"The Berbils"
Rosie, Blackie, and Spot
Feb 2004 - Jan 11,2005
I'm as shocked as you are. They are all dead. And no wacky bloody cannibalism Chain Saw massacre either. It's like they died in their sleep overnight.
Ally brought this to my attention after lunch. "Mom, look! Spot is all flat and funny looking!" I looked and almost lost my lunch. So I rushed her and the other kids into the van to take her to kindergarten five minutes early. And then I called Greg. "Fly home from your very important sales meeting in Florida right now, the gerbils are dead!"
I don't like dead things. I can deal with blood, puke, poop, mud, rotten moldy food, natural disasters, and Tickle Me Elmo but dead stuff, I'll be over here in the corner tossing my cookies. Three dead gerbils in my foyer? I'm still gagging.
The next thought was WTF? All three mysteriously died overnight? Zach was just playing with them on Sunday. Greg suggested I call the vet and pediatrician to make sure the kids couldn't catch some freaky rodent killing virus. 3 vets had no clue (although one offered a $200 autopsy and lab tissue samples) and the nurse at the ped's office could only recommend the kids not touch the dead gerbils. No shit, Sherlock. Greg also suggested I move the CO detector over by the tank just in case. Nope, it still reads zero.
As much as I pleaded, Greg couldn't come home to take care of the disposal. So since I didn't want the kids coming home to "flat and funny looking" motionless pets, I summoned up the courage to move them into a paper bag. I've washed my hands fifty zillion times since. And then I buried them near the lilacs on the side of the house. One good thing about the fact it hasn't stopped raining since December, the ground was super soft and it was the fastest funeral on record.
The kids... *heavy sad sighs* They are okay. Zach and Ally cried a bit, Em was oddly neutral and kept asking Ally what Spot looked like. Kyle and Kelly of course could care less. Me? I've completely lost my appetite and am still asking WTF?
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