Echo: 1 - Caged

The night was darker than usual as the moon turned black and was impossible to see. A small rat with multiple shades of brown fur splattered throughout her coat and a white stomach squinted into the shadows of the forest, listening for any sign of a large predator. She turned her ears, with small nicks in them, in every direction but heard nothing so she continued further into the forest searching for something. Her white tipped tail flopped behind her as she hopped from bush to bush, digging through the earth and occasionally eating a bug or sniffing the air.

The wind in the night carried a chill that told the brown speckled rat that winter was on its way. She quickened her pace and sprinted in various directions trying to find what she set out for, when suddenly she stops in mid sprint and stared off in the distance ahead of her. A huge white truck was parked on the side of a road a few feet from the bush that the rat was hiding under. She sat there and watched a plump human woman get out of the truck and stumble to the bed of the truck. The large woman grabbed a small wire cage from the bed and carried it, by a small handle on the top of the cage, over to the forest edge and tossed it in the trees. The female rat jumped when the cage hit the floor near the plant she hid under. It rolled to the side and she saw a large male rat tumble inside and squeak in pain as his tail was pinned through the cage wires and the cold dirt below him. Then the truck roared up and disappeared down the street in a hurry.

The male rat looked white but with a black head and black stripe down his spine, and there was something around his neck. The female rat hopped to the cage after listening and sniffing the air for danger and deciding it was safe. The rat was still pulling at his tail and squeaking when she got the cage, but she was so quiet that he didn’t notice her until she spoke.

“Be quite.” She whispered making him jump and turn around.

“Who’s there?” He said before he saw her blending into the shadows. “Who are you?”

“Shhhh! My name is Echo. I’m going to try and lift the cage to free your tail.” She said gripping the bars of the tiny rat carrier. “Ready?”

“Ya.” He said gripping his tail. Then Echo pushed as hard as she could and was able to push the cage fully over, making him fall to his side.

“Well that wasn’t as heavy as I thought.” Echo mumbled. “What’s your name anyways?”

“My name is Dewey.” He said. “Will you be able to get me out of here?”

Echo circled the carrier and saw that the only way out would be to chew through the bottom. “This may take a while…how fast can you chew through plastic?”

“There’s a faster way.” Dewey whispered. “If we push the bars on this side, then the door will open.” Dewey said gripping the bars. “I saw my person do it several times.”

Echo started to pull on the bars that Dewey showed her as he pushed from the inside. They felt the door start to pull back but not enough to pop open. Suddenly Echo stopped and perked her ears forward. She stared in the shadows behind Dewey and sniffed the air for several seconds. Dewey picked up on her fear and paused, waiting for her to say something.

“We need to hurry.” She said suddenly and gripped the cage door harder and started to pull. “Hurry!” She snapped when Dewey stared behind him, trying to see what she saw. He then turned and started to push harder than before and as he listened to her heart gain in speed he felt that the danger was getting closer. Then finally the cage door open and Dewey fell through, landing on Echo. She pushed him off and yelled, “Run!”

Dewey followed her to the bush and as soon as they got under the shelter, a large orange cat paw landed on the cage. The cat turned to look at the bush and pounced on the leaves of the plant, nearly squishing them.

“Can you keep up with me Dewey?” Echo whispered.

“I think so, why?”

“We are going to run to that tree.” She said pointing her nose to a large tree that stood further into the shadows of the forest. The cat continued to swipe at the leaves as they dodged and jumped in different directions.

“Now!” Echo sprinted to the tree, with Dewey right behind her. The cat followed and gained on them quickly. Dewey was falling behind and the cat’s large paws landed on him just before he could reach the tree. Echo was already starting up the trunk of the tree when she heard him scream. She turned and watched the cat paw at him playfully as he squeaked in pain and fear. Echo jumped down and landed on the cats face, biting its cheek as hard as she could. The cat shook her off and yowled in pain. Dewey followed Echo up the tree as the cat rubbed its cheek with the back of its paw, but it didn’t last long. By the time Echo and Dewey were near the first branch up, the cat jumped up and started to climb the tree, gaining in speed. Echo reached the second set of branches and saw a squirrel whole.

“Dewey, go there!” She yelled as she climbed to the whole in the bark. Dewey followed behind her with the cat right under his tail. The cat yowled in fury, this time if it caught a rat it would kill it for revenge rather than play with it. They reached the whole and dove in as the cat swiped its sharp claws, ripping at the bark of the tree. The whole was small enough that the cats face couldn’t go in, but the cat’s paw could fit just fine, so it stuck its arm in and swiped at the rats trying to drag them out. Dewey and Echo pressed themselves at the walls of the cage and bit at the cats paws every time it got close to them. Echo didn’t dodge in time and the cat sliced her right hind leg. The cat gave up and left with two bloody paws, leaving them in the whole afraid to leave. The cat’s cries of pain echoed through the night as it limped away into the darkness.

“Do…do you think we….we’re safe?”  Dewey asked a bit shaken.

“Yes, but we should stay until dawn. Cats sleep more in the daytime, so it will be more safe to travel back to the nest.” Echo said cleaning the blood off her leg. She then paused and looked at the strange object on Dewey, “What’s that thing around your neck?”

“It’s a collar. My person made it for me when I became fully grown.” He touched the brown collar and then sighed, “Until they tossed me out…”

“Why did they abandon you?” Echo asked half caring. She always thought pet rats were weak and too dependent for the wild. Wild rats call each other, “pets” as an insult.

“My person’s mother thought I was gross because I’m not a female rat. Though, I don’t know why…”

“I’m sorry Dewey, I’ve never been a person’s rat before, so I don’t know what it feels like when they leave you.” She said trying to not to sound sarcastic.

“It’s like your family.” He sighed, “It’s like your family putting you in a cage and tossing you out of their lives because they are ashamed of you.” He explained. Then he curled up against the wall and stared out into the darkness of the night with sad eyes and a broken heart. Echo remained silent and suddenly felt bad for asking. She then watched the stars in the sky as she lay down on the opposite side of the squirrel whole. She listened to the crickets chirp as she tried to imagine her own family tossing her out with disgust and shame.

Author's Note

I will need help with this story and its plot line. Please give me ideas to what should happen next and I will write your idea and credit you in the book. Thank you.