A year ago this month

I met a brainy gerbil in a pet shop. I was so captivated, I bought the gerbil, its sibling and its best mate. Turned out the brainy gerbil was a female, Freakella Brunel, known as The Freak, alongside Fingerlickin' Fred and Edmund. She had three litters who took over the blue room and lived happily ever after.

Found her dead this morning, along with one of her agouti daughters, Pretty I think. The thing about big tanks is that the gerbils get to live out burrowing, communal rodenty lives, but one never really knows what's going on until one goes and digs everything up. If the cause was a disease we'll soon know, but it's just as likely to have been just one of those things; small beasts, short lives. The tanks are big, but suit four better than six, so benefits to be gained for the others I guess.

At least they were happy as far as I could tell.

Night night Pretty. Night night Freak.