It was love at first sight. The moment I saw her and looked into those big black eyes of hers, I was hooked. In that one exchange, our souls clicked. She pressed her paw against the glass and I pressed my hand against the glass. And in that moment, I knew that she was mine.
Unfortunately, my dad was not so convinced.
“She’s a rat,” my dad said.
“But, Daaaad! Look at her.”
“No.”
“I love her.”
“How can you love her?” he asked. “You haven’t even held her.”
“She’s special,” I said.
His nose curled in disgust. “She’s a rat.”
“She’s a special rat.” 
As I watched her spin on her wheel, my heart swelled even more. I knew then I had to get her.
He shook his head. “Sorry, Tor, I can’t get past the tail.”
“I can’t get past her eyes,” I said. “Look at them.”
Luckily, my sister was there for some reinforcement that day, and she agreed with my assessment.
My father still wasn’t budging though. No how much I pleaded, he remained firm.  We left the pet store empty-handed.
Later on, I did get a hamster like I had originally planned, but I still couldn’t help but think about that beautiful rat, who still hadn’t found a home yet. The hamster simply could not compare.
My dad told me to forget about her, but I couldn’t.
I should have held her, I thought. I should have held her and then he would have seen how amazing she was.

I didn’t give up. In the coming weeks, I barraged my parents with talk of getting the rat.
“Isn’t the hamster enough for you?” Dad asked at one point.
“I like Cheerio,” I said, “but I can’t stop thinking about the rat. I can’t stop worrying her. I mean, she still hasn’t found a home yet and it’s been weeks. What if she still hasn’t found a home yet? I mean... What if that’s because she was meant to come here?”
Dad rolled his eyes and smiled at me. “You can’t worry about every pet in that pet store.”
Eventually, my barrages became so frequent that my father agreed to “think about it”.

Finally, on one fateful day, my dad consented to another trek to the pet store, this time with the possibility of reuniting with my rat friend.
And, surely enough, she was there.
Immediately I shrieked with joy, “She’s here!”
“Ugh,” he said.
“You said you’d let me get her.”
“I said we’ll see.”
I looked up at him, ready to play my hand at persuasion once again. “Just let me hold her and then ‘you’ll see’.”
“Fine.”
So I beckoned one of the pet store employees nearby and asked to hold her. As she was placed into my hands, fate set itself into motion. She climbed on my shoulders, and I started to grin like a madwoman.
He sighed.
“So…”
He shook his head, shoulders sagging in defeat. “You win. You can get her.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. “As long as you pay for it. That includes the cage.” 
“Yay!”
I hugged him and he mumbled something about not believing he was about to do this.
A few moments later, we walked out of PetSmart with our newest family member. I had done it. I had gotten the rat.
“I love you, buddy,” I said as I put her in the back seat of the car.
At that moment, she poked her nose out of one of the breathing holes almost as if to say she loved me too.
I named her Daisy.