The kitchen floor was empty, not one person or furred feline in sight, the Giant still asleep. They scurried across the passageway from the peephole to the kitchen.
The three of them stood between the passage of the Island counter and the one to the wall, right in front of the garbage beside the stove.
"I'll go first'' Sharp instructed, walking towards the garbage bin tht was closed in front of them. Burrow nodded his head and pressed his weight down on the step, the flap for the garbage flew open to a bin filled to the brim with trash.
"Cheesy gimme a boost" Sharp requested, Cheesy went to the side of the bin, clasping his paws and using it as a bridge for Sharp to get on, Sharp pressed one foot into his clasped hands and propped up the next one, leaping up and pushing himself into the garbage. For a few all they heard was shuffling and pushing sounds of metal cans, plastic bottles, napkins and paper bags while Sharp squeezed his way in, staying to the edge of the bin to help everyone else up.
Sharp snuffled, slightly bothered by the darkness and rancid smells that surround him.
'' Come on Cheesy gimme your hand!" Sharp instructed, Cheesy getting up on his hind legs and stretched, Burrowing still holding down on the step that was keeping the garbage open.
Cheesy stretched and jumped up to hold Sharp's hand and Sharp grabbed it, Sharp pulling his body weight back as a leverage to pull up Cheesy.
"Creaaakkk."
As Cheesy was getting in, the door from the bedroom opened, the giant gliding his way out. They watched it open, Sharp letting go of Cheesy as he fell to the floor, Burrow letting go of the handle, the garbage door flapping down on Sharp's head as he fell into the pool of waste.
The Giant walked out, shirtless and yawning, stretching his arms. His sleepy eyes were barely opened, scratching them he yawned.
" Gosh darn I'm so tired..." he muttered, making his way back lazily to the bedroom.
"Yes! Go back in the room. That's our cue" Burrow grabbed Cheesy's arm and started walking back to the front of the garbage bin. He jumped on the step and the bin lid opened, Sharp's head peeped out and he held out his hands, Cheesy leaping up and Sharp catching his hand.
They heard the door creak open again.
"Shit! Get down, get down!" Burrow warned, Chessy coming down at the same time, both of them dashing behind the bin again and hiding behind the stove. The Giant turned around, walking back to the Kitchen, leaning against the Island counter.
''Uggghh. Don't be no lazy donkey now Mista Perks. I've gotta go clean up tha front yard.." a deep, grouchy voice rumbled as he reached over the counter, grabbing the bottle that had some sort of red symbols on it, taking it to the living room and going out the front door.
"Let's go" Burrow fanned, him sneaking out from behind the garbage bin with Cheesy holding his tail nervously.
"Would you let go of my tail??" he snapped around.
"Sorry..." Cheesy apologized. The two rodents attempted to reach the top of the bin again, Burrow pressing his weight on the step for Cheesy to lift himself off.
The Giant came running back through the front door.
"Go go go go!" Cheesy and Burrow got behind the garbage bin, annoyed at how persistent the Giant was.
"How many times will we have to do this...I have a bad feeling about this plan" Cheesy whispered to Burrow as they ducked.
"The plan's gonna work-" when Burrow said that he saw the Giant coming towards the same garbage bin they were behind, his hands outstretched to grab it.
"Go back! Go back!! behind the stove quick!" As his hands came closer and closer to the bin, they turned and crawled up through the narrow space between the counter and the Stove just in time, hiding themselves behind it.
The man rested his foot on the step, the lid of the garbage bin swinging open. He reached for the garbage bag in it that Sharp was deeply concealed in, tying the top of the bag, pulling it out of the bin, and closing it back.
They watched the Giant walk off with the garbage bag in his hand, opening the door and going out onto the patio.
