I don't have a photo, I wish I did, but my dear Opal's pictures are all blurry as I was only 10 when I took them
Opal was a special little girl, I knew from the moment I saw her! We were on our way to buy a kitchen tap, but then we saw these adorable hamster on clearance (I'm not kidding, that's the word they used) and with enough puppy-dog eye persuasion, my dad agreed to let me choose one. In the entire cage of hamsters, all of them were just minding their own business, all except one, who started to 'walk' towards me on her hindpaws, gazing into my eyes.
"That one." I said, and I brought her home.
Fast forward to three days later, when I had picked her up to play. I had left her cage open and was just picking up stray seeds on the floor, and when I looked back, she was gone. Now at this time my family was going through the lost opal crisis, where one of the fire opals on my Grandmother's ring had popped off. It was about 5mm long and we could not find it anywhere. Anyway, I was panicking, searching the near vicinity, trying to lure her out with seeds but to no avail. I sat back down, really upset, when I saw a little ball of fluff under the sofa, something gleaming in her paws. I looked closer, and the dear little girl was nibbling on the opal, trying to see if it was a tasty treat! I was so happy that I found her, AND the fire opal! So I just said, "Opal." And she dropped the opal and came crawling out to me.
My dear little baby and I were so close, I was devastated when she passed on. She was getting weak, and I was getting worried. On the day that she passed, my mum asked me to hurry home from school, "Opal is trembling and shaking." I rushed home, and picked her up. She looked up at me, holding my gaze before letting her eyelids drift close. I started bawling. I still remember the scene, she was all curled up in a ball. She truly looked like an opal in my hands.
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