"Owls have huge, round marble eyes that never close. Observant freaks of the night! They can spot a speck a dust floating in the air as it settles to the ground. So, imagine a rat snooping around in the fields in the dark. It's nothing for them to sniff us out."
Mother was at the dining table, telling her horror stories to Sharp and Cheesy, who huddled around her and listened intently. I was away from them, settled quite comfortably in my nesting, brushing my paws behind my ear and grooming myself.
" Well Mother, I ain't sacred of no cat, bat, snake, eagle! Even if they think of us as dirty little rats" Sharp bragged, mindlessly saying the "R" word. Mother Mince flashed him a dangerous look. He knew that word was blasphemy in this household, so right after he said it, he stopped, before she kicked him outside to be eaten by the "monsters".
"Rodents''. Is what I meant to say" he corrected himself, laughing nervously. Sharp knew better than to swear the forbidden "r" word in her presence. He could do it around us because we are brothers, but not Mother. Never around Mother. She would kill us. He continued.
"I don't give a rodent's backside how much bigger they are than me Mother! I'll take them all at once and show em whose rodent around here!!!" Sharp pounded his chest with his fists and bit his lower lip, whiskers flailing as he jumped around in his usual bravado.
Mother took her hand and smacked it across Sharp's head, him rubbing the injured spot and calming down.
"Oh hush yourself Sharp! You better not go out there and do anything dangerous. Else you'll be killed before you and your brothers can say "Dratsmate!" she warned him. With a huff Sharp folded his arms and slumped down in his chair, scowling miserably.
"Mommy I never, ever, ever want to go outside!!! All those hungry cats and big birds after me, I'd have a heart attack!! Besides its rough out there. All the food is in here, therefore, in here I shall stay!! With you!! Forever" Cheesy squealed in that whiny, high pithed tone of his. He ran up to Mother Mince and wrapped his arms around the white expanse of her tummy. She reared her head down at him slowly and gave him a warm smile, taking her paws and rubbing his head gently.
" You have nothing to worry about my loves, I'm just telling you what I've seen. There are no big scary cats, owls, dogs or none of the likes in here. Just a Giant who doesn't care about our existence as long as we stay out of his way. We are safe here" she assured.
I hissed my teeth in disgust and rolled my eyes. Hearing my sounds from a distance she flashed her eyes straight at me, sensing the distaste I had for her stories. I sat there, looking at her with a blank stare. She looked back.
Both of us held this grudge filled gaze at each other from across the room; her in her self-righteous, unmoving position of false safety and me, rebellious in the cause for freedom. We held a stare, none of us backing down from the other.
Look at her... It was sinful what she was doing to her sons as a mother. Programming us to be afraid of the world like that. Not me though, I didn't care. I would stand up for what I believed in no matter what. No longer would I be told what to do, where to go, and how to live.
Sensing how awkward it was becoming, Cheesy began talking again, grabbing Mother's attention to him.
A month had passed by now since Mother's angry burst about me being "ungrateful". I haven't muttered but two low, under my breath words to her every now and again, and she is doing the same. Our interactions went from being loving and chatty, to cold and frigid. We barely talked, much less look at each other, unless it was a miniscule task she just so happened to be in the way of. Like yesterday at dinner, she was sitting closer to the serving of chicken than I was, so I politely asked her to pass the dish for me. She did. I said thank you. She nodded and gave a quiet "Your Welcome".
Even though we were upset with each other, I missed our conversations. I was etching to talk to her, and I had a feeling that the feeling was mutual for her too, but I had a point to make. I had to take my chances right now, before it was too late, and if this was one of the byproducts of that, so be it. She wasn't bound to be upset with me forever.
Regardless she continued to instill fear into the two of them. The same way I continued to stick to myself...
''My dear sons, creatures out there are vicious. The Owl is indeed a terrifying, night howling Demon. But it is nothing, and I mean nothing! In comparison to the Eagle. They are the ones you should really be afraid of" She got up amongst them, her eyes laser focused on their dismal faces. I was convinced her self-esteem was boosted when she scared them like this.
I sighed, taking my finger and shaking it around in my ear to round off some of the noise that was coming at me from her tired, over told fear factor stories. For some reason her voice got annoyingly high and shrill when she was describing these experiences.
"They are out in the daytime, every day, all day. The guardians of the skies, the brutes of nature. When Eagles spread their wings, it covers the entire sun! Elongated yellow beaks that snapped a head off in one clap. White, snowy heads with acute beady yellow eyes. Black talons that were so sharp and long, they curved over each other. And don't you dare look one in the eye. If you did, consider that you were already dead" Cheesy and Sharp were now huddled together, arms tightened around each other's torso as eyes and mouths opened wide in fear.
When Sharp realized what he was doing, he snapped out of it, pushing Cheesy away and folding his arms together.
"Get off of me ya doof!!" Sharp straightened himself off him with a vexed growl, taking his chair and moving it a few inches away from Cheesy.
"Sheesh!!! It was just a reflex. No need to be so antsy..." Cheesy replied.
He stood up, narrowing his eyes and rumpling his mouth up in a scowl, glaring at Mother from head to toe.
With an annoyed glare Mother cleared her throat loudly, bringing their attention back to her, she continued on with yet another story.
"I had a daughter once, named Daphne. Tiny, precious little thing... we went in the corn fields to find something to eat. It was early in the morning, so I wasn't expecting anyone or anything to be out just yet."