Burrow stood there, a sense of disappointment washing over him. Originally, they had planned to hid themselves in the garbage bin and let the Giant carry them out; them eventually biting themselves out the bag and escaping into the wild. Having noticed that the Giant took his trash out at the end of the week, he thought It would be perfect for them. No having to run across the floor and risk being seen by him, or the cat, (especially the cat). Just one unknowing, clean, sneaky escape via transportation of "taking out the trash".
That was the thing with plans though. They sounded great in hindsight, but the execution of said plan was something else. So many things could go wrong in the process, and the Giant waking up extra early and taking the bin out so quickly, was evidence to that.
"See??I told you this wouldn't work... " Cheesy complained, Burrow fanning him off.
"Just- come along now and hush" he replied, scampering off to the door with Cheesy behind him.
..............................................................................
"Ugh!! Damned Giants!!" Sharing the space of many rotten, spoiled foods, in a dark space as black as night was not how Sharp imagined his passage to freedom. He cursed as his body was flung from left to right, the giant tossing the bag about carelessly as he carried it out.
"As soon as he puts this bag down I'm getting out of-ohhh shhii-" the bag swung wildly to the left, Sharp flipping over and falling into a lunch box filled with rancid, maggot infested sardines.
"Urrghhhh!!!Dammit!! damn it all!!" lines of swearing words followed, he breathed in slowly attempting to ground himself, getting out of the lunchbox and brushing the worms off.
"I'm not going to freak out like I usually do..going to remain calm..cool..and collected...everything will work out.... " Sharp was trying his best to change his impulsive, rude attitude, to remain present in these situations.
Ever since him and Burrow made up, Burrow had taught him alot about keeping a serene demeanor, even in the most daunting circumstances. He always tried to keep this in his mind, no matter what.
The Giant threw the garbage bag on a pile of leaves and trash that he had racked up in the front yard, at the Apple tree. The two brothers had escaped out onto the patio, hiding themselves behind the vase, peeping out and following Sharp carefully.
"We need to get him out of that bag and then we can escape. Let's get closer!" Burrow and Cheesy climbed down the wooden steps of the patio quickly, hiding themselves below the last step.
"And this here be the last time A ever ever eeevvverrr..let ma garbage get this filled. Nope, this ain't me. This aint Perkins, this here is being nasty.." Perkins flexed his arms as he scolded himself for neglecting the responsibility, having walked by the bin a hundred times and procrastinating to take it out. He bent down and picked up the bottle with the bright writing on it, screwing the top of it off and throwing its liquid all over the garbage bag.
He paused in doing this, resting the bottle by his foot yet again, stooping down to heap the dried leaves on top of the garbage sack. After finishing up with that the man sprung up, picking the bottle up and continuing to pour the liquid all over it.
The choking, over intoxicating smell of the liquid hit them in the face; its staunch too much to even be inhaled.
"Peeehhewww what the hell is that??It smells like suicide..." Cheesy muffled, placing his arm over his nose to somehow block it. Burrow did the same while focusing intensely on the bottle, his eyes narrowed onto the writing on it. He had seen that bottle before, in fact he remembered Mother telling him a horrid story, vaguely warning him about something.
When Burrow was smaller he went off into the Kitchen with Mother, just him and her, while Sharp stayed home and watched Cheesy, who had the flu at the time. They got under the cupboard, she showed him the same, ill-fated bottle, giving him a strict warning not to go anywhere near it..
He remembered it being poisonous, any contact with it could seriously hurt you if..if there was some sort of condition met. And she called it a strange name...
"What did she tell me again??" He wondered aloud.
" What?? For the life of me I can't even get a clue as to what she told me..? Damn.." Burrow busted his brain trying to remember, it was on the tip of his tongue. Nonetheless the concerned brother started to feel apprehensive about this whole situation. The fact still remained that Sharp was in that bag, and God knows what the crazy Giant would do now that he heaped all those leaves on top of the bag..why would he do that?? Burow sighed, scratching his ear and throwing his head into his paws for a minute.
"This is bad. This is very, very bad. We should've never done this" Cheesy cried.
