"Sharp!! Sharp. Wake up!!" The night had fallen into afternoon like a food induced coma onto a rodent. All was quiet in the holdings; everyone had gone to bed. The Giant's living quarters was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, and so was our room.
This time we went to sleep on newly cotton stripped nesting's that Mother had been making for us for weeks; she positioned herself differently this time, resting her face close to Cheesy instead of staying in the front. Cheesy was flat on his back of course, his sphere-shaped belly going up and down while he snored. Drool sapped down the side of his cheek, his legs were kicked up in the air. Sharp had his face turned to me as he crumpled up into his most comfortable position, his nesting was far away from Cheese's to ensure that he didn't get kicked or punched when he was having one of his foods filled episodic dreams.
"Sharp....are you awake??Psssstttt.....Sharp..." I whispered. He didn't move a nudge. I knew he was awake. He heard me.
"Sharp!!Turn around" demanding him to move I shook his shoulder vigorously, attempting to awaken him from his slumber.
"Mmmmmm...Burrow if you don't stop shaking me I'm gonna punch your front teeth out" Sharp grumbled in a grungy tone. He woke up and turned around, his eyelids drawing themselves back like curtains as he blinked tiredly at me.
"What's all the yammering about you annoying piece a cat meat?" he replied, mumbling under a gravely undertone.
"Sharp aren't you excited we get to go outside soon? What's the first thing your gonna do when we go outside? I'm gonna climb to the tallest tree and look how small everything is" I told him. I couldn't even sleep at the thought of it, everything that was happening was so exciting. There were jitters in my stomach, and a million thoughts in my mind. Plus, I needed to discuss something very important with him.
Sharp faced me in his bed, folding his arm and resting his head on it, eyes blinking slowly at me and my ridiculousness. He began to speak.
"Soooo... your excited huh? Better be prepared for those big nasty cats and birds and do-"
"Oh I don't care about that. Mother's just trying to scare us with all her fear stories. I know your certainly scared for sure..." I teased him, knowing how uppity he got when I mentioned him being afraid of anything.
"Never!!Me???Scared??Ohhhh pleasssee." he scuffed, fanning away at me as if I were talking gibberish.
"Big Sharpo???? Scared???That will never happen. The foolishness of your words brother" he shook his head and chuckled, wondering where I could've possibly thought that from.
"I saw how scared you looked today when Mother said she would take us outside. You can play tough about not being afraid to go outside Sharp, but you can't fool me" I teased even more. Just as I mentioned his moment of weakness, his eyes drew back into the top of his forehead.
"Hey hey hey. You were seeing things. I don't get scared about nothing....What about you? You were jumping up and down like a child today. Now if we're talking of anything, you're the one that looked ridiculous. Getting hysterical like you've never been anywhere before" he emphasized.
"Yeah well I don't care how I looked; I was excited. I still am. At least I wasn't scared" I hissed back, in a low tone.
"Oh shut up." He responded.
A few moments of silence passed between us, hearing nothing but Cheese's occasional snore and the crickets that were chirping from outside. I wanted to ask him about something, but I didn't know what he would think about my plan, or if he would even go with it. Sharp wasn't patient in the slightest for the course of action that I was thinking to take. Maybe I should start a conversation first.
"Hey Sharp, why are you so mean to Cheesy? I mean I know he has his faults but come on. You could've let him win that game of Dratsmate, you know he doesn't catch on as quickly as us" I asked in a hushed tone, pretending to be riddled with curiosity.
Sharp rose up, his eyes piercing me like I just insulted him.
"Excuse me?? What did you just- Let him win?" he whispered, almost shouting. I put my finger over my mouth warning him to keep it down. He bowed his head, whispering.
" You think his enemies will let him win? So why should I?" Sharp's eyebrows heightened up into a scrunch, he looked at me as if I were retarded for asking him such a nonsensical question. He shook his head and rose himself up in a seated position.
'' So here's the reality of it all Burrs an don't get all sensitive about it and defend Cheesy cause I don't like to soften my words.'' he leaned upright on his left paw now, so I sat up to level with him, paying him utmost attention to what was to be said.
''Us, '' Rodents'' are two things in this world, to everyone." he started explaining.
"We're walking pouches of delicious meat" he rose one finger up.
"Orr- we're pests to the giants. An, according to Mother, there's a lot of Giants Burr..In here. Out there '' he held up one of his paws and pointed to the brightened curved hole in the wall that led out to the Giant's quarters.
'' We're stinking Vermin Burrow. We are, what you would call, in all your fancy talk.... ''The diseased breed menaces of society '' he reiterated.
"Everything is bigger than us! We're the bottom of the food chain. The giants, the birds with the wings, the cats with the fangs the everything! All above us. It's dangerous out there. One of em could split off your skull and eat up your body parts if you're not quick or smart, so there isn't any time to be second guessing.''
