It started out just like any other day for me. I was napping 'cause I was tired but then Mama came in the room and I was so happy I was gonna play with her early. So naturally, I ran up to meet her.
But then all the sudden, I heard something. A little... squeak. And I knew Mama couldn't be making that squeak. Mama was whispering to something but I knew that it couldn't be to me.
"Daisy girl," she said, "you have a new playmate. Meet Buttercup."
And then sure enough, Mama opened the cage and let the squeaker in.
The squeaker, this Buttercup came through and went after me. She pummeled me to the cage and even peed on me.
Did she think she was gonna be the alpha female? Not happening! Who did this rat think she was? I was the one here the longest so I was the alpha female. Not to mention, in addition to being a squeaker, this girl was a pipsqueak.
So I pinned her to the edge of the cage and I won. The more she squeaked, the better I felt. I even gave her a few nips on her back to shut her up.
Figuring I had done enough, I walked away. But noooo, she kept following me. Ugh, couldn't this chick take a point?
Then I ran up to the top away from her. She looked up at me but I knew she wouldn't be able to follow.
Mama was still there; I could make her out even though she looked super blurry far away. I reached out for her, gripping the bars with all my might.
Mama opened the cage and sighed. I crawled on her shoulder.
"I'll give you a break, Dais," she said, "but you're gonna have to make friends with her eventually."

But, of course, I wasn’t. This Buttercup was annoying and weird and super uptight too. Not to mention, she made all these annoying squeaking sounds and, like, didn’t like to play nearly as much. On the first few days, I didn’t say anything to her but she kept following me anyway. And I love to play and all but I didn’t want to play with her! I only wanted to play with my mama!
Not to mention, Mama wasn’t playing with me as much. I was like, “MamaMamaMama!” but she was not coming over to my cage. I knew that it was because of Buttercup and that almost made me hiss again. But when Mama did play with me, she made sure to cuddle with me even more than she usually did and to give me extra kissies.

Mama even tried to get us to play together, throwing us both at each other. I wasn’t going to have it, of course, so I hissed at this Buttercup chick to show her who was boss. I hoped Mama would get the hint too but she didn’t.

After I hissed at her, Mama was freaking out so then she put me back in the cage again. Luckily, I was away from this weird girl.

Who did she think she was anyway? How dare she come into my cage and try to love my mama? But I knew I would always win. I knew my cage, I was bigger and Mama loved me best. That was just the way it was.

I could still remember when I first saw Mama. She looked at me and I looked at her and then I put my paw against the glass and she put her finger against the glass. I knew she was my mama then. And she didn’t get me then but she loved me so much she came back for me. She told me that too when she held me. Did this Buttercup chick have that with my mama? I didn’t think so. I was the special one and she wasn’t. And she couldn’t be. Mama was my mama after all, not hers!


Buttercup finally left me alone, thank the rat gods. And it all pretty much worked out except sometimes, I got really thirsty and hungry ‘cause the food and the water was, of course, on Buttercup’s level. But I still didn’t wanna go down there and deal with her. It was a pride thing, I guess.

I mean, I got really, really thirsty one time. I tried to think of some ways to get water and then I realized: Mama’s mouth! So I went up to Mama like I did whenever I gave her kissies except I tried to get some of her spit.

She pushed me off her except I was really thirsty and all so I kept trying and I got a little. Finally, she took me away and got the actual water bottle out for me. And, of course, I chugged.

“Are you serious?” she asked me. “You’d rather make yourself thirsty than be with Buttercup?”

I, of course, couldn’t say anything so I looked ahead.

She took food out for me to eat too and I ate that like a horse.

“I only got her for you, you know,” she said.

I wanted to tell her that I didn’t want her anyway but I couldn’t and I was too busy eating anyway and I was just so happy to be with Mama again.



Mama and her daddy and my “friend” came up with a plan for me: they would leave the food and the water on the middle floor. This was disastrous because from there I totally couldn’t resist it and sometimes, she couldn’t resist it. So she figured out how to get up there to get it and then she found a way to get up to me.

“Will we have to send her back?”

“Just give her time,” the friend said.

“Send her back”? I freaked out until I realized they meant Buttercup. But even then I felt a little sad. I was kinda annoyed by her but I didn’t want to send her back. Even Buttercup seemed kinda sad by that.

Maybe I could give her a chance, I figured, even if she was annoying.


But then the weirdest thing happened. I actually liked her! She was really cuddly and nice and soft and everything awesome. It turned out she was also really cool to sleep next to too, except when she farts. And after I paid attention to her, she stopped trying to follow me as much and let me have my space.

And she didn’t even like love from Mama like I did so I got just as much as I did before! And I got love from her too! I never knew it was possible to get more love than I got from Mama but it is. So I was being stupid, I guess. Buttercup even helps me out now like she helps with plans of escape from the cage and she helped me when Mama shut the cage door on my tail by mistake and gave me a boo-boo.
I even taught Buttercup how to play! And now she doesn’t squeak nearly as much, which is good.

Mama never had to send Buttercup back, either, so that was good. And Buttercup has been my best buddy since.