My dad was very understanding when I lost Sage and Nibbles, and he instantly gave permission to get new rats.  So, we headed out to the pet store to choose.  I was struck dumb when I saw the amazing variety of colorings that I had only read about before, from blue rats to hooded rats to blazed rats to black rats, they had everything!  I decided that I just HAD to have a blue rat. They are a lot like Russian Blue Cats in coloring, and so far I've only seen hooded and self rats of this variety.  I picked the first one I saw, a tiny little girl that was so little that I could barely feel her weight in my hand.  I plopped her into my dad's hand standing beside me, and he just melted when she grabbed ahold of his thumb and started licking it.  Shade was more than she appeared to be; she was incredibly smart!  She was the first to explore the cage, the fastest to solve my rat maze, and the most adventurous explorer.  Dad was in love; he would pick her out from the others to hold her, and he would hold her while he watched TV; she liked to sleep in his shirt pocket.  But then, Shade got sick.  Very sick.  Gasping for breath, keeping to herself.  We desperately took her to the vet, where we found out that she had pneumonia.  She weighed less than two ounces, and her chances for recovery weren't good.  We got some medicine for her, but within two days she passed away.  I only have one good picture of her, the one up below, though it doesn't show her color very well.  I'll never forget her, even though she was only mine for two short weeks.


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