Tilly the Hamster

When I was a child, I had a pet hamster called Matilda aka Tilly. Tilly was fab as far as hamsters go when you’re 10. I still remember the distinct smell of hamster wood shavings, the sounds of the wheel going round and the glub of her water bottle. Tilly the Hamster had a ball to run around in, but in fact we would go into the bathroom and let her run free around. Well, as one afternoon my friend and I decided to let her run in the bathroom, all good until one fateful moment as she escaped us and disappeared behind the cabinet and we immediately realised she was gone. Maybe, we thought, she would come back out later of her own choice. Little did we know, hamsters don’t really do that. We ran down to my parents seconds later, yelling about what had happened.

My parents did not have the heart to tell us the truth which was 1. They didn’t think Tilly would return or 2. That moments earlier, standing in the kitchen below us, they had heard something dreadful fall down through the wall cavity. They kept it to themselves, maybe Tilly the hamster would return (doubtful). Later my friends mum learned what had happened and feeling terrible, went to the local post office and posted an advert explaining that we were missing a hamster. Then she prayed.

About a week later she got a phone call. The news was that an elderly lady had found a hamster in her garden and it so happened that she lived 3 doors away from us, avoiding dogs, cats and a pond – nearby where she was found lurking. We went to investigate. There she was Tilly in all her glory, living her best life on grapes, cheese and chocolate – pampered. The only thing that showed her extraordinary survival was a small piece missing from her ear. We brought her home and my dad full of faith still tells this story, a true miracle of how Tilly survived her fall and how God listens to every prayer and how much he cares for even a child’s hamster.