A rat, beautifully blended with the underbrush of the forest, padded along the floor of damp leaves and foliage. This rat was named Alastor, and he was a young one who had just fully developed his antlers and lost his baby spots. Feeling the rush of growing up, he had ventured away from his home and into the forest with slight timidity as he was going into the world for the first time, going it alone. He realized how unfamiliar he was with this part of the forest as it grew darker and harder for his eyes to focus on one certain object as everything blended into one.
Drops of rain like crystals began forming on the leaves of plants and rolling down Alastor’s back and over his face and antlers. After shaking off, he let one of the drops pool in his small hand, watching the spectrum of dim light move through it, showing off extravagant colors as he did so. Breathing out ever so softly, a smile crept on his face. He sat down in the middle of the rain, soaking in each perfect drop that hit him, savoring the water streaming down his back and legs. He pawed at a puddle in front of him and immediately and ungracefully trampled through it. Alastor grinned, laughing to and at himself.
“This is amazing,” he uttered, a smile still on his face. He had never really been in rain before as his parents always brought them in the nest when rain or storms came about. He reminisced on those damp spring nights where the thunder would course through every ounce of their being and every now and then lighting would illuminate their whole nest as he curled with his brothers and sisters under his parents’ watchful eye.
After the rain began to slow, Alastor stood up again and shook off, continuing on. The sky had cleared up and beams of light were beginning to fall through the canopy the trees made. He kept a steady trot going before a glint in his peripheral vision caught his attention. It was a white mushroom in the middle of a dark forest, so white and pure like a god himself had sent it. Alastor took a step closer, drawn in by its beauty. He’d never seen anything like it. He didn’t even know what it was, but he loved it.
He cleared his throat. “Um, hello,” he said sheepishly. “I know we just met, but, I must say, you are beautiful.” He took another step and poked it in the trunk with a small claw. When he realized it wasn’t going to respond to him, he began to climb on top of it, his antlers getting in the way once or twice. When he was on top of the big mushroom, he looked down at the ground, though he was not that far up. Stretching out on top of the mushroom, he sighed, resting his head on his paws. “I’m so glad I left home,” he murmured and then drifted away.
Alastor woke that night and continued through the forest after thanking the mushroom for letting him stay a while and saying they should do it again sometime, grinning to himself at his little joke. His smile faded as coyote howls were heard in the distance, but the small rat figured they had no interest in something with so little meat on its bones.
The little deer rat never encountered anything much of trouble in the forest besides the savage foliage that just seemed to love tripping him up and catching his antlers. He kept walking though, dirt and mud building up on his legs and belly from the rain that came earlier.
When the forest thinned out, he stumbled upon a tall white fence, much taller than he could ever be. He could easily walk right under the first beam of the fence, and he did so. Not much of a fence, he thought to himself.
The fences continued for acres of open land when Alastor first ran across a small patch of fat, large animals. Some had large patches of black or white on them while others were just a solid color. Alastor’s ears twitched. “They look charming,” he muttered to himself while he kept on walking.
After trudging through ridiculously tall grass for what seemed like an eternity, a hint of red caught his eye and he turned to take in the structure laid out before him. In fact, it was a barn, but Alastor had never seen one in his life before. Walking to it, he slipped under the door and sat to let his eyes adjust to the light change.
The inside of the barn reeked of hay, manure, and animals. The rat crinkled his nose, as he had gotten used to the damp smell of the forest since he had lived there his whole life.
Alastor jumped when a rat leaned over the edge of the barn loft. “Hello mate,” the other rat said. Alastor picked up on his Australian accent, and his attention turned fully to him. “Who are you?”
Alastor’s ear twitched. “Alastor,” he said meekly. “And you?”
The rat’s figure was hard to make out in the dark of the barn, and he seemed to realize that. “Why don’t ya come up here and we’ll talk? The stairs are to your left.”
Alastor nodded so subtly that he doubted the other saw it. He turned after a moment’s delay and located the stairs, stumbling up them like the clumsy soul he was. He had to relocate the rat he’d somewhat met as his eyes had to adjust yet again to the dim light of the barn.
“The name’s Murphy,” Murphy said, holding out a small paw as Alastor took it and shook hands with him. Murphy was a hefty rat that bore resemblance to a Clydesdale horse. “Now where on earth did you come from? There’s hardly anyone around here for miles, just a few of us and the cattle.” He smiled and Alastor noted that he could probably be friends with him.
“I’m from… the forest,” Alastor said. “I just left home.”
“Any reason in particular?” Murphy inquired, “if you don’t mind me asking.”
“I was just ready to leave home,” he replied, beginning to brush the dried mud off of his arms.
Murphy sat down, looking Alastor over once. “Where do you plan on going?”
"Honestly, I don’t really know,” Alastor said, smiling slightly.
“Well why don’t you stay here for the night or for as long as you need? I’ve got to head off to do chores soon, but you could just make yourself at home.” Murphy gave him an earnest smile.
Alastor nodded gratefully. “I might just take you up on that offer.”
Murphy nodded in return. “Like I said, just make yourself at home. I’ll see you around, Alastor, after chores are done.”
The rat sighed and curled up in the hay of the loft as he heard Murphy trudge down the stairs. He truly liked him and believed they could be best friends, if and only if Alastor decided to stick around that long. As Alastor rolled over onto his side, he sighed again, thinking over his past few days after leaving home. He thought about the rain, the mushrooms, and everything he could accomplish. He still had a lot of life to live, and he didn’t know if he wanted to spend it in a barn. One thing he did know for sure is that he wanted to be able to have a friend to joke around with and simply live life with, and Murphy could be that.
