The Animal Chronicles: Pet Rats … (Willy and the One With the Huge Testacles)

We had two pet

rats … !

…..

one was an

albino rat with red

eyes we named

Willy …

(Willy the White Rat!)

…..

the other a large tame brown rat

… with huge

testacles …

that someone had rescued from a psych lab

and given Her (my mom) as a

gift …

(… since She had a reputation for loving animals …)

*****

tame rats make great

pets … !

they’re clean and friendly…

they don’t move jerky and fast

like you’d expect a wild rat to

move …

…..

we gave them plenty of

freedom

outside their cages

for long periods of

time …

…..

you could hold them in both hands

and

stroke their fur

while their little noses never stopped

sniffing …

…..

Willy enjoyed walking over our shoulders and

heads …

down the length of our arms

and

back up …

…..

he liked to stand on our heads,

rise up on his hind legs

and look

around …

…..

he could sit up there

during an entire game of

cards … !

….

my brother grew close to Willy

feeding him and cleaning his

cage …

…..

that way he got extra time to play with him

on the floor or

walking around while holding and

petting him …

…..

he could even walk around outside while

Willy sat perched on his

head … !

…..

… one day Willy turned up missing …..

we began to worry …

*****

the next day we heard someone bawling
in the

distance …

…..

the sound grew louder and

closer …

…..

finally we recognized the voice and then

saw my brother

his face contorted

tears  and snot streaming down his face

from his eyes and

nose …

…..

 it looked like he was carrying

a flat gray pancake hanging by a

string  …

…..

the pancake he carried was

Willy

smashed flat by the

tires of a

car … !

…..

 i don’t know how he knew

that flat piece of

skin

with a tail was

Willy …

…..

maybe he recognized the white fir

or

maybe it was his

tail …?

…..

rats have quite distinctive tails you

know …

…..

so we got another rat …

the brown one from the psych lab

i told you about …

…..

the one with the
huge

testacles …

…..

but i can’t remember his name …

continued …