She was two years old.  I didn't think I'd have to write this for years.
Illura Jade Ferret, aka Lura Bug or Lulu, left me tonight.  She was
playing in my room not three feet away, when I heard the dog yelp and
turned around to see Illura gasping on the floor.  I grabbed her in a
panic and felt a large lump on her head-- I think the word processor
slipped from where it was and hit both her and the dog.  Screaming
"ILLURA!  DON'T LEAVE ME!  STAY WITH ME!" over and over, I ran for the
phone and called for a ride, then the vet.  By this point she wasn't
blinking.  I had lost her before I was off the phone.  We brought her in
anyway.  I haven't stopped sobbing.  My baby, my angel.  She was in
perfect health, I had just been playing with her.  And now she's gone.
My heart is broken.  I loved her so much.  She was my little daughter
since I brought her home at 9 weeks old.  My Lola seems so confused-- she
climbed out of her hammock, looked at it for a moment, then looked at me
as if to say "Why is it empty?  Illura's supposed to be there." She came
out to play but shortly went back to bed, not having her sister to wrestle
with.  They were inseperable; I didn't think I could ever imagine them
apart.  Every time I look at Lola I start crying again, but I'll try to
spend extra special time playing with her and keeping her company.  Every
time I would read a post from someone who had lost a ferret, I would think
how I wouldn't be able to take it if it happened to mine.  Now I know how
it feels.  Thank you for putting up with this long post, I really just had
to get it out.
 
a very heartbroken Rachel and Lola
 
=====
"Go ahead, call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops"
 
                      -- Tom Waits
[Posted in FML issue 3690]