I shook my head at Sharp's fear. Obviously, Mother's mumbo jumbo had gotten to him. I sighed, guessing it could not be avoided.
'' So get to the point then. What are you trying to say Sharp?'' Just as I asked that question, Cheesy began laughing and flaring his hindlegs in the air, Sharp and I twisted our heads and watched Cheesy talking hysterics in his sleep.
''Mmmmm...I want more chicken Mother..mmmmm yessss. Cheese, pork, chicken, all the delicious foods in the world!! Everything's so tasty..." Cheesy babbled on and on for a few moments. After a while he turned over and began snoring again.
Sharp and I exchanged wearied looks at hearing Cheesy's sleep talk.
''THAT is what I'm talking about Burrs. Him and his nonstop food obsessed fantasy world that he lives in'' Sharp hissed.
'' Cheesy is gonna be the first of us to die because of his greed and his slowness. For rodent's sake! The fat bastard gets tired after taking just one step. He's the slowest of you, me and mother! Cheesey couldn't live a day in the outer world" Three wrinkles embedded themselves in Sharps forehead as he proclaimed his prediction, firm in his belief of his brother's failures.
'' Mm mm. Nope. I disagree. You don't know that for sure Sharpo, you can't predict the future. You're not a fortune teller after all'' I protested. Sharp was pretty agile, but I hated how highly he thought of himself, he wasn't better than Cheesy no matter how big he got.
'' Fortune teller???" He shrieked. Sharp flung his head back and chuckled, barring his two incisors, tickled at his brother's ignorance. He swiveled his head around to the left, and then to the right, in disbelief.
"I don't need to be a damn fortune teller to see what's obvious !!'' He released a sound that was so loud he had to cover his mouth from waking up Mother Mince and Cheesy.
''Oi! Let me ask you something then Mr. Self-righteous. Since your right underneath Mother's tit being the "most responsible one"... damn know it all.... Count on your itsy bitsy rodent fingers how many times you've had to either save Cheesy from eating something he shouldn't, or babysit him the whole time when we go out there to get food from the bins or the cupboards?''
Pretentiously, my eyes wandered to the ceiling as I played with my whiskers to pass time, seeming to be deep in thought in response to Sharp's allegations.
Of course I knew Sharp was right.
Every time we had ventured out with Mother to the room where the Giant prepared his food, Cheesy always proved to be the one that was lagging. I had lost count of the number of times I prevented Cheesy from eating poisonous foods or stop him from running up into the Giant by not being aware enough of his surroundings. As brothers, we were always keeping an eye on each other. Sharp, although quick tempered, we worked fast together. Cheesy on the other hand, had become unbearably dependent. He was too focused on food and dashed all logic to the side, too greedy and often times his clouded judgement led to unfavorable circumstances for everyone. I remember how he called Cheesy a bloody huge, sloppy, retard after Sharp dragged him out of the way of getting stepped on by the Giant, and Sharp in turn being rewarded for his brother's feebleness by a bruised tail from it almost being crushed by the Giant stepping on it, which was the same thing that happened to me. Cheesy cried for three days straight about what he said.
''You cant just be thinking of food food food Cheese Cheese all the time!! You have to make the best decisions in a hurry else you'll be trapped to die, it's so easy to trick a greedy rat into a trap Burr. Cheesy needs to wake up! I don't want the chubby bud to get in a pinch if anything happens whether it's a trap set by the Giant or being chased by something outside. And trust me, we're not always going to have Mother Mince shield us all the time...''
He was also right about that. Mother had lived her life, and as much as she wanted to be around her children, life was unpredictable.
'' I know I come off as harsh Burr.. but that's the only way I know how to show that Cheese miser that I care. I'm not lovey dovey and I'm not the type to show affection...but I just don't want anything bad to happen to him if he ends up in a life and death situation ya know? He's my Cheester after all.'' He proclaimed.
Sharp really wasn't the type to show love like the rest of us did. He hated anything that seemed too "soft". He came off like an ass most times, but he had the best intentions. He just didn't want Cheesy to get caught by The Giant or torn up by God knows what. In fact, it was strange for Sharp to reveal his feelings to me. Now was the perfect time to introduce my plan.
"But nothing bad will happen to him, ever. I have a plan that I know will protect him. No matter if he's out there, or he's in here and it will benefit us. And him. We won't have to babysit him anymore. I just need you to help me out" I interjected. Sharp rose his eyebrow, leaning forward to me with a skeptical look in his eyes. He rubbed his chin curiously, peering at me from the side.
"Hmmmm...a plan eh?? " he repeated. I nodded in agreeance.
"Sooooooo...How do you want Big Sharpo to help?"