An Ode to Squishy Rat

I am going to tell you a little story about my long lost companion. His name… it was Squishy Rat. For a long time now Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays. There is something about the crisp autumn air and the overall atmosphere of the time that just makes me feel good. (No I don’t think if you really like Halloween you worship the devil or anything thank you.)

Let me take you back to my Junior year of college. It’s in Lawrence, Kansas. The air is crisp, the leaves are beautiful shades of red, yellow and orange and because we are so mature, there are various students jumping in piles of them throughout campus and around the area. Since it’s the weekend and writing papers is so cliché on a day like this I gather a few of my friends and we head out to Olathe… or Overland Park or one of those snobby places (I’m not good with locations) to the “not so Great” Mall to shop for some Halloweeny goodness. Once we got past all the prepackaged costumes and things that boo at you as you walk by their censors we happened upon the true gold of the entire store… the junk they keep in little bins around the square area where the registers reside. There, with light shining down on it like it was meant to be from the powers above, was Squishy Rat and his little squishy rat companions. I will go ahead and tell you right now that I have no idea what was inside that made Squishy Rat squishy (and still don’t to this very day) but it was not your average gel that makes every other toy on the planet squishy. It was something different. Something wonderful. I, of course, purchased Squishy Rat and he remained my loyal companion for many weeks.

The Loss of Squishy Rat’s Essence

Unfortunately for Squishy Rat, his makers were not the best and left something to be desired when It came to the production of his outsides. All it took was one college party. I cannot remember the exact culprit, as it was a very sad day, but someone was able to puncture a hole in Squishy Rat’s soft flesh and he became… Flat Rat. Let me tell you something, this was a day my friends and I mourned a bit. Squishy Rat’s very essence had leaked from him and he became quite sad looking, a shell really. I tried not to let this get me down. Flat Rat was a worthy companion. Just because you don’t jiggle when I poke you is no reason for me to abandon you… I consider this a valid life rule as well. So life went on with Flat Rat of the formerly squishy nature.

The Demise of Flat Rat

Someone threw Flat Rat away. This is how he died. ‘Twas a sad sad day. So on this day I would just like to remember, the one, the only…SQUISHY RAT because the leaves are changing and it’s getting cooler. This is Squishy Rat’s kind of thing. Oh little rat how we miss you.

I found out the following year that there was to be no more Squishy Rats ever. I went back to the same store at the same time of year and they no longer sold that particular breed of Squishy Rat. My only guess is that the squishy part of "Squishy" rat probably wasn't too up to code or something, much to my dismay.

A Time I Had

Cheers!