"Burrow, I think you really should just sit and talk to him. He seemed really hurt that you didn't come to check and see if he was okay" Cheesy pleaded for the hundredth time.
"Weeeeellllll he'll get over it. I don't want to go around right now while he's hot. He may spike at me" Burrow said nonchalantly, resting in his bed and licking the sides of his wounds. It was healing rapidly, and the crusts that were beginning to form around it itched like nothing else. He licked them to see if that would ease the irritation.
" You guys are insufferable..." Cheesy muttered to himself, going to his corner and resting.
.................
A few hours had passed by and Sharp still hadn't made it home. I already set out dinner, all of us thanking the Lord for providing food yet again. During the prayer I kept opening my eyes to see if he would walk through the peephole to avoid being late for dinner, but there was no sign of him. I kept staring at the space he usually sat at the whole time, nibbling on my food now and again.
When we finished eating and cleaning up, we heard the door slam outside. The Giant was home. And my baby still was out there.
"He's just blowing off steam in the bathroom cupboard by himself. He wanted to clear his mind before he came back home but he'll be here shortly Mother, don't worry" Cheesy rubbed my back as he tried to reassure me, seeing that I was starting to get worried.
Perhaps you were too hard on the buck Mince. He did carry the mint to you after all and you didn't even give him a proper thank you. God knows what trouble my brave Sharp had to go through to get that for me while I was sick. They did such a good job in taking care of me. The wound on my back was almost dry now, covered in scabs because of them.
I'm proud of all of my sons, but the three of them are so different. Sharp in his boldness and fierceness in getting things done, Burrow for his logical sight, and Cheesy who was the most loving and kind. I knew I gravitated more towards Burrow because of how mature he was, and in that I suppose I didn't have a great way of showing Sharp just how much I appreciated him. It leads me to wonder.... Do I really put Burrow on a pedestal like that? I know he's the one that really keeps a level head amidst the chaos, and you needed someone like that with a team of people. Those kinds of people are leaders. But I don't want Sharp to feel like I don't care about him...I don't want any of my sons to think I don't care about them. There are all my babies, I love them all so much.....
A thousand thoughts were rummaging through Mince's mind as she sat there, worrying about her Sharp. With some deep introspection she was beginning to think that maybe there was some truth to what he said. Sometimes, between the three of them, maybe Burrow was the only one she acknowledged the most.
She knew she acknowledged Cheesy for his efforts surely, but now that she thought about it, she couldn't even fathom the last time she gave Sharp a good thank you.
"Ugggghhh. Where is that troublesome rodent? It's getting so late.." She sighed and paced back and forth her tail sweeping across the floor; tiny paws resting on her head. She looked out the door. That orange yellow glow that marked the ending of another afternoon peeped through the shadow of the peephole, which meant that night was coming down soon.
And her baby still had not made it home.
"Where the hell is this ignorant buck?? Doesn't he know it's dangerous to be out when the giant was home?? Sharp just where are you..." she muttered to herself, folding her arms and walking around with her lips pressed.
................
Sharp woke up, realizing that he had fallen into a deep sleep behind the bleach bottle in he cupboard, for a few, after scanning his thoughts.
"Rats all of them. Prayerful Mince, Pig Cheesy, and that kiss ass, know it all Burrow. I don't need them. I can start my army, make a life for myself and they won't be a part of it. I'll get my Does to tell me "Oh Sharp, your so brave and mighty" every day. Don't need their validation..." he grumbled bitterly to himself.
The ruffled rodent began to push up on his feet but stumbling back to the ground in his attempt. Coughing, he decided to try getting up again, but falling. He soon discovered that there was a general weakness in his body, one that was oddly more overpowering than the usual fatigue of waking up.
"Urrgg...just how long was I out for???And why do I feel like this??Felt like someone slapped me with a huge broom.." taking his paw to slap himself awake, he noticed that there was a white powdery substance all over it. Placing his hand down he looked up, realizing that something was amuck.
Sharp sprung up, being fully aware of his new environment.
''What in the Drats...." thick, metal bars climbed into the air far above his head, up to a black ceiling.
He gasped, holding the air in his stomach as he spiraled around, in shock.
There was nothing but metal bars. All going up horizontally. Surrounding the four corners he faced.
He was in a box. A rectangular box that had metal bars all around them. Nowhere to run or hide.
