Res Gestae
Pets and related stories
(First of 3 parts)
For P350, I gave Sniff and Scurry away last Saturday. The prize was inclusive of a cage which I bought for P150.
Sniff and Scurry are two of the six “first born’s” of our pet- (“teddy bear”) hamsters, Doris and Mao. I bought the pair for P250 as token for my writing contact with a group of MBA students last semester. Meaning, the buyer of Sniff and Scurry saved at least P50 for having them from me instead of going to the pet shops.
I believe Scurry is pregnant for a week already. The pregnancy of hamster generally lasts for 16 days. Hence, rough estimate tells us that Scurry will be due on the second week of May. That is a big bonus to the buyer.
Doris and Mao, Sniff and Scurry have become part of our daily routine. No! They make our home an “extended family”. The four other hamsters are Hem and Haw, Cheesey and Mazey.
I named them after the characters of a book, "Who Moved My Cheese?", by Spencer Johnson, M.D. I got the book (hardbound) for only P80. Its regular price is more than P200. Well, to have it for less, I also spent almost three hours going through the piles of second-hand books for sale. But, surely, the effort was worth it.
To give you an overview of their names, Sniff and Scurry are mice. Hem and Haw are "little people" – beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Well, Cheesey actually stands for “Cheese” in the book. It is a “metaphor for what you want to have in life – whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind". Mazey is another metaphor – “The Maze”. It is “where you look for what you want – the organization you work in, or the family or community you live in."
After reading Who Moved My Cheese? I made no second thought in making it part of my short list of favorite books. It reveals profound truths about change. "It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a "Maze" and look for "Cheese" to nourish them and make them happy."
Going back, on the day we bade goodbye to Sniff and Scurry, we felt the "little pain" of giving up something which became part of us... of our family. But, we knew also that, by giving away Sniff and Scurry, we are making our family even bigger. That thought consoled us, but something inside was still hurting.
On the same day Sniff and Scurry found a new home…a new family, we also lost Doris, their mother. She sneaked out of her cage (and probably fell out of the window), leaving behind the seven new baby hamsters she had given birth just a week ago. Will they be named after Snow White’s seven dwarfs? Maybe…
Well, for now, we are not really bothered on what will their names be...But we are simply at loss on what to do with the fragile baby hamsters without Doris. Realizing, however, that they have a family...we are a "family", we know they can and will survive! (To be continued…)