"Burrow, Sharp, Cheesy!! It's Dinner time my lovelies!!! Come come now, around the table" Four sharings of food surrounded the lengthy dining table, three of them adjacent to the side that Mother sat on. She always sat at the side closest to the door, believing that if anything were to happen, at least she would be the first one to take the hit. Mother was cynical in how she planned for the future sometime.
We were at the smaller table playing a few rounds of Dratsmate. I would've gone and slumped in my corner and tried to recuperate instead of playing this mindless game, but I feared the suspicion from her gaze. She had to have known something was up when we came home, late on the third whistle. I couldn't risk furthering her intuition by not engaging in the games this time. At least I could force myself to pretend I wanted to be a part of it.
"Yaaayyyy!! Food! Food! Food!" Chessy leaped up, dancing happily to the smells that wafted through the air. Sharp rose off his chair slowly, watching him under judgmental eyes.
"You act as if you've never seen food before. Sheesh "He rolled his eyes, making his way to the dining table and slumping down in the chair.
Something leaped inside of my stomach when I heard her call us for food. I didn't think I ever have been that happy to hear a meal was finished. Fuel was a necessity after dealing with Cheesy and his Death wishes; He burned up all my energy, and I desired nothing but to eat and lie down. Cheesy and Sharp rushed to the table, while I struggled to get up, dragging my feet across the floor. Everyone waited patiently at the table for me, and I could feel their eyes on me as I made my way there, especially Mother's eyes. I plopped down in the seat, my face scrawled up in a painful expression, visbly exhausted. My eyes glanced up to see Mother assessing me.
I let out a sigh and quickly sat up in my seat, straightening my posture.
Drats I forgot she was there...
Pivoting my head to face her I flashed a warm smile, telling her thank you. She smiled back in pretense and rubbed my head gently, making her way over to her side.
I peered down at my plate.
Apart from the beautiful things I had seen outside, this was the one meal that was a sight to behold. Everything was fattened and magical; mouthwatering, swollen pieces of sweet and sour chicken breasts, sided with a chunky pineapple piece and fries.
"Ohhhhhhhh...I've died and gone to Heaven!!! This looks amazing..." Unquestionably, Cheesy would be the first one to comment on food that he had no hand in obtaining. Without thinking he stretched his hand to pinch a piece off of the Chicken, Mother instantly slapping his hand away with a smack.
"I can send you to Heaven if you keep playing with my patience Cheesy" she warned lethally. He rubbed the top of his wrist. Why Cheesy would attempt to "pinch a piece" before we prayed baffled me. He knew Mother never allowed it. I swear that buck was as foolish as a moth that kept getting closer and closer to a light bulb, even though it knew that nothing, but harm was being caused.
"Now bow your heads. It's time for us to give thanks to the Almighty for the food he always provides for us." She bent her head down and we bowed ours.
She started with the usual "Thank the Father for the food he provided for us." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I was the one who got that food. Why was the Lord always taking credit for what I had accomplished on my own? Who was he to reap gratefulness for my efforts? Hmmm...did he know how hard rodents have to struggle to get food? Just so they can live and survive??? I bet he was laughing at us. Him, waaay up there in his golden throne in the skies, with his Honey and Milk. After you've sat on your ass all day and watch us suffer, what else was to be expected?
"We come to you as humble servants our Almighty Creator, expressing our gratitude for the wonderful, delicious foods you provide for us daily. We thank you for guiding and protecting us to see another day and night pass, thank you for my three wonderful sons Father; help them to know that with just a little Faith and alot of love in their hearts, they can overcome any obstacle with your guidance. Let them know that they must stick together through this difficult path we call life, loving each other as their own selves, forever and ever. Amen"
A list of whispered Amens sounded off down the line when she finished praying. Mother ensured that we prayed at every meal, even if it so much as a microscopic grain of rice, she constantly reminded us to give thanks to the "Creator" for he hears our petitions before him. She didn't want us to get punished for being ungrateful. If we were, she feared that he would take our blessings away. However, I didn't believe in this false God that she held so highly. I sighed, wondering why we had to get up every day and show respect to her imaginary entity. Who were we praying to after all? I've never seen this "God" or this" Creator" "Almighty" father that she talked about day and night. For Drats sake, none of us even knew who our real Father was.
