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It was getting dark. The time has arrived for it to go out and start looking for whatever scraps of food it could find. Maybe a mate or two. It awoke from its short sleep, its tiny heart beating so fast it was humming. With its tiny clawed 'hands', it wiped its face, a curious gesture that was disturbing human-like.
It raised its head, smelling the dank air between the walls. But within this stagnant space, a plethora of other smells and sensations mingled. The noises coming from out of the walls were exciting, full of promise. The smells were wonderful. It began to feel alive. This was its time.
It scurried along the pipes embedded in the drywall, which served as its streets and alleys. It bumped into its neighbors, acknowledging each other, but it had other, more important business to do. Its stomach was empty, and it really wanted to get something nice to eat tonight. The night has come. It was time to forage. And in this building, the choices were endless.
It climbed down almost vertically down a rusty waterpipe; just below a small hole opened. It had gnawed the hole open weeks ago when it discovered that behind the wall was another kitchen, one of many in the building in which it lived. There were other holes, of course, in other kitchens and other rooms. But this one was its favorite.
It peeked its head out of the hole. It had to be careful. If any humans saw it, they'd usually try to chase it away, or kill it with whatever makeshift weapon they could grab their hands on. They also had traps. It had watched one of its own kind get trapped once; the humans had subsequently set its 'friend' on fire and watched.
But tonight, the coast was clear. It darted out of the hole, its tiny feet moving rapidly, dragging the little furry body and scaly tail behind. It stopped beneath a table, and stood up on its hind legs. It smelled the air. Food. Skillfully, it began to climb the table leg. It wasn't very difficult. Its claws made every grip, every footing secure. Eventually it reached the top of the table. On it were several plates of food. Fried fish. Rice in a bowl. Something that looked like curry. Vegetables. It was all good, all great. It began to help itself, taking bits of everything, stuffing the food into the pouches of its mouth.
It was suddenly startled by a loud slapping noise. It turned its head away towards the kitchen door and saw a human being slumped on the floor. It was a human female, her long hair all messed up. The human female wasn't covered in any clothing (not that it knew what clothing was). It saw that the human female was holding her hand to her face, and she had water coming out of her eyes. It watched. The human female was making strange whimpering noises. Suddenly a human male walked into view. The male, too, was as naked as a.. why, as a rat. The male's hands were bunched into fists.
It decided to climb down the table lest it be spotted and chased out, or worse, killed. But it was a curious animal, and it crawled towards the two human beings outside the kitchen doorway. It hid just near the entrance. It watched the two humans. The female human was still whimpering. Suddenly the human male kicked the female in the stomach. It saw the female spew out chunky brown colored liquid from the mouth. It smelled like food to it.
The human male was making sounds too. But it did not understand, of course. As the human male made the sounds, the female was shaking her head. Again it did not comprehend all these human interaction. It just watched, bunched on its hind legs. The human male walked closer and sat on the females stomach. It saw the human male begin to hit the females face with the hands. The female began to bleed from the mouth and nose. The females mouth bubbled.
Suddenly the human male got up and walked towards the kitchen. Towards it! But the human did not see it and simply passed by. It saw the human male take a shiny object from the kitchen drawer. It knew what the object was. One of its kind had lost a tail to that object. It was sharp.
The human male passed it by again, and it saw that the human female was shaking its head furiously. The female was still lying on the floor. The human male begin to make loud noises again. Once more he sat on the females stomach. The human male slapped the female. Then it saw the human male grab the female by the the hair, and take the shiny object and pierce the females neck with it. The human male then begin to move the shiny object in and out of the females' neck vigorously. Suddenly the female's head was off, and the male held it for a moment in his free hand. There was a lot of thick, viscous red liquid flowing out of the female human.
It heard the male grunt and make noises. The human male then chucked the females' head to the side, where it rolled towards the kitchen doorway, stopping just a few feet away from where it was hiding. It looked the female humans head; it was lifeless now, silent. It saw the human male get up from the headless body and leave the room. It saw the male going into another room and closing the door.
It was silent for a few minutes. When it was sure that there would no more interference and danger, it crawled gingerly out of its hiding spot. It sniffed the human head, then scurried away to the headless body. It nibbled; then went back to the head to nibble as well. Finally it decided that the body tasted better.
It did not know or understand about humans, or human behavior. It did not comprehend what it had just seen, nor did it feel the gravity of the situation. It was indifferent. Even if it did, perhaps it would choose to live as a rat anyway.
It was a simpler life. All it had to do was sleep, eat and mate. And on lucky nights such as this, it was rewarded with fresh meat.
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(not the best, i know. but i needed to write to stay sharp.)