Outside the thin spaces of the meal bars he could see the Island kitchen right in front of him. He could see the living room up to the end.
The Giant was walking towards him.
.....................................................
"I can't sit here and wait anymore. I'm going out to see where that stubborn son of mine has gone" Mother said to herself, getting up and preparing to go through the peephole. She looked at how peacefully her sons rested before she left, watching them as they slept.
"Mama will be right back" she whispered, diving out into the peephole.
She nudged her head out. The coast was clear. Tucking to the sides of the wall from under neath the table she went quickly along the path and just as she was about to turn the corner, she heard the door slam.
She stopped and hid behind a vase, feeling the vibrations of heavy footsteps. They shook the whole area and irritated the scar on her back, she rubbed it, the vibrations causing it to itch. The man was walking through his kitchen, with something peculiar in his hand.
"Yeah. You ain't gone beileve the day that I jus had. So I went inn a bathroom right? Took a piss and I open ma cupbord??. Then when I opened tha damn thang, I saw this rat fast asleep. Boyyyy I tell yuh that damn rodent sleeping powder I showered in there worked. It worked a tell yuh!! I scooped that bugga up an put him inna cage" Suddenly Mince heard a jangle of something that sounded like metal. Then she saw what was making the noise.
The owner placed a cage down on the kitchen floor. She narrows her eyes as she saw a rodent in there moving up and down, then her stomach feel to the bottom of her toes when she saw who it was in there; Sharp.
"Yeah John I'm telling you this rat is gonna make me some mooney for tomorrow. There's a testing lab for pro-ducts down at Haverstein, they'll pay me 250 if I give em this lil rat here. For testing. I'm looking at the mugger now, he's in ma cage. Yeah. I hear ya, i hear ya" the man continued to talk on his phone while he circled around the caged rodent, Sharp sitting there looking hopeless, and terrified. He paced back and forth to see if he could find an exit, but there was none.
'' What have I done to myself" Sharp thought, looking around the cage in utter despair. Mince was behind a flower vase in the passageway before the bathroom, still watching carefully.
Mince still couldn't believe that this was happening. How could Sharp have allowed himself to get in this situation? Wasn't he in the cupboard of the bathroom?? So how did he allow the giant to catch him, and get him in the cage? Suddenly, she felt guilty for the way she talked to him earlier on when they fought.
"Oh my poor baby." Mince said to herself. The worried Mother concluded that If she hadn't treated Sharp like he was lesser than, all of this would never have happened. This was all her fault. What kind of mother didn't allow her son to feel loved? she thought.
No matter how troublesome Sharp was, he deserved love. It was her responsibility as a mother to make all her children feel appreciated and this was the failure of that.
"You stay right their baby. By the hook or the crook, I'm going to get you out. No matter what." She swore to herself, watching and praying nervously to God that he would protect Sharp, and reveal a way to get him out of that cage.
The giant was still over the counter, holding something by his ear and talking into it. The cage was right in front of him, he placed his foot on top of it and looked down at the frightened rodent. Mince stood there, waiting for him to go. No, she would not leave without Sharp. Even if it took all day and night.
''Raawwwwrr" Mince tore her eyes from the cage and saw the cat advancing towards the man, rubbing against his feet. The feline casually walked around the cage, looking at Sharp and wagging its tail, with a mischievous look in its orange eyes.
"Mmmm...Is my master this kind? Did he capture this rat??For me??? Oh he's god sent. Maybe I should be nicer to him..." To-mas hoped. The Cat had never been around a Human that gracious before, having to struggle with his kind all the days of his feline life. The man looked down at the cat and bent over, giving To-mas a rub on his head. It was bright daylight, and it didn't look like any of them were moving anytime soon.
"Father in the heavens move them. Move them in your name lord. I need to get to my son" Mince whispered. Just as she said that the Giant turned off from the counter and stride coolly into her direction.
"Lord I didn't say push him my way!" she whispered, stashing behind the vase, and keeping still. She saw his huge, weird furless feet pass her as she stood by the vase, heading straight to his bedroom, still talking into the thing he was holding by his ear.
