"I am a Mouse!"

“Come hither, Festus! Maurice, let’s rush,” the third mouse shrieked with a violent hush. The three young fellows had one thing to do, avoiding the cat was the first thing to see through.

An orange tabby, a bit flabby, rested quietly in bed, while the third mouse, Edmond, led his brothers to get fed. “Dear, Edmond,” scowled Festus, the runt of the bunch, “we’re mice! We can tiptoe, we can whisper, that little orange beast won’t hear much!” It was that exact moment that the kitten let go a slow purr. Its tail flicked out the side of the comforter and brushed up against Maurice’s fur. Maurice froze at once, refusing to believe this could be true, that now was the time a sneeze came to.

“ACHOO!”

To your ears and mine, we would not have heard much, but that orange kitten jumped and fell out of bed with a thud. Two large eyes, a shade of yellowish green held pupils that grew huge at impossible speeds. The brothers huddled together as the tabby came to, and greeted the young men, “Well, hello there. How do you do?” The men burst forth under the bed and reached the copper vent lying on the floor towards the bed's head. Before Maurice could squeeze his large thighs through the latch, they heard the cat once more, “Wait! Excuse me, Mr. Rats!”

Edmond crawled out of the vent and shoved Maurice out of the way, and walked out from under the bed to say, “I’ll beg your pardon, feline, but I am not a rat, I’m a Mouse! And so are my two brothers who live in this house. Furthermore, we lived here long before you. This used to be our room! Abandoned, and dusty, and quiet, how we liked, but now we must share it with someone who has all but a couple measly stripes!” The cat snatched Edmond and let out a laugh, “Ah, all mice are the same. Too proud to walk away when they become misnamed. It was pride that killed Themistocles of Athens, and it will be the same fate for you!” Edmond was dropped down the cat’s throat and a swallow was heard, while the other two brothers remained silent hoping they would not end up like the third. “Now,” the cat began to whisper as he peeked under the bed, “are you mice, or are you rats?” And both mice pled, “I, sir, am most certainly a rat!”

“A wise choice indeed,” the cat replied with a smile as the other two brothers, Festus and Maurice, went home in silenced denial.