Imaginary Pet Blogging- Ruby goes to Peru

Ruby sometimes feels like she has a split personality. She grew up exceedingly poor in a litter of 12. She started working as a hotel maid when she was very young to help support all of her brothers and sisters after her dad ran out. But still, she was an exceptionally bright and adventurous hamster. And she was cute. We all know that cute will get you further in this world than we like to admit.

The success of Furry Little Bitchez caught Ruby off guard. She suddenly had money and fame, and she liked the creature comforts they provided. Her band mates had all come from much more privileged backgrounds and were less awed by the fancy hotel rooms and never having to worry about food or shelter. They liked to think they were true punk rock radicals, when in reality they were spoiled girls who knew little of how hard the lives of the poor and downtrodden were, though they claimed to want to free these people from their struggles. When they started planning the Petco bombing, Ruby felt her world shift. When she pointed out that there was a high possibility of the security guard dying in the blast, her band mates said that the sacrifice was deserved because he was keeping them down. Ruby knew that he probably was just doing the only job he could get that would put food on the table, and she left.
Her time in Argentina had felt the same way. She started dancing in a brothel full of other tough, salty dames who knew how cruel the world could be, and ended up as the caffeinated pet of a tycoon. At the coffee rehab in Peru, she had been reading about the Shining Path. The idea of liberating peasants from an oppressive system seemed like a way to redeem herself after all the gluttony of Buenos Aires. She wanted be part of something bigger than herself.

She set off from Lima through the mountains to Ayacucho in order to throw her lot in with the rebels. They weren't as hard to find as she thought they would be. She thought she would have to spend weeks trying to find someone who might eventually trust her enough to introduce her to the rebels, but instead she found them lounging around the first cafe she she stepped into.

She was immediately enthralled. The thrill of adventure and rebellion coupled with the lofty ideals of freeing the peasants made her giddy. She was willing to do anything to help and she did. But, in the way of many revolutionary movements, the females were usually kept to the dull and mundane tasks. Their ideas and input were only respected as far as what meals were cooked. (If you ever read any biographies of Che Guevara, you know what I mean. He only included women in his thoughts if those thoughts involved cooking, cleaning or fucking).

Still Ruby wanted to help and her fearless devotion to the cause didn't go unnoticed. By nature of being and adorable American hamster, she could get away with a lot more mischief under the eyes of the authorities. She simply played the dumb tourist card if she got caught. She was given more dangerous tasks, like shutting down electrical plants and helping with the kangaroo trials of cattle rustlers (a huge offense in the country, cattle rustlers were literally stealing the food and livelihoods of the peasants who owned the cattle) and corrupt government officials.

But something was itching at the back of her mind. Something was not quite right. It wasn't until the Shining Path came out against the idea of human rights and started planning attacks on the peasants who disagreed with the party that Ruby knew what it was. She had become the privileged rebel without a clue, like her Furry Little Bitchez bandmates. She looked around at the other rebels and realized that none of them had ever known what it was like to work your whole life for nothing. They were college kids who were inflicting their ideas on the struggling masses, and they were no better than the government they were fighting against.

Disillusioned once more, Ruby knew she had to escape. But this time, leaving would not be so simple. She knew too much about the Shining Path to be allowed to leave. She started to make her plans, but she knew it would be dangerous.