'"Okay let's try this again. On three. One, two, three!" Mince climbed up on the cage and grabbed Sharp's hand, using her body as lay weight, and leaning back to pull Sharp forward. He yelped as his body slowly began to slip through the space of the bars.
As she tugged more, his neck and his arms came through the tightened space.
"It's...working...it's..working!! Break!!" She stopped and climbed down, breathing for a moment. Then she went at it again, drawing herself back as she pulled on Sharp's arm, Sharp biting his lip and trying his best to hold the pain inside.
The lower region of his chest was slipping out the bars, the soap gradually allowing more areas of his body to come through. A few more tugs and they were up to his belly button, his arms and head fully out now. She pulled more and little by little, he was squeezing his way out of this prison, until she eventually almost reached his stomach area.
''Hang in there baby!! I'll get you out of here in no time" she encouraged him, wheezing and holding her side. She could the blood seeping through her back wound. The constant tugging tearing it open a little. She stood up and they went at it again, stretching her arms and holding on to Sharp, pulling him out. His body was almost half the way out now, him holding on to mother and pushing off with his hind legs.
"We're...al...most..... theeeeerrrrrrre!!" the white expanse of his tummy slowly slipped through the hole. His waist was about to go through and then, the door of the bedroom busted wide open, frightening Mince and Sharp. Mince let go of him and fell backwards on her back, hurting her wound even more. Sharp fell back, the whole half of his body slipping back through the cage.
He fell and rolled to the other side of the prison, hitting his head against the metal bar behind him. Mince got up and stared at Sharp with a concerned expression, quickly snapping out of it and digging around the corner to hide.
The Giant came over the cage and lifted it, placing a terrified Sharp to his eye level.
''Well, Mr. Rodent, it's time for me to collect my reward. Up ya go" he carried the cage by his side and moved towards the door. Mother Mince looked on in horror as she watched her son being carried outside to his death, her eyes meeting with his as Sharp fearfully held on to the cage.
"Shit shit shit shit.." Mince whispered to herself, spacing out and not knowing what to do.
She moved around the counter and went swiftly across the living room floor, heading through the cat door exit to the patio, hiding behind a huge potted plant. He placed the cage on the patio floor, close to the railing where the garden led off to.
"Yeah hello good afternoon. This is Perkins speaking. Is this the Labs where they do the Animal testin an stuff?? Uhh what's it called the uhh..the NCIS?? Right yes you all do testing on animals. I have a rodent here that you could use to test your products on. Actually there's mor of emm but I can give y'all this here one fa now. Mmmmhmm. yeess...Two hundred n fifty??Per rat?? Damn that does sound like a great deal. Yes, I can drop him off this afternoon, as matter of fact I'm coming there right now with him about to hop into ma truck" he continued speaking into the phone, bending down and pushing a tiny key into the lock on the cage, the lock popping open.
Mince assessed possible means of escape.
Hmmm...maybe if he just left for a minute, I can yank that lock off now that it's open and get Sharp out. If only he would forget to lock it back and run off for a second. Lord, please let him forget something... she thought hopefully.
In the absolute wrong timing, the cat came strutting through the opened door, prancing right behind his owner to eye the cage, pushing his head against the giant's hand as he bent down to fix the lock.
"Damn imma stop buying things from Rodney... I thought this stupid lock was malfunctioning and its fine now To-mas. Pretty kitty cat" The giant rubbed the cat's head affectionately, smoothing him down and rubbing his belly for a while. To-mas closed his eyes and enjoyed the affection, biting the Giant's hand and leading him towards the cage.
"Oh no no Kitty, you can't have this here rat. Imma get some money off dis one.." he muttered.
Mother Mince's eyes stayed focused on the unopened lock. This was her chance! If only that stupid Giant could just move, even for a second. Just something to distract him and that filthy cat.
The Giant stopped rubbing down the cat and placed his hand on the opened lock, Mother Mince's heartbeat fluttering as she watched his thumb finger and index finger squeezing down on it, to close it again. She watched the metal endings that would close the lock slowly slipping into each other, and then, suddenly, there was a noise.
It was coming from the Giant's pocket. He took his hand off of the lock, leaving it unopened and then rummaged in his pocket, bringing the small device out and placing it to his ear.
"Eeellllo? Oh !! oh oh uhhhh..." the man cleared his throat, speaking more coherently.
"Why Jasmine Good afternoon pretty lady, how are you? Yes, I wanted to speak to ya bout something from the last time we meet.." the man got up off of his knees and went back into the house, heading straight to his bedroom while absentmindedly leaving the lock open on the cage.
Thank you Lord he's gone. This is my chance. Still can't do anything with that damned feline here-Mince bit her fingernails nervously as she peeped her head from behind the vase.
To-mas roamed around the cage, looking dangerously at the tiny mouse in it. Sharp shuddered, frightened at the look in the cat's eyes.
''Looks like your time is almost up ratty" the cat teased, chuckling under his breath. He decided to be mischievous and attempted sticking his paw through cage but couldn't, the space in between the bars being too small for him to get anything through.