It was getting dark. The time has arrived for it to go out and start looking for whatever scraps of food it could find. Maybe a mate or two. It awoke from its short sleep, its tiny heart beating so fast it was humming. With its tiny clawed 'hands', it wiped its face, a curious gesture that was disturbing human-like.
It raised its head, smelling the dank air between the walls. But within this stagnant space, a plethora of other smells and sensations mingled. The noises coming from out of the walls were exciting, full of promise. The smells were wonderful. It began to feel alive. This was its time.
It scurried along the pipes embedded in the drywall, which served as its streets and alleys. It bumped into its neighbors, acknowledging each other, but it had other, more important business to do. Its stomach was empty, and it really wanted to get something nice to eat tonight. The night has come. It was time to forage. And in this building, the choices were endless.
It climbed down almost vertically down a rusty waterpipe; just below a small hole opened. It had gnawed the hole open weeks ago when it discovered that behind the wall was another kitchen, one of many in the building in which it lived. There were other holes, of course, in other kitchens and other rooms. But this one was its favorite.
It peeked its head out of the hole. It had to be careful. If any humans saw it, they'd usually try to chase it away, or kill it with whatever makeshift weapon they could grab their hands on. They also had traps. It had watched one of its own kind get trapped once; the humans had subsequently set its 'friend' on fire and watched.
But tonight, the coast was clear. It darted out of the hole, its tiny feet moving rapidly, dragging the little furry body and scaly tail behind. It stopped beneath a table, and stood up on its hind legs. It smelled the air. Food. Skillfully, it began to climb the table leg. It wasn't very difficult. Its claws made every grip, every footing secure. Eventually it reached the top of the table. On it were several plates of food. Fried fish. Rice in a bowl. Something that looked like curry. Vegetables. It was all good, all great. It began to help itself, taking bits of everything, stuffing the food into the pouches of its mouth.
It was suddenly startled by a loud slapping noise. It turned its head away towards the kitchen door and saw a human being slumped on the floor. It was a human female, her long hair all messed up. The human female wasn't covered in any clothing (not that it knew what clothing was). It saw that the human female was holding her hand to her face, and she had water coming out of her eyes. It watched. The human female was making strange whimpering noises. Suddenly a human male walked into view. The male, too, was as naked as a.. why, as a rat. The male's hands were bunched into fists.
It decided to climb down the table lest it be spotted and chased out, or worse, killed. But it was a curious animal, and it crawled towards the two human beings outside the kitchen doorway. It hid just near the entrance. It watched the two humans. The female human was still whimpering. Suddenly the human male kicked the female in the stomach. It saw the female spew out chunky brown colored liquid from the mouth. It smelled like food to it.
The human male was making sounds too. But it did not understand, of course. As the human male made the sounds, the female was shaking her head. Again it did not comprehend all these human interaction. It just watched, bunched on its hind legs. The human male walked closer and sat on the females stomach. It saw the human male begin to hit the females face with the hands. The female began to bleed from the mouth and nose. The females mouth bubbled.
Suddenly the human male got up and walked towards the kitchen. Towards it! But the human did not see it and simply passed by. It saw the human male take a shiny object from the kitchen drawer. It knew what the object was. One of its kind had lost a tail to that object. It was sharp.
The human male passed it by again, and it saw that the human female was shaking its head furiously. The female was still lying on the floor. The human male begin to make loud noises again. Once more he sat on the females stomach. The human male slapped the female. Then it saw the human male grab the female by the the hair, and take the shiny object and pierce the females neck with it. The human male then begin to move the shiny object in and out of the females' neck vigorously. Suddenly the female's head was off, and the male held it for a moment in his free hand. There was a lot of thick, viscous red liquid flowing out of the female human.
It heard the male grunt and make noises. The human male then chucked the females' head to the side, where it rolled towards the kitchen doorway, stopping just a few feet away from where it was hiding. It looked the female humans head; it was lifeless now, silent. It saw the human male get up from the headless body and leave the room. It saw the male going into another room and closing the door.
It was silent for a few minutes. When it was sure that there would no more interference and danger, it crawled gingerly out of its hiding spot. It sniffed the human head, then scurried away to the headless body. It nibbled; then went back to the head to nibble as well. Finally it decided that the body tasted better.
It did not know or understand about humans, or human behavior. It did not comprehend what it had just seen, nor did it feel the gravity of the situation. It was indifferent. Even if it did, perhaps it would choose to live as a rat anyway.
It was a simpler life. All it had to do was sleep, eat and mate. And on lucky nights such as this, it was rewarded with fresh meat.
-------------
(not the best, i know. but i needed to write to stay sharp.)
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