She often bragged about how caring and loving and thoughtful he was, but I had to disagree with that quietly. If he was so loving, why would he belittle our existence by making us smaller, weaker, than everyone else? Why would he make so many things bigger and more vicious than we are? Why was a rodent's life such a constant test of survival?
If God really loved us so, why would he allow us to go through so much?
Mother opened her eyes and stretched her hands to the food neatly placed before us.
"You may now enjoy your food my sons. You've earned it" she smiled proudly. Without thinking twice, we took the Napkins beside our plates, snubbed it around our necks and began to chow down. Mother Mince was a God-fearing lady of table etiquette, she insisted we washed our hands, prayed, and did the proper procedures before ingesting anything.
''We are creatures of decency first, before we are rodents. Made with such courage, elegance, and power. You want to know why God made us so small?? It's because despite our size, he knew we could handle the weight of the World. He knew we had extraordinary strength; unlike any other species he's ever made. You must carry yourselves like this throughout life my sons, as what you are and how often you practice, becomes you" she advised, looking at us around the table with stern, observant eyes.
"Now dig in my sons. You've earned your meal"
Sharp, Cheesy and I wasted no time in eating our meals, after having endured a prayer that almost allowed the ants to take over the food because of how long it was. I could hear how loudly my tummy had been growling, so I scoped up the chicken off of my plate and took a chunk out of it, reaching for the piece of pineapple that laid on the side and shoving it in my mouth. My cheeks were filled. Sharp had the end of a fry sticking out of his mouth, the piece getting smaller and smaller as he chewed down on it. Mother took her time eating in bits and pieces, taking tiny bits of chicken and chewing it around for a few seconds, to which she would eventually swallow. She did the same thing repeatedly, and often she was the last one to finish eating at the table.
Sharp and I were extremely hungry, and it showed by how quickly we were eating, but Cheesy was on a different level. The thick and stumpy rodent leaned back and open his mouth so far back that I swore his snout touched his forehead; he tore into his chicken, grabbing almost half of it in one go. Shreds of meat dropped back onto the plate below as if they were trying to escape, he grabbed them up in his hand and stuffed it into his cheeks, chewed it for a milli second, and then swallowed it.
I paused and watched him in awe, wondering if he had any fear of choking on his food. Turning around to my surprise, Mother and Sharp mimicked a similar expression, in awe of how rapidly and savagely he was engulfing the food. He bit into the meat and ripped another piece off the bone, swallowing immediately after. A piece of it went flying into Sharp's face, damn near poking out his eye.
"For the love of all rodents Cheesy! Contain yourself" he cursed and fanned it. Cheesy nodded while his head was down in the food, continuing without even a blink.
Mother, Sharp and I slowly rotated our heads to each other, exchanging looks in disbelief. Despite us all being used to Cheese's demeanor it was still surprising, nonetheless. Time passed and it seemed his greed and lackadaisically got worse.
"Oii oi oi Cheesy!! Take it easy won't ya. Slow down there. Tumultuous pig..." Sharp reprimanded him loudly, Cheesy disregarding him and continuing his conquest.
"Name calling Sharp. I warned you about that" Mother Mince paused and beamed him a dagger like look, to which Sharp nodded and apologized, raising his hand in surrender and eating his food.
"Cheesy stop clapping your lips and eat slowly. If you swallow your food too fast it's going to give you a tummy ache and I know you hate those" Mother raised her voice, warning him sternly. Cheesy's eyes boggled up in her direction, his snuff covered in grease, cheeks puffy and filled; He rose up his head and opened his mouth to answer mother; barely getting a word out a knob of chicken must have lagged itself in the wrong area of his throat canal. He started hacking up a terrible succession of coughs, eyes going red as he struggled to catch his breath in between choking.
"Oh you stupid greedy-hol still!" Sharp sprung from his seat and went behind Cheesy's back, wrapping his arms around the lower part of his stomach and pulling back as hard as he could.
Sharp bit his lip, grappling with the deep overlap of Cheesy's stomach, the veins in his head visible. Tail straightened and whiskers spiked, he hauled and towed backward using all his strength to dislodge whatever was in Cheesy's throat passage.
"Arrrggghhh!!" with a thud on the table Cheesey flung his head forward, the ball of mushed up spit and food came soaring towards my face as he released.
I ducked; the icky ball flying over my head and splatting on the floor behind us. Mother rose up out of her seat and rushed to Cheese's side.
I rose up slowly from hiding underneath the table, shuffling to the side and allowing Mother to pass.
