by laura beth

Two years ago in October, for Hannah's 10th birthday, she got a dwarf hamster. Earlier that year she had taken a cross-country trip with Mom and Dad. While visiting friends in Kentucky, she saw a dwarf hamster for the first time and wanted nothing more than to have one of her very own. So for her birthday she picked one out, and thus Skittles became a part of the family. The pet store employee told us that their lifespan is usually about 2 years. Today, roughly 2 years and 2 months after Skittles was born, she was found lifeless in her sweet little hamster pad. This wasn't unexpected, for over the last few months she had been less active, unable to climb, and her fur had turned from tan to completely gray and white. Skittles had a small plastic ball that she could run around the house in. The ball was so small and transparent, it could easily get underfoot and you always had to be on the lookout for it. Mom would often burst out,"Don't kick the squirrel!" Skittles was placed in a tiny box with a flower and was given a simple burial under the apple tree in Mom and Dad's backyard next to other family pets that had gone to glory, Parsley Jane, Pretty Freddy and a couple fish.