The Giant moved again, the two of them looked on in confusion.
"Hmmm...just what is he doing???Why is he pouring that awful smelling liquid all over the trash??? Is he. Watering the leaves??" Cheesy looked to Burrow for his question to be answered, but Burrow was just as confused as he was.
"I have no idea. But..he couldn't be. Look at the leaves. They're all crumpled and brown and dry. They look dead, so why would he water dead leaves?? And why would he throw so much of them on top of the bag??"
"I saw that same bottle on the countertop since yesterday" Cheesy stated, Burrow still looking at the bottle.
"I saw him looking at it for a bit once, then he turned around to lit a fire on the stove. Just twisted something and it flicked right on, that strange machine that he cooks on-"
"That's it!! I remember now..." Burrow exclaimed, as Cheesy said fire it clicked off into his head.
"What?? What do you remember??" Chessy asked curiously.
"Mother warned me not to go near that bottle because the liquid inside it can set things on -" Burrow stooped.
Fire. That liquid was used to set things on fire.....
''Oh no. No no nono no nooo..." Burrow's expression turned frigidly cold. He placed his hands on his head, pacing back and forth underneath the staircase. Cheesy noticed his extreme change in demeanor, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong now.
''What? What is it Burrs? Tell me"He insisted.
"That thing he's throwing on top of the bag? It's kerosene oil"
"Oh. Well it's great that you know the names of things but...how is that bad???"
"He's gonna set the garbage on fire, using the oil" Burrow responded.
''Oh.. Okay " Cheesy nodded his head slowly, turning forward to see the Giant taking a piece of paper, lightening it with a lighter, and throwing it on the garbage. Not fully digesting what exactly that meant, he saw the fire spread across the entirety of the heap.
"But Burrow... Sharp's in the bag...." Cheesy said with innocence, as if he had just discovered that reality.
''Exactly Cheesy!! Sharp's about to be a fried rodent!!" Burrow hissed back; the fire spreading and engulfing the bag that Sharp was in.
"Noooo!!!! "Cheesy shouted; without another thought Cheesy and Sharp dashed out into he field to the bag.
The Giant was still hovering over the fire, the flames dancing on the reflection of his eyeballs. They halted for a second, looking on at him as he impeded their path. The fire slowly raised up, spreading across the top of the bag and the trash.
They watched on in shock, Burrow looking to and fro, worried.
''What are we gonna do?? The Giant's still right there..." he said to himself, watching the Giant as he loomed over the fire.
Suddenly, they heard a noisy sound to the far left of them, and when they looked over it was a small truck driving into his yard... A man got out of the truck and nodded to him, the giant nodding and leaving the fire, going over to the man.
''Let's go!!" Burrow and Cheesy ran out to the growing fire, yelling at the fire covered bag for Sharp, like maniacs.
To-mas was in the garden to the other end of the house, he smelt something burning and sniffed, raising his head and seeing a fire in the distance.
"Humans" he said sarcastically, resting his head back down. Just then out of the corner of his eye he saw the two annoying rodents running across the space, heading straight to the blazing fire the Human had set.
"Hmm" he mumbled to himself.
''Shaarrrp!!! Sharp get out of the bag!!!" Burrow and Cheesy ran around the bag, shouting into it for Sharp to hear them.
"Guys!!Cheesy? Burrow?? Where the hell are you??" Sharp shouted, seeing nothing but darkness. Suddenly he began sniffing and smelt something weird, like something was burning. He searched around in the darkness out stretching his hand, trying to feel for the bag to nibble his way out.
"Shaaaarrrpp!!Shaarrp over here! Follow my voice!!" Burrow got closer to the garbage, finding a small spot that hadn't been lit yet and talking into it.
"Sharp!!" Sharp held up his ears as he heard something coming from a far.
"Burrow????!!" he called, Burrow smiling as he heard him.