''Hmph..."growling, a low rumbling noise sounded in my throat, beginning to harbor a deep annoyance towards Cheesy. That's twice in a day that someone had to save him. Mother hovered over him, examining his face and rubbing his head affectionately.
"Cheesy! Are you okay??Oh my poor baby....That's just what you get for not having proper etiquette! Now go over to the water cork your brother found and drink some water." Cheesy let out a long breath and hobbled towards the door where the water bucket was. Mother went over to the mushed vomit and sniffed it, scrapping it up and throwing it outside. She walked back to us.
"Thank God your brother Burrow had the idea to screw off the cap of the Giant's drink and flip it, so that we could use it to drink water whenever we need to. Else we'd be thirsty and choke. Going all the way to the bathroom to get a splash of water from the shower is such a hassle. Thirst would kill us faster before we got there." A wave of exasperation hit me as she said that. Why would she stir attention my way after what Sharp did? At that moment I was staring out into space, and something told me to look up. Instantly, my gaze matched Sharp's eyes as he gave me a scornful glare. I looked back at him confused. Cheesy had made his way back and sat down, going slowly at eating. I didn't even want to eat anymore. That completely spoiled my appetite...
"Yes, well now that that's out of the way. I have a very important announcement to make. You bucks gather around the table. This is a serious matter" Mother narrowed her eyes at us, her expression turning dark. Sharp and I sat down in our seats at a leisure pace, our shoulders bumping together. He shrugged aggressively and cursed under his breath, dusting his shoulder off as if something disgusting touched it.
" Listen very carefully and don't make such a fuss about what I'm going to say" The two of us held our heads up, giving Mother our full attention. Cheesy continuously dug into his meal seemingly forgetting that he almost choked; There was nothing left but bones. He skimmed the very bits off of the chicken bone like his life depended on it, biting and cracking noises radiating through the room. Mother's face grew red. She folded her arms and leaned back, waiting for Cheesy to realize. A few seconds passed.
"Cheesy!!!" all three of us shouted.
Cheesy tore his attention from the chawed chicken bone and rose up, bulged out eyes watching the three of us. He quickly dropped the bone and looked at Mother.
'" Sorry Mother" he apologized, wiping the grease from his cheeks and straightening up.
...................................
"Good. Now..." I continued speaking as if nothing happened. Looking around the table at the three of my sons, I still couldn't believe it. Time has rushed by like the grains of sand in a glass tube, and now, here they are. All grown up. Young, proud, energetic, and adventurous bucks that had minds of their own. They weren't the pink, needless, squirming babies that were tugging on my breasts that cold winter morning. They were full grown now. Yes, they were grown, and that meant I had to face the truth. No matter how much it killed me inside...
My heart was about to burst out of my chest. I tried folding my hands into fists to focus my anxiety elsewhere, but the sweat that leaked out of my pores made it difficult. Breathe Mince. Get a hold of yourself for goodness sake.
Closing my eyes, I drew my breathe in slowly, asking for God's strength. He was my aide, my savior. He would get me through this.
"Mother? Are you feeling sick?" Sharp inquired, his voice mixed with curiosity and annoyance. I opened my eyes, my mind halted by his question. Clearing my throat, I swallowed the pricking feeling in my throat, straightening my shoulders and looking forward. I peered into my sons' eyes and began again.
"As you know, Burrow, Sharp, and Cheesy. Every decision I have made has been for the benefit of us. I want you all to have a great life. A life, that was better than mine. You are my children after all, and I only want the best." my voice was beginning to tremble now. I exhaled, looking down and rubbing my hands, a gleam of sadness wanting to escape my eyes.
Lord, I beg you please. I can carry this load, without breaking down. I can do this.
"Ahem" I cleared my throat and began to speak again.
"Fortunately, your all-young adult bucks now, and I've trusted my ability to raise you as the responsible, strong, and loving species that I knew could survive this rough life of being a rodent. So, with that being said...." I paused for a minute, looking down and nervously touching the right cheek of my face.
"I-I've decided that it's time for my full-grown sons to- experience the outside world for themselves."
There. I did it. I did what you instructed me to do Father.
I could see my toes curling up into each other. My stomach ached.
Those words felt strange coming out of my mouth. I would never say something like that. Had the devil came in the form of an angel and told me to say that? Why would a Mother send her sons off to be killed?