"Yeah, apart from lil ole ratty ther, this girl called me man. I know it's a private issue, but I really feel something special with this her ya know? In fact, lemme tell yah a few thangs bout ha.'' the man escaped into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Mince sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Father," she chimed. Mince pushed her head around the corner of the vase again, looking at the cat To-mas, who was still hovering around the cage and intimidating poor Sharp.
The defenseless rodent stood in his trap, feeling fear coming through the felines' piercing, death filled eyes. His pupils were slim and snake like, zoning in on one thing; the delicious meal that was in front of him.
To-mas' mother had always told him not to befriend his food but he began reasoning with the rodent. He figured he was in his last moments anyway.
"You know, it's interesting how life changes all the time. I used to hunt and scavenge for food on the streets. Being beaten every day. Digging in garbage bins, scuffing for leftovers, like a pathetic worm. A pest. A parasite...much like yourself" the cat was right in front of the cage now, Sharp scooched up to the furthest corner of the room, trying his best to stay as far away from the predator as he could.
"Now, I get feed everyday by this human. Chicken breasts, steak, minced meats. Ugghhh the variety of delicious foods is just..overwhelming. Truly, Mr. Rat, I used to dream of days like this. Now, the human is so kind that he has caught you, for me. You're my little extra treat." the cat Sharp felt a stiffness in the bottom of his belly as he watched the feline stroll over to his side of the cage, sitting down casually in front of it. He raced over to the other far side as soon as the cat came closer to him, trying to keep his distance, even though the cage already separated them.
The cat began to smirk, finding the rodent's fear amusing.
"Now, I don't have to go out for food. My food lives here, in the same house as me. It's only a matter of..." suddenly the cat runs over to Sharp's side in one quick swoop, clawing at the cage.
''Grabbing it!!" the cat appears behind Sharp who is so frightened by his quick movements, he topples over. To-mas, barely scratching the cage, looks at the rodent and throws his head back, chortling at how frenzied he was.
"As soon as the man opens this cage. Your mine" To-mas threatened him with a low growl, Sharp feeling a chilling wave running through his body; Mother Mince felt a wave of anger going through her, the rage hitting her so hard that she could run up to the cat and slap him.
"Who does that dirty feline think he is?? Messing around my son like that" Mince cursed to herself, watching the feline stride coolly away from the cage, and going outside through his cat door onto the patio.
'' Oh thank Goodness. I'm coming Sharp!!" she whispered lowly, moving from behind the vase and going across the kitchen floor, straight to the cage.
.............................................................................
SHARP'S POV
My back was fastened against the cool material of the metal bar behind me. My heart was about to break through the fragile casings of my rib bone, pumping so fast I began to feel dizzy and dehydrated.
How did I end up here?? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep under the cupboard where we usually hid, and now...I'm in some sort of trap?
And that stupid, wimp of a cat felt the need to exploit me in a situation where he knows I can't do anything. Ohhh if I wasn't in this cage, I'd scrape him in the face. Maybe throwing that vase across his back wasn't enough for him to know not to mess with me...
Sharp sighed, feeling a heaviness in his heart, the weight of anxiety sinking to his abdomen.
''From crashing a vase on his back to being threatened by him..is this really how you're going to go out big Sharpo??Dying like a rat..." Sharp looked out into space, disappointed in the short time that he didn't even get to mark the world in his influence. No adventure, no sexy Does surrounding him, no life he made of his own accord.
"You know how I feel about the use of that word" Suddenly, Sharp heard a familiar voice coming from the front of the cage. He looked up.
"Mother!! " He exclaimed, twisting his head to see her and being relieved, he ran to the cage and got close to her, his eyes glistening with tears.
"Mother please help me please please please get me out of this cage. I fell asleep in the cupboard and then I woke up in here and I was so foolish for how I acted and i'm sorr-" Mince held up her hand to him, signaling to him that he didn't need to say anything else.
"Sharp, you don't need to apologize. Just know that I love you dearly and I'm going to get you out of this situation, okay son? We will get out of this, and we'll talk make up and laugh about it later. Let Mama just figure out a way to get you out of here before that stupid giant or that filthy dirty cat comes back. Hold on I'll be right back" Mince climbed up on the counter, looking around for anything that could help her get her son out of that horrid prison.
.............................................................................
''The spaces in the cage are a bit as big as his head. Maybe if I can get something slippery ..." she swirled her head around looking for anything that was slippery, looking past the sink, looking all on the counter. Then her eyes rested on the small bottle of mini sized Palmolive dish washing liquid. She remembered how slippery those things where that the Giant used go wash his plates.
