Beauregard Tonks the Third, Chinchilla and proud, sat rigidly in the furthest possible corner of his cage, nestled down into his own fur as he formed an almost perfectly spherical ball of fluff.  Tucked safely beneath one paw sat his Pink Shiny, a small plastic ball that jingled softly as it rolled back and forth.   With large, suspicious, black eyes, he watched the employees of she shop prepare for opening.  When the one known as Alex approached to twist open the window blinds above his cage, he tucked his nose into his fur and pretended to be asleep.<br/><br/>As soon as the noisy human moved away, Bo darted across the wood chips, Pink Shiny firmly in paw.  Every movement was precise and abrupt, punctuated with dramatic pauses to check that the coast was clear.  Skittering in short bursts to the edge of his sawdust kingdom, he stood up on his hind legs and scratched at the glass to get Rioâ€™s attention in the cage a few feet away.<br/><br/>â€œTodayâ€™s the day.â€  He squeaked, not caring if the raven was actually listening or not.  â€œItâ€™s going to happen.  â€œ<span style="font-style: italic">Just you wait and see.</span>The fish are going to disappear.  The kelp is going to wither.  All the food will turn into poo!  Itâ€™s a sign that weâ€™re all going to die horrible deaths and wind up as stew meat.â€