage and picked up the corner of the cloth nearest to her.
The children went to stand up and Miss Brown quickly said,
No children,
Please stay in your seats,
We don't want to scare them,
Do we?
A whisper went around the class.
She said,
Them,
Which meant that there must be more than one thing under there.
For those who can't see,
Simply turn your chair around so you get a better view.
Quietly now,
She added,
As they started scraping and banging their chairs.
When everyone was settled again,
Miss Brown said,
OK,
I'm going to remove the cloth,
But please don't scream or shout.
We won't,
Miss Brown,
Whispered the whole class in unison.
Miss Brown pulled off the cloth and the children gasped as two little faces peered out from behind the bars of the cage.
They were guinea pigs.
One was white and cream coloured and the other one was much darker,
Almost black in places with tiny flecks of white here and there.
Oh,
Miss Brown,
They are adorable,
Said Sally.
They are so cute,
Whispered Mary.
What are their names?
Asked Tom.
How about Salt and Pepper?
Suggested Billy,
Who always seemed to have good ideas.
Yes,
Agreed the class.
Well,
If you like those names,
Then Salt and Pepper it is,
Said Miss Brown,
Happy that everyone seemed to agree.
They are brothers and they were the last two guinea pigs in the pet shop,
So I couldn't leave one behind.
Great decision,
Miss Brown,
Exclaimed many of the children.
Now I think we should allow Salt and Pepper to get used to their new home and surroundings,
Continued Miss Brown.
I have decided to make a chart with all of your names on,
So you each get a turn at feeding and cleaning them out.
I will have the chart made up and on the wall next to the cage by the end of the day.
Now let's get our morning lesson started.
As the weeks went on,
The guinea pigs loved listening to the lessons and watching the children at their desks.
They would sit at the top level of their cage and look as if they could understand every word Miss Brown said.
Whenever one of the children went near to the cage,
They would go over and speak to Salt and Pepper.
They weren't allowed to give them any treats because too many people were doing that and the guinea pigs were starting to get a little large,
Especially Pepper.
Instead Miss Brown kept the treats in the cupboard.
On Monday,
Wednesday and Friday afternoons,
Just before story time,
The two best behaved children would give a treat to Salt and Pepper.
Secretly Miss Brown would keep a note of who gave the treat,
Then that way,
Without the children realising it,
They all had a turn.
In the evenings when the school was silent,
The guinea pigs would curl up together and have a well deserved sleep.
It was hard work watching people all day long.
On Fridays when school had ended,
Miss Brown would give Salt and Pepper enough food to last the weekend and make sure their water bottles were filled up before she went home.
At holiday times,
The children could take it in turns to take the guinea pigs home with them.
A holiday was approaching and Oliver was going to take Salt and Pepper home with him.
He was very excited about this,
As his mum had never said yes before.
They had a big black Labrador dog called Bruno at home and she was afraid the animals wouldn't get on.
Oliver kept asking,
Promising that he would look after the guinea pigs,
And this time she had agreed.
The last day of the school term arrived and Miss Brown helped Oliver and his mum to load the cage,
Food and bedding into their car after school.
It had been decided that Oliver would have the guinea pigs in his bedroom because it could be too much of a temptation for Bruno if they were downstairs.
The cage was too big to go on top of his chest of drawers,
So it had to sit on the floor beside it.
Oliver's mum reminded him often to make sure his bedroom door was closed when he wasn't in his room so that Bruno couldn't get to the cage.
All was good until the Sunday before they were going back to school.
Oliver and his parents were going out for dinner at his grandparents' house.
He was very excited about this because his grandma always had lots of special surprises for him.
Oliver was in his bedroom when he heard his dad shout,
Come on,
Oliver,
We're going now.
OK,
Dad,
He shouted as he came out of his bedroom shutting the door behind him.
As he got downstairs his mum asked,
Have you fed salt and pepper this morning?
Oh,
No,
Mum,
I forgot,
Said Oliver.
Go and do it now,
Please,
Said his mum.
Hurry up,
I'll wait in the car for you with Dad.
Oliver ran back upstairs and into his bedroom.
He opened the cage door and filled the guinea pig's bowl with their food.
He quickly pushed the cage door closed and ran out of his bedroom pulling the door behind him and ran downstairs.
Bruno was at the bottom of the stairs looking at Oliver and wagging his tail expectantly.
Stay here,
Boy,
We won't be long.