"Um-ahem. When tomorrow comes, I'll be taking all of you outside...of this house. I can't have you couped up in the Giants holdings all the days of your lives, so we shall venture into the forests to- "
"We get to go outside???!!! Mother??? Really!!!???" Burrow jumped to his feet quickly, facing me with a brightened expression.
....................................
My eyes could've jumped out of their sockets, I could feel the rapid heartbeats in my chest, pumping over and over again. The blood rushed around in my veins, even taking a deep breath into my lungs was nearly impossible now. Everything in me was electrified. The thought of Mother carrying us out into the wild...did she really mean it? I must've have been dreaming.
"Mother do you mean it??? We can go outside?? Into the wild??" Without realizing it my paws were gripping her shoulders while I asked repeatedly; Mother scrunched up her eyebrows, her eyes switching between me and my hands on her shoulder. She tapped her hand on my paw and waited patiently for me to get the message.
"Oh sorry Mother" I apologized, lifting them off of her shoulders.
'As I was saying..." she continued.
"A Mother simply mustn't deny her sons the thrills and thralls of adventure. I prayed to the Creator repeatedly and it seems he wants the same for you too. So, starting tomorrow, I will be taking you all out into the forests to experience-"
"Ohhh finally!!! We can go outside!!" I got back up on my hindlegs and propelled myself up with so much force that everyone at the table jumped, they had never seen me so fired up about anything. I lunged over to Mother and gave her the biggest hug ever, squeezing her so tight that she had to shrug me off of her.
"Burrow show some self-control and sit your butt down this instant!" I sat down at her order immediately, grinning from cheek to cheek, rocking from side to side like a crazed rodent that had lost its mind; She finally was going to give us the chance to go outside??After all this time she finally agreed to it. What made her come to this realization? Why all of a sudden? Was she sick?? Was she seriously disturbed?? Either way I was elated, I couldn't believe this was happening right now and I refused to contain my excitement.
'' HA! I've dreamt of this moment for so long!! We're finally going somewhere else other than this tiny little holding'' I laughed. This is it. This was it. She was finally going to take us outside!! To the outside!!! Where the yellow glowing thing hung in the sky without support, where the mostly green and colorful things shoot out of the ground. I can go to the top and climb the highest tree!
"Burrow!" Mother gasped. Not having ever seen me so excited about anything before, she gave in and chuckled, wrapping her arms around me, rubbing my back.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you Mother!!! I love you so much!!" I cried, I sprung up again and squeezed her, Mother wriggling as she tried to get out of my clamp.
I ran around to Cheesy and Sharp.
"Guys aren't you excited!!! We can go on more adventures in the forest! Cheesey there's plenty of fresh fruit to eat and Sharp, you'll never get bored!" I exclaimed happily, jumping up and down like a child. Sharp and Cheesy sat there, both of them with blank expressions.
Sharp and Cheesy sat there beside each other, stiffened in shock of what was just said. From the time we were nothing but pups, Mother swore to the heavens and above that under no circumstances ever, would she allow us to ever step foot outside of this house, the furthest we were allowed to go was the room where the giant prepared and stored all his food, the storage room, the bathroom, even the bedrooms, but never, ever ever ever under any circumstance were we allowed to step foot outside of that huge door, or even to slip through a crack in any of the clear eyes, to go outside. It was forbidden like the use of the word R.A.T. We couldn't even stare at the clearing glass too hard. (In her presence)
Sharp rose up, placed his paw on his mother's forehead to feel if she was sick even though he knew she wasn't'. She brushed his arm off and beamed at him with those fierce, feral eyes. Cheesy looked down and played with his fingers nervously. He tore his gaze from his fingers to her.
"Outside??? In the wild??But Mother, we would never survive. These monsters out there would kill us! We don't know anything about out there. We don't even know the place and where to go, we know nothing! What about all the hungry flying birds and the dogs? And the the um.. those things with fangs and the fur and the tail that loved rat meat?" he asked in his usual whiney, high-pitched tone, his voice sounding like it was about to crack.
"You mean the cats?" she answered Cheesy calmly.
"Yes those!!! We'd never last" Cheesy argued. For as long as I can remember Mother always told us of the survivalist jungle that stood outside these walls. Out there everyone and everything was against us, for we are the smallest, we are at the top of the food chain, so everyone wanted to eat us. She talked of the furless giants that loved to set traps and poison us, she talked of how hard it was to live in the bushes, she talked of snakes that swallowed you whole; it was a nightmare living out there.
