Night Running

Blogs seemed to be growing in popularity lately. I never really seemed interested in them, but I followed my friend’s blog all the same. He lived somewhere in Canada, and I lived in London at the time, so it was nice to have a way to keep updated on what he was up to. Before too long, though, I noticed something strange in his posts. I can’t see anything strange at all before the 28th of January in 2001…

01/28/2001

Well, today I finally went out and bought a pet! He’s a guinea pig, and I think he’s the cutest thing in the world. He’s black and white, and he was a lot more lively than the other guinea pigs at the store… in fact, all of the other ones seemed half-alive. That’s why I got the one I did… I named him Henry.

I need to run back to the store and buy some food for him, I forgot it in my excitement.

02/04/2001

Hello! I haven’t been updating because I’ve been so busy lately… and I haven’t been getting much sleep. Henry is really restless at night. The very first night, I wasn’t sure if it was normal guinea pig behaviour, but after doing some research, I know it wasn’t:

He ran laps in his cage all night. Non-stop. I know this because I spent the night taking turns staring at him and staring at the alarm clock next to my bed. He never stopped once, not even for a second to eat or drink. As soon as my clock read 7:16, he stopped and started squeaking loudly. I got up and he stopped squeaking as soon as he saw me. I fed him, and he continued to act normally. Hmm… I’m guessing it was just pent up energy. Too bad he’s been doing it every night. I have an appointment for him next week with the vet, just to make sure he’s okay.

02/14/2001

Hey. I took Henry to the vet yesterday, they saw nothing wrong with him. She told me that he’s perfectly healthy, and that she wasn’t worried. He’s just a hyper young guinea pig. I think it’s really weird though how he continues to run around his cage non-stop all night, only stopping at 7:16 am.

02/15/2001

Holy shit. It’s 7:16 am and Henry just finished running. I’m terrified though. I heard whimpering coming from the hallway outside my bedroom door. I live alone in an apartment. Henry didn’t squeak when he saw me, just stood completely still and stared at me.

*UPDATE* I need to add something today. I hate writing in the morning, because things always happen later in the day that I want to add. But I couldn’t resist… that sound just creeped me out so much. Anyway, I’m updating because I need all guinea pig owners to private message me. I have some questions…

It sounds like Henry is having difficulty breathing, and he’s really jumpy. He used to be playful and would happily lay on my lap and make those weird noises guinea pigs make when they’re happy… but now whenever I try to pick him up he goes completely limp until I return him to the cage. It makes me nervous… Has anyone’s guinea pig done this?

02/20/2001

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who messaged me. He still runs around the cage all night so I know he’s not sick and weak. He won’t even come out of his little house during the day. If I pick it up, he goes limp again. Maybe he’s playing dead? Guinea pigs are prey after all… maybe he thinks I’m a predator? I don’t know. I’m getting a little upset about this.

Another thing that’s bothering me is once again he didn’t squeak when he saw me get out of bed after he stopped running around at 7:16 am. Last time he didn’t, it was when I heard the whimpering. No, I didn’t hear it. But I did hear something… gentle scratching and thumping on my window shortly after he stopped running. I hope he squeaks tomorrow morning…

04/01/2001

Henry has stopped squeaking in the morning. I hear quick footsteps all throughout my apartment every morning. It’s become normal. At first I was absolutely terrified, but nothing more has come of it. I think I’m imagining everything because he keeps me awake all night every night with his damn marathon he’s running… he even stopped eating. He just hides inside his house whenever I’m around and awake… and runs all night, stopping right at 7:16 am as always… and then the other little footsteps running around my apartment keep me awake… I’m getting real tired of this….

On a brighter note, I got a promotion at work. I’m really surprised about that, considering I’m always half asleep at work. I understand now why those other guinea pigs weren’t so lively…

04/03/2001

So one of my “followers” decided to point out that 7:16 am is 66 minutes after 6. 6:66. Thanks for creeping me out, Janice. Now that’s all I can think about. On top of that, I woke up this morning and found four long strands of black hair. Now, I’m a blond dude with a buzz cut. I’m seriously creeped out now. Maybe someone will come stay the night. Or better yet, maybe someone will adopt Henry.

The footsteps stopped, the last time I heard them was yesterday morning when Henry stopped running. Still, he didn’t squeak, and I’m starting to think that was his way of telling me I was safe… but hey, I haven’t slept properly since I got him. I can’t think straight.

04/17/2001

The footsteps came back last night. Louder and faster than ever before, and now they’re accompanied by random bangs and gentle scratches. This morning as soon as Henry finished running, something banged into my door and whimpered. Guys, I’m seriously terrified. 7:16… 6:66…

06/01/2001

WILL SOMEONE TAKE THIS FUCKING GUINEA PIG!!! Pardon my language, but seriously. This needs to end. I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow, because something is definitely wrong with him. There’s something about his eyes. I haven’t been able to look at him properly in about a month, I’ve long given up trying to bond with him. He was only interested in that for the first two weeks. But today I got a look at him… His eyes… they’re black. Yes, I know, all guinea pigs have dark eyes. But there used to be some white to them, and I could see brown before. But now it’s just black and he is still playing dead whenever I try to look at him.

I don’t know how he’s been able to run all night for all this long, because he hasn’t eaten since I don’t even know when…

It’s late. The footsteps have started. Henry will start soon. Time to go to bed.

06/02/2001

I just got back from the vet. I feel like I’m going to throw up and I can’t stop shaking. I need to get out of here. HENRY HAS BEEN DEAD FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS. The vet apologized and estimated how long he’s been dead, but she seemed disgusted that I let him rot for so long. She won’t listen to me when I tell her that he’s been running around the cage all night, every night, faithfully since I got him…

Maybe now I can finally sleep…

06/03/2001

I finally slept.

But I’m not happy about it.

I fell asleep with my bedroom door closed, but I woke up with it open. I’m covered in scratches and there was more of that long black hair in my bed, and on the floor. My door has scratch marks near the bottom and the door knob is broken off. But that’s not the worst thing…

I was awoken at 7:16 by the sound of a whimper coming from Henry’s house.

I swear at first he was protecting me… but then it got him… and I’m next.