The Mouse in the Mirror
Chapter Eight
Grumble, snort, snarl.
“Where is that flee-infested, fuzz ball?” muttered the Bad Rat.
This stalking business had gone on way too long. He should have caught the wimpy, little piece-of-fluff by now, but the mouse had the advantage of being small, which meant he could hide very easily amongst all this stuff.
“He could be anywhere!” Thought the Bad Rat to himself, “I’m never gonna find the little...”
A smell...
Sniff, sniff.
Yes a smell, the smell of a mouse. It was unmistakable to the Bad Rat’s nostrils. What luck, to come across the little mouse’s trail in all this junk.
So following the smell, the Bad Rat let his nose take him around the next corner, down the isle, then around on old television set, where he stopped, looked up and couldn’t believe his eyes.
There lying in front of him was that damn possum, still unconscious. Which meant that he’d come around full circle. He had wasted all that time just to end up back where he’d begun!
Boy was he angry! That little pest, he’d caused him nothing but trouble since he’d come onto the scene.
“Wait ’til I get my hands on you, you ... you ... you ... ahh!”
The Bad Rat was so frustrated that he pounded his fist into the unconscious form of Percy because - well just because he felt like it.
Just as he was about to punch poor, defenceless Percy again, a noise like something falling sounded behind him.
“Yes!” he sighed triumphantly.
That’s exactly what he’d been waiting for - a mistake by the little mouse.
Dashing up the isle, the Bad Rat was positive he knew just where the noise had come from. Slowing down as he approached the rusty bathtub, he peered around the corner to find his view blocked by a toaster. Moving around the toaster, he had trouble believing what he saw.
There at the end of the isle, with his back against the brick wall which made this a dead end, was the little mouse.
What astounded the Bad Rat, was the little critter’s attitude. Bold as a cat, the little fuzz-ball was standing there waving the Bad Rat forward, almost like a Bullfighter waving a red cape at a bull. The little mouse then stuck out his tongue and wiggled his ears at the Bad Rat. That was all the Bad Rat could take.
Just like a bull, he charged at full speed down that isle at the figure of the little mouse. Through ferocious, red eyes, the Bad Rat noticed that the little mouse hadn’t moved, in fact he was now making rude gestures at the Bad Rat. This just infuriated him further and increasing his speed, the Bad Rat couldn’t help but growl deep down in his throat. So intense was his anger that it wasn’t until he had pounced and was flying through the air towards the figure of the little mouse that he realised something was wrong - the mouse was flat?!?
At full speed, the Bad Rat flew through the air, hit the piece of mirror that Norm had placed there, smashing the glass with his head. His momentum carried him and the broken mirror out through the hole which had been hidden behind the mirror. Screaming in pain and at injustice, the Bad Rat sailed out into the rainy night, hit the slanted roof bellow, slid down the tiles, into the gutter, down the drain pipe, washed away by the relentless rain water, squealing and raving mad.
Norm stood at the edge of the hole amongst the few pieces of broken glass that remained behind. Staring out at the rainy night, he listened to the fading screams of the Bad Rat until all he could hear was the endless patter of the rain on the roof tiles.
He stood there taking deep breaths, liking the way the few drops of rain felt on his face as the wind pushed them through the hole.
A moan sounded behind him and he remembered Percy. So leaving the cool night air behind, Norm made his way back up the isle, around the toaster and bathtub, down to where Percy lay.
“Percy? Are you alright?”
Percy opened his eyes, looked at Norm for a few seconds before recognition lit up his eyes.
“Yeah, I’ll live.” croaked Percy, “What happened?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you as soon as we get you out of here.”
Both tired and worse for wear, Norm and Percy managed to finally find the way to the attic stairs and out of the maze of junk.
At the top of the stairs, as Percy started his way down, Norm looked back over his shoulder for one last look at the attic.
This was definitely one night he would never forget.