Mother hates us...how could she send us out there to die? Cheesy thought to himself.
"Now calm down my little Cheeseflower. Don't jump to conclusions. I am not sending you out there by yourselves! You'll have me to guide you, I wouldn't ever send you out there alone" Right as she said that Cheesy and Sharp closed their eyes and exhaled, relief washing away the worrisome looks on their faces. I folded my hands and gave Sharp a skeptical look. When his eyes opened and he realized I was watching him, his expression changed radically. He pushed his snout up in the air and folded his fists, assuming his bravado.
"Well... Finally! Some excitement from the boring corners of the naked giant's holdings!! We get to venture out into the wild! With all those slithering snakes. And fanged cats. And vicious Eagles....time for some action!" Sharp exclaimed, throwing his fists in the air and punching whatever imaginary creature he had in his mind.
"I'll tussle with those snakes and twist their bellies into a bind! I'm waaay quicker than those stupid cats. In fact, let them touch me. I'll bite them in the face!!" he shouted, beating his chest. For some reason Sharps' usually brutish, bold demeanor seemed...off. I couldn't quite put my paw on it but something in his attitude was unusual. If I wasn't half delirious, I would think that he was scared, but I didn't care. I was just happy that we were bordering the horizons and going out into the forest! With the trees, fruits, rivers, the beautiful sun! I wanted to feel the cool breeze going through my whiskers..
''My sons, I grew you up to be smart, cautious, and brave when the moment shows itself. Not to be overtly reckless and land yourself into life threatening situations, as Sharp so eloquently put it. I want you to go out there and have adventures, start families, I can no longer deny you of the experience of life. You three need to learn how to stand on your own two feet, because I won't always be there to "protect you" Mother looked up at us, a glint of sadness in her eyes. Suddenly Mince felt a sharp pain in her chest, like a stabbing prick. It rotated from the left side to the right, and to coincide with it all her stomach began to feel queasy. She couldn't bear the thought of her babies getting older. It was only yesterday that they hung on to her very existence, clinging to her breasts for food and warmth. Tears began to well up in her eyes. I felt my arm stretching over to Mother, touching her shoulder gently. I didn't know what it was like to be a mother, but I knew that I had been around my Mother all my life. Her seeing us advance and grow mature would take a toll on her.
'' I'd like to be excused please '' Cheesy rose from the table, his eyes devoid of light. Sharp, Mother and I turned our attention to him as he announced his departure, leaving his plate still filled with a sizeable portion of food.
"But-Cheesy aren't you going to eat the rest of your food?" Mother inquired curiously, pointing to the pieces of scattered chicken and juicy bones that was still left on his plate. It was unusual to see Cheesy not finish his food, it almost never happened unless he was extremely sick (like that time he had the flu).
"But I have some Cheese for you son. Don't you want it as a treat?" Mother insisted.
Cheesy turned around to face us with a solemn expression.
"I don't feel like eating" the three of us gasped at the utterance of those words coming out of his mouth. I didn't think I would live to see the day that Cheesy would ever say something like that. Cheesy? Not wanting to eat. Just moments ago, we had to stop him from slobbering down a piece of chicken so that we could hear Mother's announcement. And to reject Cheese at that?
'' No. I'm not hungry at all. Therefore, you can give my Cheese to Burrow and Sharp. Goodnight Mother. Goodnight my brothers" with that being said he walked slowly over to the far end of the room, washing his hands in the wash bucket and snuggling up into his resting; Mother's wrinkled forehead followed Cheesy slowly as he passed us, going back into his bed. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't bother, stretching her hand out to touch him, but drawing back.
"What got into him all of a sudden?" Sharp lowered his head and whispered to us, pointing his thumb at Cheesy. I looked over at him, nestled into a curve, his eyes closed peacefully while the flaps of fat protruded over his cotton nesting.
"Cheesy my baby, wait! Momma's coming" Mother trotted her way over to Cheesy who now had his eyes closed, concerned about his inability to eat. Sharp and I stood there watching them, with our arms folded.
"I know exactly what's wrong with him" I muttered.
"Of course, Burrow. It's obvious. You don't think Cheesey knows he's fat enough to feed four Eagles and a Cat?" Mother wrung her head around the same time that I did, our eyes bashing him for saying such a thing.
He looked around, his eyebrows heightened.
"What? It's not like it isn't true"