{Decided to break the mould a little and do a ratty pairing, just because this litter was so cute ^^}
{Index [Rat Slang to English]:
hubblyhole - safe, small and enclosed place to eat
Two-Legs - humans
nuglet - a smaller, more rat-sized nugget}
{Index [Rat Slang to English]:
hubblyhole - safe, small and enclosed place to eat
Two-Legs - humans
nuglet - a smaller, more rat-sized nugget}
The small grey rat did not know she was not welcome in her new hubblyhole.
It was a far cry from her old one. Her previous hubblyhole had been a graveyard of misused and overcooked Two-Legs food, the matter that was still edible yet disposed of for her, left as she crept along the borders of bins, sniffing at each one hopefully in turn. It had been good exercise, balancing along the narrow green plastic edges, but this one was different.
Bright with artificial lighting, bustling with Two-Legged life, it was like a game to the young rodent. The smells were so strong and divine, they even overpowered the strange scent of the Two-Legs - faint, alkaline smells like lilac and orange, as though they bathed them selves in condensed versions of the original products.
Weird.
But she was enjoying herself nonetheless. Perched on a ledge, half-hidden behind a glass jar of mixed, dried herby aromas, nibbling a small nuglet of cheese, peppered with some veins of blue, she felt happy and content. She was surrounded by huge, silver jaws of food, which the Two-Legs seemed to control by tearing their heads off and shoving them back on again with a metallic clash. The Two-Legs were very brave, she considered, watching as they wrestled with wooden sticks with flat ends. Sometimes, when they fought the silver creatures, the creature would spit a glob of boiling liquid and the Two-Leg would yell in their strange, vibrating voice.
Yes, they got hurt a lot, the rat noticed, and they also complained a lot. When she got hurt, she couldn't complain - there was no one to complain to.
Scrambling out from her hubblyhole, the little rat did not see the approaching figure before it was too late. A massive glass jar was thrown over her scrawny body and a laminated piece of paper shoved beneath her feet; and as she was lifted up for the world to see, the little grey rat realised that maybe these Two-Legs weren't as brave, courageous and kind as she'd first thought them to be.
{Continue?}
