Original posted 07.31.2021

For my birthday in 2021, I was taken to wine country with my sister and a couple friends for a vacation. I have never been on a trip like that before, or since, but it was a unique experience I'll likely remember for a long time.

A day or so into the vacation, my sister got a call from my mother. Cherry, my eldest pet rat, had passed away the morning of my birthday. It was extremely sobering, to say the least.

I like making character designs of my pets. They have a lot of personality, so I like to interpret that. I had been wanting to do some based on my rats, but didn't get the chance to, before Cherry passed. So, when I got home, I spent a few days drawing this, and posted it to memorialize her. Cherry was a much more dominant rat who actually survived being snake food (we came to own her because one of my mother's students asked if she wanted to keep a "mouse" his pet snake couldn't eat) while her little sister Oreo, portrayed here, was a lot more sweet and timid. I tried styling them accordingly. They also loved yogurt chips more than any other treat.

Both Cherry and Oreo are gone, now. Rats unfortunately don't get to live a very long time, but I loved them both dearly, and still miss them. I'm glad they can be somewhat immortalized in my art.

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