"We climbed on the corn stalks and snubbed at the juicy cobs of corn, they were tall sticks, and I didn't need to teach her much on how to climb. It was if she already knew." Her voice was getting low again, thank goodness. I don't know how my brothers can have so much patience to sit down and listen to her stories. I only listened before because I felt I had no choice.
"Let me tell you bucks something crazy.... we received no signs, whatsoever. There was no flapping of wings. There was no whiff of wind. No caws, no screeches, nothing. The gigantic bird just swooped down, out of nowhere, like a phantom. A ghost. He grabbed her off the cob and heisted himself up into the air, his huge, razor talons wrapped around her tiny body...i can still hear her squealing for help when he squeezed the living daylights out of her. Squeezed the breath out of my babies' body." She held her head low, blinking slowly and staring out into space.
I started to question everything that came out of my mother's mouth... was it true, the stories she described?? Did she really have a daughter named Daphne? Were they really in a corn field? Or was she adding details as she went along to up the scale?
I don't know. I hope I wasn't just making false assumptions. But my intuition said otherwise. As far as I knew, there was Daphne. She was the made up phantom in this fake tale.
In the middle of the story she stopped, her eyes beginning to get misty. Mother covered her face with her forearm, using it to wipe the oncoming tears. She got up from Cheesy and Sharp who held their hands out to her, moving to the dining room table.
"Enough of my sad stories. How about we have something nice to eat? I got some roasted chicken and beans from a plate in the Kitchen." At that same moment she flashed the brightest smile, bending over and placing her knapsack on the table, taking out today's catch and beginning to set up the space for dinner. Cheesy and Sharp looked at her with the most concerned expressions while she set up. Both turned to each other, equally confused.
'' But Mother are you- '' as Cheesy was about to ask if she was okay, Sharp touched him on the shoulder and held a finger to his lip, signaling for him to stop. Cheesy closed his mouth and stayed quiet.
Getting all sad and dramatic like that only to leave and continue in another activity? As if you weren't just having a breakdown? Of course, anyone with emotional intelligence would be concerned. It draws their attention onto you.
My, oh my.
What a strategic woman my Mother has shown herself to be.
Sharp decided not to question this behavior any further, shrugging it off and continuing on with his interests.
'' Alright Cheesers, let's play a round of Dratsmate. Help me set up" Sharp ordered.
I got up from my nesting and went back into the corner of the room, sat down and began peeling pricks of wood off of the wall like I usually did when I was bored. There was nothing else to do..
Time passed and Sharp and Cheesy had gone a few rounds playing Dratsmate , it progressed to that vital point where Cheesy had lost so much that he thought Sharp had been cheating.
"That's not fair!!!!You only won because...!!!! Because I let you!!!!Besides you called me slow and fat, you trash talked me!!Therefore I am never playing this game with you again, and I mean it this time!!!"
"What in drats name are you talking about Cheesy!! All the time I've played Dratsmate with you I've never cheated!! Ever!! You just aren't paying attention to what you're doing!!"
"Lies!! You're a liar. Look at where my Rodent Bishop is placed ju-just look! And you're telling me that solider can go over him??? No! That's not fair! You dubbed the rules Sharp!!"
"Dubbing the!! Why you-"
Cheesy and Sharp's voices bellowed out in the background, banging throughout the room like nothing else. I was sick of it, but I had also gotten very used to it. Now it just sounded normal as them arguing over this game was an everyday occurrence. What happened next however, I wasn't expecting.
"Burrow" my ears flickered up in suspicion as I heard that familiar voice calling me. I revolved my head around to see Mother standing behind me, rolling her eyes to the other direction as if she were unbothered.
"As you know, it's been a month since you've gone out with us to get food from the Giant's Kitchen. You've chosen to stay back these few trips while your brothers and I have gone." She was talking carefully, as if she was counting every word she spoke to me.
"We're going out tomorrow. I need you to accompany us this time to watch your brother Cheesy while Sharp and I scout. Sharp has been watching him these few times we went out but..you know how his temper can be" I knew exactly how loose tongued and rough Sharp got with Cheesy. Whenever we went out in the Kitchen, I was the one that always watched Cheesy intensely, because I had more patience in dealing with him than Sharp did.
I sighed, already beginning to feel the annoyance of having to babysit him. She hadn't talked to me in a month and the only way she could think of breaking the ice was by asking me to do something she knew I detested. I suppose I didn't have a choice but to tag along. I had been ignoring her for such an extended time anyway.
I gave her my consent by nodding my head, not saying a word but agreeing nonverbally.
She blinked twice, widened eyes looking up at me as she revolved her head to a side angle.
"Is that a yes?" she asked, her eyebrows elevated for a worded response.
I turned my head to her slowly, folding my arms and sulking.
"Yes Mother. I will accompany you both into the Kitchen and watch Cheesy tomorrow" I grunted under my breath.
The corners of her lips slowly turned up into a smile, her features enlightened.
"Well, that's amazing!!! Amazingly great!! Nice, lovely. With you there we will be able to get more food. Thank you, Burrow," with a last smirk she patted my shoulder, nodding her head and breathing deeply as she walked off. Cheesy and Sharp continued to argue over their game in the background.
Hmmmmmm....some day tomorrow would turn out to be....