Farewell, Jade and Zo�we hardly knew ye
February 23, 2004 ~ 2:59 p.m.
Nature totally bitch-slapped us this weekend, shattering whatever little faith we had left in her. She is, without a doubt, the wickedest, cruelest cunt imaginable�and one that can�t be avoided. You can�t run or hide from her, though I know of two little souls who wish they could have.
On Saturday, we went to collect two rat kittens (rats under three months old are referred to as �kittens�) from a nice lady who runs an animal rescue service and she had plenty of six-week-old rats. We picked two females. The white one with a dark patch over her eye we named Zo�, and the dark-capped one we named Jade. Only after a few minutes, I could tell that Zo� was going to be a little rip-snorter, while Jade would be a quiet girl.
Meanwhile, our 15-month-old girl, Sky, a rat we have always held in such high-esteem that we actually commissioned an artist to do a portrait of her, had not been the same since her companion Luna died. Even though she still had us, whom she loves very much, I thought she needed more rat company. We had pondered just taking care of Sky and then giving ourselves a break from keeping rats�an often heartbreaking venture to begin with�but alas, we love the critters so much that we couldn�t resist.
I was looking forward to getting the girls home and introducing them to Sky. In the bathroom, Sky seemed afraid and sought the lofty height of either the wife�s or my own shoulders. There seemed to be nothing else for it but to put all three girls in the cage and keep an eye on the proceedings.
Sky sniffed the girls, flipped them over and repeatedly groomed them. I noticed that while Jade would submit readily to her dominance, Zo� gave Sky the what-for. She fought back. Nevertheless, she continued to just groom the babies, and after half-an-hour of this, and with no signs of anything untoward occurring, we went to the caf� and then, as we both needed a trim, the hairdressers.
Now the scary thing is, a dark feeling washed over me as I sat in the hairdressers, waiting to be seen. I felt nervous about the two little rat babes, but I couldn�t say why. I dismissed it immediately and by the time my hair was cut, I was in good spirits again.
Turns out, my dark feeling was a premonition of sorts, a signal that something did indeed go horribly wrong.
While the wife went straight into the kitchen to drop off some groceries that we�d quickly acquired at the convenience store, I went into the living room where the girls are kept. The first thing I saw was one of the paper towels that we line the �igloo� (sleeping space) with covered with blood. Then I saw Sky looking around, seeming very confused. Then I noticed Jade, deeply-inflicted wounds covering her neck.
�Oh no! Oh no!� It was all I could say. �Oh jeez-us! Oh no!�
The wife was screaming at me from the kitchen to stop it, but I intercepted her in the hallway to let her know that the scene she was about to see was not pretty. We took Jade out and she was surely dead. I saw Zo� laying face down, further back in the igloo, and I snatched her out.
�Check her,� the wife implored. �See if she has a chance!� No good. Zo� was dead too, the same bite wounds circling her neck. Both kittens were as dead as doornails.
The wife broke down. We both swallowed some Valium pills and while she crawled into bed, trying to hide from the nightmare that had erupted, I cleaned the flat. I was shaking and sick to my stomach, but I kept myself physically active, finding housework wherever it was available. It was the only way I could cope.The first task, of course, was removing the paper towels from the igloo, every one of them thick with baby rat blood.
As for Sky? I still love her. I have to, because she still loves me. She loves the both of us. I will never forget what she did, but I�ve already begun to forgive. She was the love of our lives before this happened, and we can�t take that love away. Sky no longer rests on the pedestal that she formerly did in our eyes, but she is still very gentle and easy-going with us. Two wrongs don�t make a right, and getting rid of Sky would probably be the death of her.
Here are the facts: In the space of only one month, Sky lost a much-loved cagemate, then �lost� us for five days (while we were in Amsterdam), and then, just as she was adjusting to us being back, we threw two strangers�harmless babies albeit�into her cage for her to just deal with. Whether it was dangerous paranoia or intense jealousy that led her to kill Jade and Zo� as soon as we left, we�ll never know. My opinion is that Sky is not �all there�; she is a mentally disturbed rat.
I am committed to loving her and seeing her through for the rest of her days, which, if she�s lucky, could be another whole year.
No, I don�t blame Sky. I blame Nature�that unforgiving, unyielding fascist pig bitch. She, and she alone, is responsible for this harrowing tragedy.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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