Piper <3
by Clare
(America)
My parents surprised me last Christmas with a pet rat. I decided to name her Pepper. I loved her so much that I couldn’t stand to see her all alone while I was at school. I begged my parents to buy me another rat to keep her company. Finally they gave in and I picked out Piper at the pet store. They loved each other right from the start. Like true sisters they fought sometimes but always stuck together and cuddled together every night. I was worried during the first week of owning Piper because she made a strange squeaking noise very often. The pet store said I could take her to the vet for free for the first month of owning her. I was planning on taking her but then it slowly went away. However a couple days ago I noticed that she was acting lethargic. She would usually run all over the place with excitement when I held her. Yesterday when I picked her up I realized that she could barely move. Her skin lost its usual pink color. Her breathing was quick and shallow. She had dried blood under her nose. I started bawling because I knew that she would probably die. I tried to make her comfortable on a blanket and I gave her some sugar water to drink. I had Pepper spend some time with her. Pepper licked her clean and cuddled with her. After a couple of hours filled with tears and cuddles, my parents told me to go to bed because they wanted me to get some sleep because I had school the next day. Before I went to bed I moved the cage up to my room. I said goodbye to Piper just in case she didn’t make it until morning and I laid her in the cage with her sister. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Pepper jumping on the side of the cage. I turned on the light and saw that Piper wasn’t breathing. I had cried so much by then that I had a terrible migraine. I stared down at Piper’s dead body in shock and sadness. I only had her for four months… I loved Piper so much and she left so quickly.