Firefly, R.I.P

He's my current muse and second virtual pet. The first was a goldfish (or some sort of fish anyway) that lived online and was supposed to be fed twice daily by clicking on a button that said 'Fishfood'. Apparently I failed to feed him and one day I received an email saying he was dead. I assure you that's not going to happen to Firefly. Enjoy him while you can because he's not going to be here long. Cos it's just not fair to him. Go PETA!

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Firefly was the first ever virtual pet to grace the pages of this blog. He was here, enjoying pride of place in the column to the right from 16th December, 2005 to 10th May, 2006. Of course, when I first introduced him, I told my readers that he won't be here long, but he creeped his way into my heart and into at least two of my readers', who commented about his cuteness, so I had to keep him longer than I intended.

I found Firefly while wandering on google looking for pictures of... fireflies. Yes, suddenly, I spied this handsome hunk standing between coy photographs of bugs that had their rear end lit. I saw him, and lost my heart to him. It would be hard not to... just look at that fuzzy, downy brownness on his body and that little cap of it on his sweet little head. Look at the black of his little pony legs. Look at the innocence in his eyes. And look at that smudge of white on his nose that earned him his name, and then tell me you can't fall in love with him. Tell me, and I won't believe you.

I have learnt a lot from Firefly, the biggest lesson being that you're worth more if you're a donkey among fireflies. (And I use the term 'donkey' loosely, because Firefly was so much more than a donkey. He was an inspiration!) The second thing I learnt was that you should flare your nostrils while your photograph is being taken. I tried that for a while and it was very unflattering so I had to unlearn that very quickly. Notwithstanding that little hiccup, our saga of learning continued and then I learnt patience, for they also serve who only stand and wait. And boy, do you need a lot of patience for just standing and waiting! Firefly - he had that in him, especially since he didn't know what exactly it was that he was waiting for. Perseverance, grit and determination to overcome boredom... all these are qualities Firefly had in excess.

Now, while writing this, my heart is overcome with affection for the cuteness that is Firefly. Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I consign him to my Virtual Blogpet Hall of Fame. I do this only because I realise that what comes, must go, for this is the way of the world. May his virtual image rest in peace.