And he patted Bruno's head before running out of the front door and slamming it behind him.
Bruno lay down at the bottom of the stairs and went to sleep.
As in Oliver's bedroom,
Salt and Pepper were busy eating their food.
They liked to take their time with their food and not rush it.
Their cage was nice and big so they could run up and down the ladder and around the different levels.
Salt liked to do this more often than Pepper.
Pepper spent most of his time watching Salt run around.
After they had eaten their food,
Salt started running around the cage.
He was going particularly fast today and once or twice Pepper had to move quickly out of the way.
Pepper was sitting at the bottom of the ladder watching Salt who was about to run down it.
Suddenly Salt lost his footing and slipped all the way down the ladder falling into Pepper at the bottom.
It happened so fast that Pepper did not have time to move out of the way.
As Salt fell into Pepper he pushed Pepper against the bars of the cage,
Right where the door was.
The door flung open and Pepper fell out of the cage and landed on the carpet with a thud.
In Oliver's eagerness to leave he hadn't quite shut the cage door properly.
Slightly stunned from the fall,
Pepper sat up and realised he was no longer in his cage.
He looked up at Salt who was leaning out of the cage staring down at him.
Downstairs the thump woke Bruno.
He lifted his head from his paws and looked up.
He could hear squeaking sounds and decided to go and investigate.
Going up the stairs the squeaks became louder and seemed to be coming from Oliver's room behind the closed door.
Bruno went up to the door so he could sniff around the gap underneath it.
He liked sniffing things.
It was as if he could tell what was going on by the smells.
Bruno started sniffing along the bottom of the door.
The more he sniffed the harder his nose pushed against the door until,
Eventually,
Bang!
The door burst open.
Shocked,
Bruno stood back and looked into the room.
There in front of him was Pepper trying his best to climb back into his cage.
Because he didn't run around as much as Salt he was not as agile and couldn't pull himself up.
Bruno went up to the guinea pig and put his big face near him.
Pepper looked terrified and tried even harder to pull himself up.
Salt saw Bruno and ran up to the second floor of the cage and hid in the house.
Pepper started squeaking again with fright.
Bruno stepped back and watched.
Seeing that the guinea pig was struggling to climb into the cage Bruno moved closer to him again.
This time he pushed him gently with his nose.
At first Pepper tried to move away and then he realised that the dog was trying to help him.
Pepper stopped struggling and climbed onto Bruno's nose.
Then Bruno very carefully lifted him high enough so he could step into the cage.
Pepper was so happy to be in his cage and he ran up the little ladder to find Salt.
Bruno lay down in front of the cage and watched the two guinea pigs.
Pepper went up to the bars so he could get a better look at his rescuer.
Bruno raised his head and sniffed Pepper.
Salt could see this interaction as he peered out of the door in the house and noticed that no harm was coming to his brother.
Cautiously he went and sat next to Pepper and allowed Bruno to sniff him too.
Bruno rested his head on the ground.
The two guinea pigs found it difficult to see him from the upper deck of the cage.
Very carefully they climbed down the ladder and sat by the open cage door and looked at Bruno.
Bruno lifted his head slightly and sniffed the two brothers and then laid his head back down on his paws as the three of them looked at each other.
Soon Bruno felt really tired,
Probably because his sleep had been disturbed earlier.
He slowly got up,
Moved away from the cage and lay down next to Oliver's bed and fell asleep.
A few hours later Oliver and his family arrived home.
Coming up the stairs Oliver could see his bedroom door open and looking into his room he could see the cage door was also open.
Oh no!
He thought,
Where are Salt and Pepper?
Oliver walked slowly into his room not knowing what he was going to find.
His mind was creating all sorts of gory thoughts.
He noticed Bruno was asleep by his bed and when he looked closer he saw Salt and Pepper curled up in his paws,
All of them fast asleep.
Heaving a sigh of relief he decided it was a great story to tell his friends at school tomorrow.
If you're still listening to this story I'd like to ask you a question.
Do your pets get on well with other animals?
