A hamster's Memory Space
Puffy
2022 — 2024
Puffy, held in cupped hands.
A hamster · carried with us
Kept by Arjun
Puffy2022 — 2024
A syrian hamster of great personality and small feet.
Puffy lives in an Ikea Samla box, just like the clean minimalist that he is. He had a small cage initially, which became his clubhouse, and he has his own wheel and swimming pool of silica sand. Aside from his brother and owner, Arjun, he is the most pampered member of our home.
The story
The cheek pouch, always full
· 01
Puffy had two speeds: sleeping, and packing his cheeks. He would visit the food bowl, pack, waddle home to the cardboard house, unpack, and return. He did this seven or eight times, every evening, with the seriousness of a small removals firm.
The wheel, at three in the morning
· 02
The wheel began at three, sharp. It went until dawn. We oiled it, we changed it, we tried three different models. Puffy preferred the loudest. It became the soundtrack of the household, the way a clock becomes the soundtrack of a hall.
The seed on the finger
· 03
He would take a single sunflower seed from the tip of Ada's finger, hold it in both hands, and eat it slowly, watching her the whole time. Ada would hold her breath. We took a photograph of this, once. It is the one on her wall.
Milestones
2022
Arrived in a small box on Ada's ninth birthday.
2022
Moved into the cardboard house. Refused all upgrades.
2023
Learned his name. Ignored it, cheerfully.
2024
A quiet morning. Ada read to him, as she always did.
Favorite things
- — Sunflower seeds
- — The loud wheel
- — The cardboard house with the crooked window
- — Ada's cupped hands
Small rituals
- — The evening removals run
- — The three am wheel
- — The Sunday reading, one chapter, out loud
A keepsake
The photobook
of Puffy.
Every Space becomes a small, curated book. Full-bleed portraits, quiet caption pages, a quote spread. Download a PDF now. A printed hardcover is coming soon.
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