Like most guinea pigs, Hazel enjoyed her food. She was far from slender. To be honest, Hazel was a very fat guinea pig indeed. In fact, she was so fat that she looked as though she had been blown up like a balloon. Her cheeks bulged. Her black-curranty eyes seemed to pop out of her ample face. And her body was a sphere, a pudding of glossy brown fur. But Hazel was an extremely handsome creature. It suited her to be fat, just as it suits some people to be fat. And fat is what she was. Hazel was a brown, sleek, beautiful guinea pig with eyes as glossy and black as raisins. Hazel liked to explore. When she was in her hutch, she sometimes ran from one room to the next, as though she were looking for something. Life in two rooms becomes more interesting if it can be turned into an everlasting quest. She waddled into her living room and ate some food. Then she nuzzled about behind the food bowl, as if she were looking for something there.
