Abby's father was taking her to visit her grandmother. Abby was going to be away for three months. "I can't leave Tobias behind," she said. "You will have to," said her father. "You can't take Tobias into another country."
Abby thought it was silly rule. "I will take him," she said to herself. So she put him in a sock and packed it in her bag.
At the airport, Abby put her bag by the x-ray machine. Abby felt her legs shaking as the bag was going through the machine. She hoped Tobias in the bag made no noise. The woman by the machine smiled and said, "Have a good flight."
On the plane, Abby waited until her dad and the woman next to her fell asleep. Then she opened the sock to look at Tobias. But he jumped out of the sock and landed on the woman's knee. The woman cried loudly, "A mouse!" Abby quickly put Tobias into the sock and back into her bag.
Before they landed, Dad filled out a form, choosing no to: Are you bringing any live animals into the country?
She saw the man frown (皱眉) as her bag went through the x-ray machine. She watched when he opened the bag and pulled out the sock.
"Come with me, please."
Abby followed her dad into a small room. There was a police officer and Tobias in the sock was on the desk. The police officer talked to Abby's dad, "You have tried to smuggle (走私) an animal into this country." Abby felt fear came all over her body. "It's my fault (过错)," she said in a small voice. "I didn't want to leave him behind." "Have you ever been in trouble before?" the officer asked as he wrote "animal smuggler" next to her name. Abby opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Tobias had to be in quarantine (隔离) for six months, which cost a lot of money. And Abby wouldn't be able to visit her grandmother again. Now, she learned there was a good reason for rules.