He growled lowly at Sharp, keeping his watchful, hungry eyes on the mouse.
Seeing this Mince felt the heat coming back over her body and came from behind the vase, her eyes filled with rage and her furs standing on edge.
'I'll show you" she approached the cat slowly as it had its back turned, crouching on her hind legs; To-mas turned his attention to the bushes far out, distracted by a sound, coming from the trees. He heisted up his head and immediately forgot about the meal that was in front of him. The cat ran past the cage and climbed up onto the railing, jumping off and ducking into the garden beside the house, watching the birds as they hatched in the tree from his hidden location.
Mother let out a sigh of relief as she watched the cat leave, as well as the Giant. Sharp saw her and ran up to the front of the cage, happier than ever.
"God is certainly on our side my son. Now let me get this stupid thing off of this cage" she heisted up on her hindlegs reaching for the padlock and twisting it, pushing it up through the metal clamp. It dropped to the ground.
"You know how to pull something like that off??" Sharp asked in awe, wondering how his god-fearing, Christian praying Mother would possibly know how to do that.
" Trust me, your Mother's lived a long time and knows a lot of things. Now come! Get out let's go" She flung the cage open and Sharp ran to her open arms, tears soaking down his face as he embraced her.
"Ohhh Mommy thank you, thank you, thank you, you saved my life" he whimpered, feeling so great to have his Mother right beside him. She kissed her sons' forehead and hugged him, reminding him that no matter what, she would always protect him.
Just then Mince's heart melted. The last time Sharp called her Mommy was when he was a toddler, and she couldn't help but tear up a bit. She missed those times when he depended on her and didn't feel the need to act all tough and independent.
''Come on baby let's get out of here, it's getting late" Sharp eased off her and nodded his head. The Mother grabbed her son's hand and they began to advance away from the cage.
"Leaving so soon?'' To-mas growled, a lowly, deadly pair of feline eyes staring back at them. Their hearts nearly jumped out of their chests; Mother Mince's hair spiked up as she pushed Sharp behind her.
The feline came to the gate of the cage, his tail waving playfully, eyes glistening in the afternoon sun. He was laser focused on the thick, voluminous rat meat that was Mother Mince, and the average sized, smaller teenage meat of Sharp. Now he could exact his scrumptious revenge on that rat for throwing the vase on him like that.
And he caught up with the thick Mother again. He knew she was bound to crawl out of that stuffy hole to retrieve her son.
"Ohhhh! You're the Mother rat that I scratched in the back some days ago. How are you feeling by the way? Obviously not well since your bleeding again." To-mas stated, his blood thirsty stare shifting from Mince to the pronounced scar that was on her back.
There were dried crusts around the lengthy mark, it looked mostly healed. But he could always re open it. His eyes then moved to the scared mouse that was behind her.
"And there is the brave vase thrower behind you. You know, you should be proud of your son. He is quite the champio-
"Leave my son out of this. This is between me and you, puss" Mince snapped at him, pushing Sharp behind her into the cage.
"Awwwww, Mother defending son. That's adorable. Cute little Mother and son dinner- I mean dynamic, here. I meant dynamic.... A mother and her three sons. Huh" he stepped further and further in front of Mother as he talked, both of us unknowingly going back into the cage, being cornered.
"Tell me, Mother of three sons. Isn't it nice and easy living in this house?? With all this free food??" He asked, his whiskers twitching.
"You know, I'm always so grateful for the chance to have my food freely available to me, like you and your sons do. I don't have to go out, into the wild. I like it when it's right in front of me!!" the cat pounced at Mince, claws outstretched and ready to slash at her as she jumped back onto the wire of the cage.
She pushed a frozen Sharp to the left side of the cage, Sharp slamming against the metal bars.
Just before To-mas raised his paw to slash at Mince again, she turned and lashed To-mas with her thick tail, temporarily blinding him as he bent his head down to recover.
"Shaaaarrp!! Run!!! Get out of here now!!" Mince shouted at a terrified, lost Sharp, who was still processing the present moment.
"I can't leave you! Let's go together" he commanded back, tears filling up his eyes, running towards her.
"No Mother!!" just as he ran beside her, the cat snapped out of his temporary blindness.
To-mas pushed his head over Sharp and opened his mouth, baring his fangs.
"Nooooo!!!!" Mince screamed.
Sharp stood there and swallowed heavily, staring his death right in its face,
Mince climbed onto the bars of the cage and jumped down on top of the cat's head, her claws digging into his eyes.
"Raaaawwrrrww!!!!" The cat raved and thrashed about in the cage, twisting and turning. Mince stuck to his head like a tick, determined not to let go.
"Run Sharp!!!!" She shouted, Sharp looking on at Mother on top of the cat, his legs being glued to the spot.
"Ruuuuuuuunnnn!!!" she shouted with all her might, the energy in her voice shooting into Sharp's core. Suddenly, he found his legs racing forward toward the cage opening, dashing out of the cage. Looking back at his mother as he did, teary eyed.