4.8 (691)
Recent Reviews
Andrea
October 15, 2025
That was an awesome story ๐๐๐โค๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐โฃ๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅน๐โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โค๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐
Sylvie
April 14, 2025
Kind of except when my cat (Anges) leaves bodily fluids everywhere then my dog (Phoenix) does the same to mark his terotory. And my other cat (Jelly Bean/my favourite) is always hitting my dog so he can get quite grumpy.๐พ Great story Please make more From Sylvie and Jelly Bean โค๏ธ
Ceara
March 10, 2025
My daughter loves to listen to this story. Thank you ๐๐
Daisy
October 16, 2024
Great story! I listen to this story every night and I never get tired of it. I like writing stories myself and im writing one right now๐๐. (Im a young writer at 11 yo.) I imagined the part where salt fell into pepper-that would hurt.๐ ๐for the question, nope, my dog (whoโs on my profile picture) would chase any small Mamals until they โ ๏ธfor all eternity. Heโs very territorial. ๐ Also please reply ๐๐๐
Jo
October 7, 2024
My cat does not like other animals, she just prefers solidarity. Great story. I love your stories and hope you have a great day. <3
Magnus
September 12, 2024
I have dog named Penelope. do you think you could make a story about her. And i love your story's !!!
.%blackout%.
June 27, 2024
Cody is a big social playful old tired teddy bear. Lunaโฆ. Weโre working on socializing with this one. (I wouldโve suggested a bird. I love my dogs but b I r d ) Le worst pickup lines ever Are you from Tennessee? Because youโre the only ten I see Do you have a map? I got lost in your eyes. Well here I am. What are your other two wishes? Y E E T So cheesy aghhh Hereโs one I made I canโt I canโt Iโm sorry Iโm laughing too much Erm Hold on Do you like plants? Because Iโm going to plant myself by your side OH MY MOONS HOW DID I DO SUCH A BAD JOB TO MAKE A PICKUP LINE Aghhhh *wheeze* *wheeze* HELP *wheeze* I canโt- I just canโt- ๐ถStop this feeling inside my bones, it goes electric baby when I turn it on๐ถ ๐ถAnd I got that sunshine in my pocket- ๐ถ -WHEEEZE Ahhh this- I got loopy as you can tell :) โShe betrayed me, used my own magic against me, and stuffed me under a mountain under a mountain. You know what I call thatโ โWutโ โTrue love.โ YOU CAN JUST HEAR THE F A C E P A L M
Joe
June 18, 2024
Great story, My daughter really enjoyed listening to it๐ By the way my daughter would like to know if you could make a story of a rabbit called lever๐ค๐ Have a great day/night/afternoon ๐
W
June 4, 2024
To answer your question, my dog is very friendly, and I loved your story.
Nancy
May 18, 2024
I sont really lnow because we dont really have there animals over at are house
Hadley
May 7, 2024
So good I loved can you please make more animal meditations ๐น๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ฆ๐ฟ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆก๐ป๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ผ๐จ๐ท๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฆฌ๐ด๐๐๐น๐ป
Tawni
March 1, 2024
That meditation was very good I love your meditations I hope your grandkids are doing good ๐ to answer your question yes my animals get along good ๐.
Sally
February 8, 2024
My son just adores all of your stories, Jacqueline. Thank you :)
KateG
January 3, 2024
I liked this one because the dog was being kind to the guinea pigs, from Abby, 5 years
Mackenzie
December 31, 2023
I love all your stories and I love how you do it for your grandchildren โค๏ธ
~*-Cecii!!-*~
September 12, 2023
I don't remember the end but when i still lived in my hometown my mom worked at my school and we got to take care of a guinea pig i loved taking care of him โญ โโ อก โโ อก โโ อก โโ อก โโฎ โก แต แตแตแตแต แตแต หขแต สฐแตแตแตสธ โก โก แถฆโแต แตหกแตแต แถฆ โแตแตแต แต โฐ โโ อ โ อ โโ อ โ อ โ โฏ O ยฐ ใโฉใโง๏ผฟโง โโ๏ผ ยดใปฯใป๏ผ ใฝ_ใฃ๏ผฟ/๏ฟฃ๏ฟฃ๏ฟฃ/ ใ ใ ๏ผผ/๏ผฟ๏ผฟ๏ผฟ/ Made by facemoj keyboard
Marion
April 19, 2023
Zoey is a good ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐น๐น๐น๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ถ๐ถ
Vex
April 6, 2023
I donโt now because my cat has never met another animal
Florence
March 16, 2023
I donโt have pets!!! ๐ญ ๐ญ ๐ญ Flo flo and Willa xoxo Loved it ๐ ๐๐ฅฐ๐๐๐๐ฅฐ๐
Octavia
December 31, 2022
I donโt have any pets sadly but the story was really good.