by Eric Johnson
So I took my bounty of potato skins and looked around the alley. I found what I was looking for in a gap between two buildings. There was a small innocuous hole there and once I ducked into it it widened out and went down into the ground. Fortunately the hole was empty at the bottom and I sat and chewed on potato skins. They were dry, mealy, and just starting to rot. But it was food in my stomach. I chewed and swallowed each piece as quickly as I could, but I took a long time to eat it all. It was incredibly unappealing.
I finished my meal and even though it was the first I had eaten in some time, I was not sated. I wanted something more; I wanted something that actually tasted good.
I crawled up out of the hole and had to duck back in suddenly as someone appeared to be working in the alley. It was a cart taking the waste from the bins. So even if I wanted more skins, I would not be able to get any. I would have to look elsewhere.
As soon as the worker left I started back out the hole again. I was met by the same pair that I had met before that turned over the can to me. They wanted to come in the hole as I was trying to come out. I had to give way and crawled backwards back down the hole.
When we got into the pit at the bottom the two blocked my way back out again.
“You fill up on those skins?” One of them taunted me.
I crossed my arms and shook my head.
“Too bad.” The other said. “The cart is making its run, you will not be able to find a scrap anywhere on this side of town.”
I knew he was right. They ran the cart every other day in an effort to keep the trash levels down. And in an effort to make sure they were not leaving us any food.
“You should have been where we just came from.” The first teased. “We split a half a case of strawberries between us. Fresh!”
“You’re lying!” I told him.
The second shook his head. “Nope, I had to help him eat it all.”
I was aghast. Strawberries were tough enough to get. Usually you got the green tops with a small amount of fruit around the edge and it was almost too much work to get enough off of it. Almost. But fresh?
“Where?” I crossed my arms and demanded.
“I can’t tell you.” The first told me.
The second one nudged the first. “I don’t know. Maybe we should tell him. He looks really hungry.”
The first mouse thought about it and finally nodded. “Maybe so.
“So where is it?” The thought of strawberries was making my mouth water especially after that drab meal I had just eaten.
“The Trade House.” The first said simply.
“Are you crazy?” I said distrustfully. “They kill anyone who steals and they will kill you for just being a mouse!”
“Nah.” The first said. “You just have to know what you are doing. You don’t grab anything unless it hits the ground.”
The second supported this. “If they drop food on the ground they just leave it laying there. You should go and watch and see if they drop anything. They have food come through the trade house all day long.
The two parted from in front of me and I eyed them suspiciously. Everyone knew about the Trade House. It was plush with food, but it was plush with swords as well.
I squeezed between them but as I passed I caught the distinct smell of strawberries.
The alley was clear this time and I darted across to the drain pipe. I looked around one more time and then dashed up to the roof top world.
Under the sun but hidden from view from all the people on the streets I had some time to think about what I should do. I could go to the dump, there was always food there, but the competition between mice there was so thick that sometimes it came down to killing each other over choice bits. All the alleys would be devoid of food right now.
I set my jaw and made a decision. I would check out the Trade House. The building was taller than many of the others in the city so I could make it out easily from where I stood. There were a couple of main streets that I would have to cross, but I knew what alleys had the tunnels.
I made it to the first tunnel easy enough but as I set my foot down in the alley I heard a growling behind me. I turned and saw a large dog that came up to about shoulder high on me. Its teeth were bared and it made a couple of warning snaps at me.
I turned and ran for the gap between the buildings and the dog was close behind me. Squeezing into the gap took longer than I had and the dog grabbed ahold of the back of my leg and pulled. Pain shot through me as the dog shook his head in an effort to tear at my leg.
Someone appeared before me. It was some girl mouse and she grabbed my arms and pulled. Together we were just enough to get away from the dog. We tumbled together at the bottom of the hole. I fell on top of her and found her to be quite soft. I was looking into her face and smiled at her as I started to get up.
She smiled back. But then we both froze as we heard the growling from behind me.
I turned and looked and the dog was halfway down the hole chasing me. I made it to my feet quickly and broke into a run down the tunnel. My leg screamed out in pain at every step, but I could hear the dog still. It was somewhere behind me and would be catching up if I looked back.
I came into another chamber on the other side of the road and dove into the hole to climb back out. The dog arrived right after I did and I could hear him barking and growling right behind me.
This time he grabbed my right foot.
A mouse almost never has shoes on. We grow fairly thick calluses on the bottom of our feet. So this dog was not grabbing my shoe, he was grabbing my foot and his teeth were digging in. I just thought I would fill in that detail to give you some idea how this was going.