"I'm coming back to help you mother!! I promise!!" he shouted in despair.
He ran back inside the flap door, speeding across the kitchen floor, and back to the peephole under the table that was against the wall.
.............................
Burrow and Cheesy were playing Dratsmate when a disheveled Sharp came busting in, his face filled with sweat, worry and tears. Both of the brothers got up when they saw him rush in.
''Guys I was in the bathroom and the giant caught me in a cage then Mother was there- she was there outside the cage, and she tried to slip me out, but she couldn't you see and and and and-" Just as Sharp said that he began hyper ventilating, repeating his words and talking way too fast.
Burrow came in front of him, holding Sharp's shoulders and shaking them out of his unhinged explanation.
"Sharp. I'm gonna need you to calm down okay? Relax brother, breathe. Where is Mother now??" Burrow asked, Cheesy looking on from behind him, worried.
''She's in the cage being ambushed by that stinking cat!! I - I I had no choice I-" Without a word Burrow and Cheesy raced through the door, Sharp following behind them. As they got out of the peephole and was about to advance from under the table, the cat showed up, walking cooly, with something hanging from his mouth. Burrow stopped in his tracks, Cheesy stopping behind him, having seen the horror.
'' Mother!!!" Sharp cried. Burrow speed off across the Kitchen floor, heading straight towards the storeroom behind the cat. Cheesy ran behind him, Sharp standing there, motionless.
''This can't be happening'" he muttered to himself, running after the two of them. The three walked through the door of the storeroom tentatively, looking out for the cat. The space in front of them was clear, but they knew that cat was hidden somewhere. Burrow put his nose in the air and began sniffing for his mother's scent, Sharp and Cheesy doing the same.
"This way" Burrow whispered, pointing to the left of the last three barrels that were in front of them. Cheesy and Burrow looked at each other, as they encroached behind the barrel to the end.
"Shhhh he's over here" Burrow whispered, the three of them sneaking around the corner. A wave of fear washed over them, an iciness settling in the pits of their stomachs. Burrow swallowed hard as he slowly walked around the corner, Sharp behind him closely, his stomach turning in flips.
The stench of death floated to Burrow's nose before his eyes could behold what had happened. He stopped in utter and complete shock, peeping around the corner as he saw the cat's blood-stained mouth digging into the insides of his mother.
Burrow ducked around the corner. He heard the mashing sounds To-mas was making as he grabbed a piece of her intestines and slurped it into his mouth, Mince's lifeless body laid out as he tore and ripped away, her limbs still and outstretched, eyes white, and opened.
" Moth-!!!!-" Burrow held Sharp's mouth as he bawled out, sinking back behind the corner where they were hidden. The cat held his head up for a second, thinking that he heard something. He gazed around for a minute and then put his head back down, focusing on the delicious meal that was in front of him.
" Sharp she's already gone, there's nothing we can do now. If he catches us, he'll do the same thing " Burrow explained, talking lowly while holding him back. The entirety of Sharp's being was ripped to shreds, his heart, his chest, his whole body went frigid, not believing this horrible nightmare.
"But we can't just leave her there Burrow!! I promised her that I'd come back!!! I promised her I would come back Burrow... I promised...'' the tears were streaming down Sharp's face now, He pushed himself forward to go to the cat, but Burrow and Cheesy impeded him, holding him back from doing something reckless.
"Sharp No!! Let's go home she's gone Sharp!!! Mother wouldn't have wanted us to see her like this!! We can get our vengeance another day Sharp!! Please!!" Burrow kept repeating to him repeatedly, Sharp sobbing intensely. Cheesy stood there, silent, still not believing everything that was happening. Every bone and atom in his entire being was still. He watched the cat chow greedily into his mother's stomach. Burrow ushered Sharp and carried him away, holding him dearly as he cried, Cheesy dragging his feet lifelessly behind them.
................
The three bereaved sons sat in the room quietly. They were devastated. Their souls were ripped apart. Mother Mince was not there anymore and the fact that they would never see her again was sinking in now that they had time to sit down and process things.
Burrow's tears were a waterfall, his agony plunking into a deep despair. He sat there feeling a mixture of things in his insides, he felt angry, depressed, confused, everything all mixed up into one. But there was one feeling that was constant, one that would not go away, one that took over all of the rest, Anger.
It was Sharp and his bat shit, crazy egotistical ways that always ended them up in situations like this. That time he snuck out and almost got caught grabbing the mint leaf from the giant. That time he broke a vase over the cat's head and almost let them get into trouble. And now this. Sharp didn't take advice from anyone; he just did what he wanted to do and didn't care the risks and precautions it would take on someone else's life.
All he cared about was himself and his own bravado.
Burrow stood and walked over to Sharp, standing right in front of him with tears and fiery in his eyes.
"This was all your fault. You, everything that happened led to Mother's death. You caused all of this" Burrow peered at him venomously, pointing to Sharp sitting there, vulnerable and downtrodden.