"Cheesy I found him, over here! Sharp!! Follow my voice!!" Burrow yelled, Sharp clambering in the darkness.
''Okay keep yelling so I can hear you!!" Sharp began walking forward, bumping into plastic, and garbage on his way there, walking towards Burrow's voice ..
"Sharp hurry up we're over here!!" Cheesy shouted, Sharp hearing them again and moving to the point where their voices are. He sniffed, smelling something burning.
"Its getting hot in here!!" Sharp shouted back, Burrow and Cheesy still by the bag.
''Hurry Sharp get out now!!Bite your way out!!!" Burrow shouted, suddenly fire flashed at the part of the bag that they were shouting into, Burrow and Cheesy stepping back as it flamed up.
"Drats!!! We have to find another spot! Go to the other side Cheesy I'll search over-'' Just as Burrow said that he felt a great wosh of wind flatten the furs on his back. Chessy's eyes bulged out as he saw something behind Burrow.
"Burrow run!!! Ruuuuuunnn!" Burrow slowly turned his back to look over his shoulder, his eyes meeting a fierce, towering bird that had feathers the same color of the oak tree. The creature stretched its neck down and aimed his beak at Burrow like a missile.
"Nooooo!" Cheesy sprinted under the Falcon's feet, passing his huge black talons and tackling Burrow, crashing into him; they both rolled out of the bird's way; his beak coming down and hitting the dirt. To-Mas was comfortably lying down beneath the flower bed to the side of the house, snickering to himself while he watched the vicious Mother Falcon chase her breakfast for the morning.
''I hope she peels their skins off like bananas and eat their flesh slowly. Damned annoying pests..." To-mas chuckled. The cat was still pissed at how they escaped him in the storage room. And the Kitchen...
If this wild bird got to eat them right now in front of his very face, he wouldn't mind. Death from the King of the skies was way worse than from a cat, and he hoped that they would suffer in the most intense way.
"Two rats, one fire, and a very hungry Falcon... How will this go??" the cat asked himself mischievously.
Cheesy and Burrow rolled into the leaves, fire catching on Burrow's back. Cheesy quickly dusted it off and Burrow swung around.
The fearsome creature's shadow casted out the sun like a black, evil, eclipse.
There the monster stood, two yellowed clamped beaks that were so shiny and acute, the rodents could see their scared reflections bounce off of them. The hungry Falcon looked intently on the two rats before him, not removing his focus from them for even a minute.
"Guyss??Where are you???" Sharp shouted out into the darkness, hearing nothing. Something hot began to flame over his head, and he looked up; yellow flames danced and melted the plastic bag, it shrank into one piece until it was nothing but liquid hot plastic, melting down on him.
"Fire !!" Sharp bellowed, a huge drop of melting black liquid dropped from the ceiling of the burning bag, Sharp rolled over to the side, missing it by an inch.
On the other side of the pile Burrow and Cheesy stood still, frigid statues as the bird grasped them in his laser focus.
The creature sprung up, making a horrific screech, spreading its wings and lunging over them, Cheesy and Burrow took off in different directions.
"What the hell is even going on right now!!??" Burrow asked himself, the bird right above him.
Cheesy saw the bird picking at Burrow as he ran, also mindful of Sharp still being in the bag. He swirled his head from left to right, confused with all the chaos that was happening.
Sharp was surrounded by fire now, he ran from one end over an old milk cartoon, under metal cans, above papers and moldy loaves of bread; dodging the melting black goo that was dripping down on him. A piece of it landed on his ear and he cried out, the goo scalding his skin. He brushed it off quickly, the goo burning his hand.
Looking out, all that surrounded him was heightened flames of fire, everywhere. The furs on his skin were dried out and spikey from the wave of heat, the flames swallowing everything in its path, getting higher and more abundant.
"Drats what have I gotten myself into." he asked. Just then he saw a spot where the sun was shining out of, the black plastic ceiling completely burnt off. He ran to it, climbing over the garbage and trash beneath his feet and then just before he got there, a lump of fire fell in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
He saw a bird above him, flapping its wings.
