Hermie, Remembered
My pet hamster Hermionie (Hermie) died on Friday, March 3rd, 2006 at 9 p.m.. The cause of death is unknown as she was running about, as she would normally do the day before. Many speculations were made. In the end, they were mere speculations. I have then accepted her passing as fate.
The most painful part was watching her in her final moments. She buried herself under a pile of hay, in a position that scared me. Usually, if she were sick, she would curl up like a ball and hide in her house or under her hay. Her awkward position was a sign that something was just not right. Her breathing was abnormally slow, and she looked haggard. Her eyes were wide, mouth open, body practically motionless.
The only thing I could do was to stroke her, and whisper her name. She recognized our (my family’s) voices, and responded through her eyes and some unexplainable motion.
I silently prayed that her ailment wld just be a bad flu or something, and she would recover in the morning. But she drew her last breath and moved on into the ‘hamster Hereafter’. I cried soon after. Finally, I have been broken. It seems strange, I know. But when you’ve been attached to something, and they (or it) leave/s you, there will be pain.
Many will laugh when reading this, or struggle to stifle a laugh. Hey, go ahead and laugh. It’s a relatively free country the last time I checked. But when you lose something you cherish, only then will you understand.
Gone are the days when I wld play with her, let her run around in the bathtub, make her personal playground, watch her as she waits for me in her cage, see her balloon when she hoards her food supply in her mouth/body, watching TV together (she has her own chair), she loves to sleep on her back on top of all the hay (like humans) and most of all, see her perform her acrobatic stunts (she’s quite an accomplished acrobat). She’s part of our family. 
We buried her on Saturday morning, under a tree for shade, complete with a marker.
It’s hard to lose something you can’t replace. It’s hard when you lose anything at all.
Hermie will always be in our hearts, in our memories.
