The Rogue Hamster

“Now in the basement of the Brube's household, he stood in front of a container of rat poison, but his illiteracy prevented him from reading its label. He had snuck under the door to the stairs and, laboriously, made his way down them. Now, he regretted the decision. Too late he realized it was impossible for him to climb back up those stairs. A small shuffle caught his attention, causing a knee jerk reaction; his hair stood on end, his eyes widened and his back arched. He held his breath to an inaudible level. A dark figure emerged from the shadows. "Meh yohto cann duro." The strange noises confounded Spyke, but he only froze. There was nowhere to run. The creature emitted a sound similar to the one Billy made when he was amused. It stood on its hind legs and waved its arms in a circular motion. Purple energies streamed around them, then darted toward Spyke. When they hit him, he felt nothing. Nothing other than understanding. "I know who you are." "You wha-? I-? What's happening?" Spyke yelled. "You knew how to communicate before, Spyke, when you lived in the humans' 'Pet Store'. Please, control your volume. You're making a fool of yourself." This time when he spoke, Spyke used less force, which produced a softer, mellower sound. "I'd forgotten. It was so long ago. How did you-?" "Remind you? Some call it magic." The stranger took a moment to study Spyke. "I was just a child when you'd been brought here. I remember when the scouts returned with news of a new Rodent in the house. Oh, where are my manners? I am Tenner Anno, but you can call me Bones. It's just easier that way." "Ok?" replied Spyke. "It always amuses me when a loner is brought into a social situation," Bones said. "They never know what to say, how to say it, or even when to say it. They also don't know whom to fear." "Should I fear you?" asked Spyke. "Intelligent. That'll get you far. If you couldn't tell, we're the local gang," said Bones with a sickeningly menacing grin on his face. "'We're'"? "Oh, yes. Boys!" As Bones yelled, six more rats stepped out and lined up behind him. "I'm going to level with you, Spyke. We really don't like you." As Bones said this, two of the larger rats each took a small step forward. As they did this, Spyke shuffled backward. "Did I do something? How can you dislike someone you don't even know?" "Oh, yes," replied Bones with a chuckle. His was echoed by snickers from his gang. "Yes, you've done something. You took all the best food." By this point, the entire crowd was creeping toward Spyke, who was creeping further back. He was running out of room to retreat on account of the basement wall behind him. While looking back, he noticed a pile of clean clothes. He wasn't sure what they were used for, but he remembered seeing Billy's mom bring them up to his room before. Just at that moment, the door at the top of the stairs opened and a humongous figure began to descend, carrying a similar container which blocked her view of the unfolding scene below. Silently, the crowd dispersed into the shadows, and Spyke dove through one of the many decorative holes in the laundry container and hid. Mrs. Brube began to do the wash, and as she did so, the menacing face of Bones, a toothy grin on his ugly mug, appeared from the shadows again. This time he spoke in a whisper. "You got lucky, punk. I know what you're planning. You want to get outside. I got a lot of friends out there. And they'll be looking for you. Watch your back." When his piece had been spoken, he disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. Mrs. Brube completed her work and grabbed the container in which Spyke was hiding and climbed the stairs. As she passed the kitchen table, Mr. Brube called her. In response, she gently placed the container down and left the room. Spyke slipped out the hole, scampered across the table to the windowsill, and took up a new hiding place behind a plant pot. Just as Spyke began wondering if she was ever going to return, she did just that, grabbing the container and continuing on. This left him alone in the room. He studied the mesh screen that now separated him from his freedom. Out of instinct, he did what he did best, gnaw. He gnawed tirelessly until he had chewed a hole in the screen large enough to squeeze through. He began to go out the window, then looked down. It was a very long fall. Fortunately, there was a small plot of dirt. Holding his breath, he jumped. He landed with a thud that forced all of his breath from his body. Slightly dazed, he looked around. He was free.”