stradapult

Got a call from the landlady yesterday letting me know that she was coming with an inspector for the customary visit to show that she doesn't rent slums. She said they'd be here this morning at 10am.

I got home from work at about 6am and tidied up a bit. I decided that I didn't want to stay awake until 10, so I lied down in bed and drifted off to sleep.

My cat stirred me out of my sleep momentarily. He was extremely affectionate and was licking my face. He usually isn't -that- friendly.
10:00 comes around. I hear her knock and shrill voice outside the apartment door. I notice my hampster's cage in pieces on the floor with litter everywhere. It doesn't register. I close my bedroom door and let her and the inspector in. She points out what each room is and everything, while I stand there barely awake watching. In 50 seconds, they're done and gone.

I go back to my room and look at the cage. I was thinking about how that could have happened. I looked under my bed for the hampster and all over the rest of the floor. He wasn't there. It occured to me that one of my cats had to have knocked it down, even though the bureau is high up and they hadn't been able to reach it before.

I scanned the floor as I walked through the apartment. My other cat was sprawled across a chair and was purring (this cat -never- purs.) As I reached Dan's room, there the hampster was on the floor - lifeless and with an organ visible through it's gnawed through side.