In memory of Molly ~ April 1998 to January 1999 ~
Molly came to my life when I needed a pet the most. Molly was a Syrian cream black-eyed hamster. Having a hamster never crossed my mind. I did not buy her. In fact, I found her in my sister’s room, during the time we smuggled a cat into the house. I saw a fancy cream colored rodent in the house, scuttling to safety when we switch on the light. Since no one wanted her, I had decided to adopt her. I named the hamster Molly. Molly lived in a medium sized tank for about 3 months, before my sister presented me with my first 3-storied hamster cage.
Molly became my best friend since then, and I loved to take her out to play with her. However, the problem was that I had three cats in the house. There was one time when I nearly lost Molly.
This happened one late Saturday afternoon. Molly had been a very clever hamster. She found out that there was a door at the side of the cage and had used all her might to open the door on every opportunity possible. Therefore, to stop her from escaping, I had used scotch tape to secure the door. However, I have to wash my hamster cage every week and the scotch tape would go off in contact with water. That very afternoon, I had washed the cage but I could not find the scotch tape. So I told my sister to look for it while I watched ‘Cow and Chicken’ on TV. I left the cage in the balcony. My sister went to the room and disappeared. I was so engrossed in the TV show that I forgot about Molly. The cat, Chico, stealthily came to the cage, while Molly tried to open the cage door. Suddenly, I heard a loud crash and I found Molly missing from her cage. I was scared! Suddenly, I saw Chico grab Molly in his mouth, only to drop it later and I saw Molly scuttled underneath the TV in the balcony. I was scared. Really scared. I thought it was the end of Molly. My brother and I searched everywhere in the balcony, calling Molly. I was relieved when she finally decided to come out from under the TV in the balcony. She was a bit shaken but all right.
There was one time early in the morning that I was woken by my sister because of Molly. There was a cockroach in her cage. I shook the cage furiously until the cockroach came out and smacked it hard with a broom. I thought that the cockroach came in because of the food. I threw the food in the food dish and washed it thoroughly with soap. I did not bother to wash the hamster house because I thought it was OK since I thought the cockroach did not bother to enter. Anyway, Molly was sleeping inside. A few days later, I saw Molly becoming weaker. I washed the cage again. I had decided to buy a new brand of food for her later after school but she died while I was in school. It was during Economics tutorial when my mother paged me to say she left. I was saddened by it. She was only ten months old. I knew she could live longer. Molly was my first hamster and I knew she has a special place in my heart. I buried her in a grass patch near the car park near my house. I visit the grave occasionally. I never took any photos of her. I did not know that she would leave so soon. I did try to take a photo of her but the camera was spoilt and the photo did not turn out. Now, immediately after the news about her death, I bought Mol, a Syrian light grey hamster. Now, he takes over Molly’s cage. I promised to take very good care of him.
-Rush Mohammad, Singapore

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