Someone Died

At first I thought they were just pesky little creatures needing too much attention. You need to feed them more than once a day; their "kusot" (?) needs to be changed once a week since it gets stinky; they drink using a bottle with a metal tube where, at the end of it, they drink. So you have to direct the bottle to their mouth as if they're babies. Babies! Whatda..

But when we bought that Jugger Kruffy, a brand of hamster wheel, and put it in their cage and saw them jog on that wheel, they are the cutest animals molded by God. Hihi! At first they were skeptical with the huge wheel but when they realized that they could run endlessly in it, they forgot that they have to eat. Not that they died because of starvation but running ate almost all of their time. They're normally nocturnal yet you can catch them running early in the morning or even at noon! Let's see if muscles'll form.

I was talking about hamsters by the way. One of them died last week (?). We just woke up with him not moving, cold and very very hard (like a flurry keychain Bearhugs sells). Since my sister only bought a pair, we're only left with one. My prediction ("I bet they'll never reach a month") came true! The prediction was based on several attempts by my sister to pet one. Yeah. They did die before reaching one month inside the cage. We never knew why the last one died. Anyway, the following was written outside the box where we put his dead body.

POTCHI

Krufficioso Potchico Juggleanni delas Padasas y ala Hamsterovich-Jang Geum

Adopted: May 12, 2006

Died: May 23, 2006

He always tend to surprise his foster family.

Yeah. We named him like that to boast that he came from different races: Italian, Filipino, Spanish, Russian and Korean. In technical terms, cross-breed. In doggish terms, askal.

His remains were kept for three days for display and a chance for his "loved ones" to visit him. Of course, a mini casino was set and donations were readily accepted. Haha. My siblings, their kalye friends, my cousin and I attended the funeral march. We were all wearing black and sunglasses for people who have one. Crying ladies (or batang yagits) lead the melancholic atmosphere. Yeah. Their cries were so exagerrated. Like "Bakit mo kami iniwan?" "Huwaaa!! [with matching kneeling down]" "Di ka namin makakalimutan!". A background music was also set (Can't Cry Hard Enough; thanks to the DVD player nearby).

My sister carried the box containing the remains and buried it in Kamote Gardens - a small piece of land where my mother planted her kamote's and where other dead animals (rats, puppies of our dog, previous hamsters) are also buried. An epitaph with his name on it marked the spot but the wind blew it after a day.

The event still makes me smile. I wish we had taken some photos.

We'll never forget you, Potchi! WAHAHAHA.

The other one now monopolizes the wheel. His name is Moja. Very cheesy, isn't it?