After my bunny Babs passed away when I was only 8 or 9 my mother convinced me to go with her to a pet store to find another rabbit to help ease the pain of loss. At the pet store there was very beautiful bunnies that my mother thought I would like. While I was looking at the bunnies I noticed a cage that some people were paying attention to. When I walked over there I found people making over the baby calico, and brindle and cream colored piggies. However sitting all alone and unnoticed in a corner, was an adult male guinea pig. Staring up at everybody like he was waiting his turn to get made over, even though it seemed to me, that somehhow he knew they would not be picking him up and loving on him. My heart broke all over again when I saw that poor old boy, because he was in the same situation as my bunny Babs was when I got her. Baby bunnies all around and nobody noticing the lonely adult bunny in the corner. Without hesitation I picked him up, walked away from the cages and paid out my $25 for him. When I got him home he seemed so shocked, yet so happy when he realized from everyday on He would be the one getting loved on, and He would never have to look up at the continous sea of faces he longed to be loved on by. Right away I knew I made the right choice in picking him, he returned my love and affection 100 fold without hesitation. he would lay down on my chest and fall happily asleep, content in knowing that I would be there the next day. I had 3 1/2 years of that love from that old boy. The day I found out he had passed on was when I was having a conversation with my mother about how I loved the simple things in life, my books, my art, the outdoors and of course my beloved Blaze. I was so happy with this conversation with my mother, that I wanted to go and take Blaze outside. I was talking to him while making my way to the room where his cage was...I distinctly remember saying before I opened the door, "isn't that right Blaze? we both love the simple things in life" I said the word life, right as I opened the door and found my sweet Blaze dead in his cage. His eyes were closed, he had died peacfully in his sleep. My heart broke all over again, and I cried for 3 weeks straight. It was a whole year before I was ready to love a piggy again. I went back to the same pet store, and it seems fate took me right back to the same cage and seemingly the same people. And what did I find huddled and ignored in the exact same corner of the cage where I found my Blaze? A baby guinea pig, only a few weeks old. She was the runt of the litter, and very sick too. She was so much like Blaze, ignored and looked over because of some imperfection that made her unattractive to the people around her. So once again I picked up the little darling paid the new price of $35, no matter how high they raised the price, I had no intention of leaving her to die in such a miserable place. The first week I had her was hard, she was so small and so sick I stayed up for days making sure she stayed alive. My efforts were rewarded. The 2 week I had her, I was eating a cookie, and what happend next still puts a smile on my face, even after all this time. She waddled her adorable little tushy over to me and stole the cookie from my hand, thus she became known as Cookie. I had her for 8 1/2 years, she grew to be almost a foot long (12 inches) and weighed a few pounds. When I knew she was going to die I took her out of her cage and laid her on my chest, I believe she took comfort in knowing that I was near and she wasn't alone while she passed on. Cookie died on my chest at exactly 12 midnight, before she passed she looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes, sighed gently and passed away peacefully and quietly. My heart hurt so bad I felt like I was dying too. For months I cried myself to sleep, until one day while I was looking at her empty cage my Father put something on my lap, I looked down and there was a baby guinea pig, a calico just like Cookie, with the exception of it being a boy and having 1 blue eye and one brown eye. I feel in love instantly and my wounds began to heal with the affection of this little one. I had the radio on when my father put him on my lap, the song was Louie Louie and so I named him Louie. I learned from my father the digusting home he had come from, filthy cages and dingy water. I gave him everything I could treats, orange drops timothy hay...my only regret is I couldn't give him the pleasure of being outside, as it was september when I got him and to cold for a piggy to go outside. Never in his life did he see green grass and a sunny outside world. While I had him, I was at the feed store with my mother, buying his food. And what do I see in the corner? A lonely baby guinea pig in a dingy, dirty cage. Unwanted and left unattended. I took one look at her asked the price and bought her. She became Louie's mate and friend. Together the produced a little of beautiful pigglets, 2 sons and 2 daughters. All went to good homes and are well taken care of. Months after this Louie came down with abcesses and gastro-intestinal bloat which eventually killed him. Like Cookie before him, when I saw that he was close to death, I let him see daisy one last time, they touched noses and called to each other, I know he was saying good-bye to her. I took him to my room, laid him on my chest and stroked his head, telling him just how much I love him and how I'm going to miss him. He gave a little squeek, looked up at me, closed his eyes gently, gave a sigh and he too crossed over to death. I spent some time with him laying quiet and still on my chest. He was only a year old and already he was called away. However, as sad as his death was, I know that there are little Louies out there living the good life and thriving. I now just have Daisy, but someday soon I know I'm going to come upon another unwanted guinea pig. And that little one will be given all the love and affection he or she truly deserves in this life.
I know the story is quite long, but each darling in my life is connected to each other. If it hadn't been for each one, somewhere out there would have been sad and unwanted little ones, just waiting for that one person to come by and love them like they deserve to be loved.
