***
"Ahhhh......" I was awoken by a scream followed by my mom bawling. My natural emergency instinct made me jump out of bed google-eyed, rushed out of my room, almost tearing down my door, asking "What happened? What happened?" My little heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it could bounce out of my mouth any moment. It was 7am in the morning.
Amidst loud sniffing, my mom managed to utter in Mandarin "My Baobei died!!!!" And started bawling again. This is the first ever time me as a daughter witness such a loud bawl from my mom. I stood dumbfounded. I walked over to look at Mysty for the last time and stared at the body for a long time. It was really quiet. Scarily quiet. No soft breathing movements. No twitching of nose. Nothing.
It took me a long 20 mins before I came to terms that Mysty is dead.
***
How Mysty got her name?
When my brother bought her, he kept her in his office for a few months. However, she was so adamant in getting freedom that she shoke her cage door and managed to escape!
My brother put food in her cage to lure her back, but every night, the food in the cage disappeared and Mysty remained missing. For 7 days, the food continued to disappear. Finally after one week of escapade, she came home finally. And my brother brought her home. So I named her Mysty (short for Mystery Escapade). Hey this smart lass knows her way home!
Yep, Mysty could understand my mom's language too. And she's such a darling. She has utmost trust in us. When she first came, she was such a scardy cat that even a shadow scares her. But soon, she grew comfortable with us and the bonding became so strong that she lets us stroke her and pat her to sleep. And she has learnt to nibble gently and release her grip immediately once she discovered it being my finger instead of food!
***
Now that she's gone, I will only have memories to keep. Sweet memories. Life is too short and in a hamster's life span, it is almost a fast-forward because normally hamsters live for only about 2-3 years. Mysty died at the age of almost 3 years old -- very old for a hamster.
Mysty was suffering from cancer. According to Dr Ling, Mysty's vet, said that it was really common for hamsters to have cancerous lumps and that is a sign of old age. Dr Ling said it was pointless to remove the lumps as they will grow back. Poor Mysty. She used to be cute and fat, but the last couple of months, she was already been reduced to bones. My heart wrenched in pain whenever I carassed her limp body.
The last 2 days before she breathed her last breathe, she was hardly able to open her eyes and she did not even have the strength to reach up to her water bottle. I had to take down her water bottle to feed her as she lies down every few hours. The last day of her short life, she actually refused her favourite food, pumpkin seed, from my mom. Think she was already too weak to even bite...
***
I have to stop writing now before my tears flood the computer keyboard.
So long, my darling Mysty. I miss you.
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