|
|
The Rat Fan Club
The Rat of the Week
Atrus lives with Joy Perkinson who lives with her
parents and brother in Portland, OR. Joy writes, “Atrus is named
for a character in the computer games and books called ‘Myst.’
He is less than a year old, but he’s very American—born on the
Fourth of July and bought on September 11. I’m a high school
senior, and I bought Atrus to be my study buddy (I chose him because of the
thin, white stripe on his head and his funny apricot smell), so he’s
out of his cage for most of the evening while I work on homework. He
used to sit quietly on my shoulder, but after the first time I gave him
free reign of my room, he’s been energetic.
Whenever I snack, he gets some food. He likes tea
and soda a lot, with the caffeine only adding to his bounciness. When
not eating, his favorite activities include chewing up my pencils and
running off with my essays, which I have to locate later. He also
practices climbing; I have a dresser whose back is two inches from the
wall, and Atrus can climb to the top by pressing his back against the wall
and his feet against the dresser, just like you see people do in the movies
but on a smaller scale. I’m off to MIT next fall, and we’ll
see if any dorms allow rats. If not, Atrus will stay with my mom,
whose new obsession with rats is leading to the accumulation of figurines
in my room. In fact, a search for rat charms led me to find The Rat
Fan Club.”
|
|
|