"Yes!! This must work" she climbed over to the liquid and knocked the bottle over, grabbing the cap between her mouth and flinging it off the counter, climbing down the counter to the cage to Sharp.
She dragged the bottle top by her teeth, going towards the front of the cage.
Sharp looks at her innocently, wondering what she was going to do.
''Here, take this and slabber it all over yourself. Quickly Sharp!" She opened the cap and squeezed some of the green liquid out onto her hands, pushing her tiny paws through the gate and giving it to him; he took the slimy liquid into his hands and started rubbing it over his head, with Mince's caution to not let it get into his eyes.
"Hurry!" she squeezed out some more and put it into her hands, feeding it to him in the cage. Sharp rubbed it over his neck, behind his ear, and before you knew it, his whole body was slathered in the slippery, soapy liquid.
"Okay good, now-" Just as Mince said that, the door knob of the Giant's bedroom began to turn, the sound of the Giant's voice right there as if he were still talking to someone. Mince quickly grabbed the half empty bottle of soap and hid behind the counter; Sharp's stomach fell again as he watched the door from the bedroom open slightly, the giant's voice coming out.
"Yeah a know she goes to tha bars to drink every now an again, but goosh darnnit who doesn't? I'm not gon stop talking to tha girl cause of that. That doesn't make no sense at all" the giant stood behind the door, with it slightly open, his hand on the doorknob as he stood between the passageways.
Mince nudges behind the counter, watching closely.
As she watched the cat came back into the room from outside. He coolly walked past her, feet away from her, his head looking straight towards the door his owner was behind. Mince's heart jumped for a bit, she not even noticing that the cat hadn't seen her at first, but then calming down and realizing that he was so focused on waiting for the giant to open the cage, that he didn't even see her.
She sighed in relief, slowly tip toeing her way with the soap bottle, placing it down carefully, and going into the cupboard. She peeps outside the hole in the cupboard to look at Sharp, the cat feigning over him, watching the giant to see what he would do.
" Yeah yeah yeah, says the guy who can never stay in a relationship" the giant said, still holding the object to his ear and closing back the door to go into his bedroom. As soon as the door closed Mince crept back out. To-mas sighed, waving his tail and turning off, passing Sharp.
"Your time is ticking rat. Spend these last few moments thinking about your loved ones. I'll be back for you, and I'll get you as soon as the human opens the cage. Until then, I have bigger birds to catch "he said, walking off coolly and passing the rodent.
He went out of his cat door and leaped back into the garden, observing the bird in the huge oak tree across from them.
Sharp stood there, his breathing rapid and racing.
He thought about all the things he didn't get to do, all the times he was arguing with Burrow and how he treated Cheesy. What got the most of him was how he treated his brothers.
He was so egotistical, so proud all the time. Wanting to do things his own way and being careless and reckless, just to prove a point. Well, he certainly proved a point this time. Which was he was stupid?
"Sharp!" Sharp turned around frightened, his mother right there behind him as she interrupted his thoughts.
"Come on we're getting you out of here, this is our chance. Hold my hands" she stretched her paws through the tiny hole in the cage, him grabbing her hands.
"Now, we rodents as you know are very flexible. We can squeeze through any hole, any crevice, anything that has just enough space. I'm going to pull you out of this cage through the metal bars. On my count I'm going to pull and your gonna push with everything you've got. Let's go! 1..2..3!" Sharp placed his head to the cage and pushed himself off of his hind legs as mother pulled his hands through with everything she had; her feet against the cage her upper body leaning out as she tugged.
"Keep...pushing!" She insisted, the snout of his nose and his eyes slipping out of the cage as she pulled; the slipperiness of the soap was working, he was by his neck outside of the cage, and his head fully out now, along with his two hands.
"Ugh!" Mince grunted, coming off of the cage for a second and holding her hips, taking deep breathes to catch herself from the strain.
"This is so uncomfortable" Sharp mumbled, Mince looking at how awkward he looked with his head and his two hands out, stuck between the narrow spaces of the bars. For a moment she chuckled, covering her face, trying to hide her laughter.
Sharp began laughing too, both of them laughing at how ridiculous this situation was despite the seriousness of it all.