The angry Falcon ran Burrow up and down and around the fire, making its noises and clawing its talons. The rodent grew tired and slowed down a bit, just enough for the Falcon to zone in with its beak, scrapping a piece of flesh off of Burrow's ankle.
"Shit!!!" the pain penetrated his skin and barely scrapped the bone of his ankle, tripping him. He rolled over in the grass, hopping up again and running, the blood seeping down his foot.
" Cheesy, save Sharp I'll keep distracting the bird!!!" Burrow shouted. With that Cheesy looked around at the surroundings, looking for an escape in the pile that he could somehow get Sharp out of the bag, flames enveloped the whole pile, covering the bag fully and the trash spreading to the dried-up leaves beneath it.
"Save himmm?? How can I save him and there's fire everywhere????" Chessy reasoned with himself. His eyes continued searching until something in the back of his mind told him to look forward. He did that and saw the Apple tree that was just four steps away from the burning pile of garbage. He looked up and saw a branch that was hanging over the fire and instantly, he got an idea.
.........................................................................
Sharp hid himself in an empty can that had a bit of green peas in it, the black goo from the melted plastic bag dripping on top. He coughed over and over again, his eyes watering and his throat becoming dry.
There was nothing but smoke flowing into the air, covering everything. There was fire all over, in front of him, to the sides. He knew he had to get out of the metal can and face his fate. It was beginning to heat up.
There was nowhere he could hide.
" Hold on Big Sharpo!! I'm coming for you!!!" Cheesy ran around the fire to the trunk of the Apple tree, climbing up the tree quickly. He hooked himself to a thin sized branch, clambering down the limb until it got thinner and thinner, perching over the flames of the fire. Cheesy cough viciously as wafts of blackened smoke blinded him, drying out all the air around him. He covered his nose, continuing to go down until he was right over the fire, seeing the full view of the pile.
The Sun peeked through the top of the garbage bag which had almost been completely melted, opening up the bag for everything to be seen. Clusters of milk cans, pea cans, rotten food and other objects turned black and charred, waves of fire taking everything in its midst.
''Come on Sharpo, show me that your still there...come on brother I know your there...'' he narrowed his eyes and continued scanning the fire in hopes that Sharp hadn't burned to death already, his heart feeling heavy at the thought of it.
"Come on come on come on....show yourself" Chessy's head pivoted cautiously from left to right, using his eyes to stake out any sign of life the way a light from a lighthouse did. He glanced over something grey, in a part of the fire where it hadn't been caught by flames as much, he saw something nudging its head out of the can. Zoning in on that, he examined further and saw that it was Sharp.
''There you are!!! I'm coming Sharp hold on!" he ran to the very edge of the branch, and it dipped down because if his body weight, going closer and closer to the fire.
..........................................................................
Burrow breathed heavily, his legs feeling like lead as he galloped around the Apple Tree for the hundredth time.
'' I don't think I can do this for much longer !!" the bird made a terrible sound and dipped its sharp claws at the rodent running in front of him, Burrow getting frightened and running even faster.
If I stop, he will turn his focus to the fellas and attack them. If I stop, he will kill me. I have to keep going...for the sake of my family..he thought tiredly.
" Whatever it is that you're doing hurry up Chessy!!!" Burrow pleaded, looking around and seeing the branch leaning over the fire, with Cheesy on top of it.
Sharp laid down still in the middle of the fire, bouncing about in the empty metal can he invaded.
"Ouch! ow ow ow ow!!" his paws and legs were burning him now; the metal surface of the can warming up with the fire. He knew if he stayed in the can any longer, it would roast him, but where else could he go?
He coughed, beginning to feel weak. Sharp sighed, deciding that the only thing he could do was lay down and die. He stared out into space, eventually closing his eyes and drifting off.