The Hamster and the Owl

- By Venise Alexandria Taboada -

A short time ago, in a home nestled deep within the bowels of the TechMed Centre, the Hamster lived not-so-peacefully. Now, this young Hamster was quite mischievous, for they were dressed in a bright red sweater. Many years ago an author had made the mistake of attributing the colour red to bravery in general, when in fact it was the colour of those who were not afraid to use their knowledge. It is adequate to advise the common man to turn tail should one come across a hamster in red.

This Hamster, well dressed as they may be, sought to cause mayhem in the rather quiet country. That year, the Hamster was looking forward to painting the TechMed Centre red. Poor, unsuspecting students, active Ockham members or otherwise, could not hope to escape the Hamster’s mischief.

The town trembled, its residents wondering what the Hamster would do, for there was simply no telling, and no way to prepare for their schemes. Its citizens continued about their day to day, but they surely knew the Hamster would come…

Suddenly, a shadow fell over the town. The warm, glorious ray of sunshine that had befallen the town in a rare, miraculous moment, was instantly snatched away. The citizens raged, and clamoured outside their homes to shake their fists at the Hamster, whom they were sure had stolen their Sunshine Day.

However, what greeted them in the dark sky was not the Hamster, but a large Owl. Its wings spanned from one end of the town to the other, great brown feathers gently caressing the lonely sun and hiding it from view. Its eyes, yellow, did not shine as the sun’s yellow did. Rather, it glared, ominously, at the citizens below. 

People started. The Hamster, who every so often sought to batter them with harmless pranks, was nowhere to be seen on this Sunshine Day, a prime opportunity for mischief. All that was to be seen was the Owl, all-encompassing, all-consuming, all-mighty.

“O Great Owl!” the citizens cried. “What brings you here?”

“I have come to take your land as my own!” declared the Owl, and everyone quaked with fear. With anger.

“We shall not be conquered!” they roared. “We would rather have Hamster as our king than you!”

And so these bright-eyed, kind-hearted citizens prepared themselves to fight. They rallied their allies in the Platypus Lands, and made efforts to drive away the Owl and regain their Sunshine Day. These citizens had never had to fight, but for the sake of their land, their pride, their identity, they knew: they would never be Owls. They would always be Hamsters.

And so, one such Hamster in their bright red sweater, stepped forward from the fray. With determined eyes, they stared resolutely at the great big Owl, and calmly said: “April Fools.”

A ferocious laugh tore from the big Owl’s beak, and the citizens all murmured amongst themselves, quite confused.

“What a mighty good prank this tiny one has cooked up for you this year,” the Owl said to the town. Gracefully, it flapped its wings, rays of sunlight peeking through its feathers. “I shall return home. The Hamster knows where to find me, should you wish to have tea together someday.”

The Owl flew away. In mere seconds, the citizens regained their Sunshine Day, though it could be said there was not much sunshine in their hearts.

“Oh, Hamster, you!” said one. 

The young mischievous Hamster simply grinned, happy to have hoarded another successful prank in its repertoire. As citizens slowly went back to their day and the extraordinary event slowly faded into the past, Hamster ambled slowly to their home, wondering what it should do next…