It was To-mas, standing right in front of me.
I jumped back, his presence knocking all the tiredness out of my body. Standing on all fours I was alert, the fur on my skin as sharp as needles.
A cautious, impish smile spread across To-mas' face. He threw his head back, cackling at my disarray, the glare of the sun shining off his fangs.
"Ohhhhhhh my. Poor little rodent misses his mommy. He sees her everywhere he goes; he dreams of her. I almost feel bad for gobbling her up the way I did." he chortled, licking a spot between his paw.
"My gosh you probably think I loathe you and your kind. Which isn't entirely false. I find you rats repulsive..." He placed his paw down, placing his calm, deathly stare at me. I shifted, feeling quite uncomfortable under his gaze.
"You know, you shouldn't take it personal these things. I don't have some horrible vendetta against you little rat. You haven't done anything to me! Well..what could you do anyway?"
I felt even smaller when he said that. I trembled, trying to breathe and hold on to it, everything in me holding myself back from running. I couldn't make a dash for it, not while he was so preoccupied with me.
He got up, daintily striding to come closer to me. I backed away, mindful not to slip off of the edge.
Seeing my nervousness around the situation, the cat began to laugh. He flung his head back and guffawed loudly, as if this were all some kind of silly joke. Something stirred in my belly, and I began to feel ridiculous, silly even. Maybe I was the butt of the joke.
I was the one with all the bruises and scars bleeding out, having hallucinations about dead Family, being jumpy and trying to protect myself all the time. The smaller one. The one he could push and buck around, only to laugh about later.
What was so funny??? The immense psychological, physical and emotional damage that I suffered?? I straightened up, looking at the cat with no expression or emotion on my face.
"Why are you laughing?" I questioned.
Suddenly, the Cat stopped. The smile was still plastered on his face, but there was no more laughter.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"I said..why? Are you laughing?" I repeated. Maybe felines were better at hunting than they were at hearing.
To-mas stopped smiling, looking at me intently.
''What's your name, rodent?'' he inquired.
A pause went out as I wondered why the cat would ask such a question at this time. I didn't have to answer him. Why would I give a murderer my name?? Hmm. Mother did always say to be polite.
''Burrow. My name's Burrow'' I responded proudly. He opened his mouth to speak, but I wasn't done.
"My Mother's name was Mince, that was the one you cornered in the cage. My brothers' names were Cheesy and Sharp. The one you watched drown, and the one you killed recently." I explained calmly.
The cat opened his eyes a bit, surprised at my bluntness. I continued to stare at him soullessly, not moving an inch.
''Hmmmm...Mr.Burrow...'' To-mas licked his lips casually.
''But...why did you tell me your name? As well as your brothers' names?? And your mother's? Perhaps you should have given me your great grandparents' names as well...I wonder. Will you hand yourself over to me as willingly as you gave me your name ??'' The cat asked sarcastically, with most serious expression.
I stood there, tired and blood soaked, annoyed of going back and forth with this cat and its hokeypokey questions.
"Don't be misled To-mas. I didn't give you our names to entertain you. I gave it to you so you can remember all our names in your last moments. When you die"
The cat looked down at the rat, an anger bubbling in him at such a defiant response that was so disrespectful, he vowed to no longer kill this rat as food, but to thoroughly torture him. Who did this slab of meat think it was? Did it not have the level of self-awareness to know its place?? To-mas questioned himself, wondering if he had lost his powers of intimidation, never having been injured by the likes of vermin before. Imagine, a RAT having the gull to threaten him.
Suddenly, To-mas took a careful look at Burrow. His back was soaked in blood, four cuts exposing his flesh to the boiling sun.
Never mind To-mas, it's time to stop having conversations with your food...
''Ouch. You've hurt my feelings Mr. Burrow. And here I was thinking we were getting along well!"
To-mas lunged forward to Burrow who dodged, leaping over his paw to the left.
The rodent dashed past the cat, flying across the distance of the shingled roof, straight to the tree at the end.
To-mas turned quickly, sprinting after him.
Burrow flew across the roof at a quickened pace, like a jet streaming through the air.
The Feline was right behind him, tagged to him like an invisible string was attached between the two. Burrow ran to the left, so did he. He moved over to the right, he followed.
To-mas was ganging up behind him, about to snag a claw into the tip of his tail but there was a metal pipe coming up; Burrow jumped over it like a sprinter jumps over a hurdle, the cat flying over it as well.
Burrow stopped running linearly and got off the shingles, going on the rise of the rooftop only four paces away from the tree. He knew he couldn't keep running like this in a straight way, the cat was bound to catch up to him.
Right before he was jumping off the roof and into the tree, he stepped on another unsteady shingle and it flew into the air; The cat lunched up to jump after Burrow, but the loosened shingle flew in front of him and nearly slammed him in the face, he paused and jumped over to his left, dodging it.
Burrow flew through the air and latched onto the tree like a suction pad. The rat trudged the bark at such a fast pace that it almost seemed unnatural, like a ghost or a demon, disappearing up into the heights of the thick, bushy tree.
To-mas sat there on the roof, sleuthing in anger, his tail dancing back and forth.
"Every time I'm close to catching you, you escape. You won't be so lucky this time, Mr. Burrow" the cat walked over to the edge and jumped off onto the bark of the tree, climbing up after Burrow.