Ratless

Looking at this I needed to make a post.

For the first time in several years we are ratless, the room that had the cages in seems very empty and no-one greets us as we walk through. No-one is looking and sniffing for treats, or hanging off the bars, or sleeping in hammocks. It's a pretty lonely room. Time to take a break, while I loved each and every one, and each and every one left a print on my heart, it is time to take a breather, time to look ahead a bit without worrying about which little furry creature will be the next to cross the big Rainbow Bridge. Goodbye all my precious little ones, you will be with me forever and I know that when my time comes I will see you all again.

You cannot measure the greatness of an animal by it's size, for all animals are equal of spirit, and it true that the smallest of all may have the biggest wings.

Hi! My Name is Otis -- I'm a RAT!
~by Dave
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Something happened to me one night. It felt funny, and
when I went to stand up, it didn't work very well. And
I couldn't see very good either. Plus, dopey Rupert
wouldn't stop pestering me and trying to lie on me so
he could be comfy.

In the morning, my Mum took me outside, away from our
home for a while. It smelled interesting, and she
walked a long way with me. Then we went into a place
where someone who smelled strange looked at me. Mum
and Dr. Strange-Smell talked for a while after that.
Then she brought me back home, and I got a big piece
of nice stuff to EAT!

But after a while I started to feel worse. Mum and the
funny-smelling guy that lives with us kept grooming me
and trying to feed me, but I just kept feeling bad.

And Rupert kept licking me and being a bother, asking
why I was acting funny. I wanted to poke him but I
couldn't, and kept falling asleep. I'd wake up and try
to walk but nothing was working right. Then somebody
was grooming me, and talking to me, but I fell asleep
again. I don't really remember much after that.

After a very strange dream, I woke up.

I felt different though, better.

And something smelled really good. I stood right up,
without even thinking about it. Right next to me was a
really big piece of very tasty-smelling STUFF!

I ate a lot of it, and felt good and full. But after a
while I thought, "Where is that Rupert?"

I called out, "Roo-purrt! It's Otis -- where are you?"

No Rupert.

But then I smelled something else, and heard
something.

It was another RAT!

"Welcome to the place that's over the bridge, Otis,"
said the rat. "My name is Milla."

Milla looked up. Over our heads was the biggest thing
I had ever seen. It was very bright, especially for a
ratty. And above it were so many flickering colors
that it was hard to stop looking. And all sorts of
animals and people and cats and dogs and birds and
rats and fish were floating down and flowing away from
this beautiful shimmery bridge that was way up in the
air.

Milla looked back at me. I couldn't tell if it was a
girl rat or boy rat, but Milla smelled really
ratty-nice, with soft, deep black fur and black-bright
eyes.

I said, "Do you know where Rupert is? And my Mum? Or
that funny-smelling guy?"

I guess I should've been scared, cuz this wasn't my
home, but Milla made me feel happy.

"They're not here right now, but that's okay -- you'll
see them again."

All of a sudden, my brother JB came out of the
darkness that was behind Milla.

"JB! It's me -- OTIS!" I was so happy to see him, it
had been a long time since he'd gone away. JB laughed
and came over to lick me, and then we ran and ran and
ran. Then I jumped on him and we rolled and rolled
until we were tired. We had so much fun (even though
he still nipped me too hard).

JB and me eventually got to a really soft place that
smelled ever so comfortable and warm. And there were
so many rats and so many animals and people and other
strange things. Everyone was relaxing and eating and
talking -- just having a good time.

JB looked at me and said, "This is our new home --
you'll like it here, it's really nice."

Everyone looked at me and said, "Hello! Welcome home!"

"Hello," I said. "My name is Otis, and I'M A RAT!"

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Bless you and fare well little Otis.