A Rat and Another Rat

There was nothing else.

No family, no people. No life. Just endless starry space. Nothing but silence, emptiness. And one lone rat, with eyes filled with fear. The only thing he could hear was the faint sound of his own breathing. He was so scared. So terrified. His tiny, frail body was trembling as he hid beneath an old pile of garbage cans.

"What am I gonna do? They'll find me. They'll kill me!" He cried. He had no other options. If he didn't hide, he would be found. He couldn't stay here.

He looked around and noticed there was some sort of metal container near him. It was a giant compared to himself. But it did look pretty comfortable. He slowly crawled over to the container. The lid had been left open.

He took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the edge of the lid, pulling it up and away from the container. As soon as the lid was out of the way, the rats climbed inside. The inside of the container was surprisingly spacious for such a small creature. The top was completely covered by a thin layer of plastic. In fact, he doubted anyone had ever gone inside this trash can before. At least not willingly.

His tail twitched as he tried to ignore the smell coming off the outside. It smelled like rotting fish and rotten meat. He tried desperately not to throw up. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but that wasn' happening now. His eyes wandered through the darkness. This trash can probably wasn't going to last much longer. Maybe it'd get destroyed by the next storm or something. That'd be good. He didn't want to spend another moment in the garbage bin.

As if on cue, he heard the distant sound of thunder. It was getting louder. He didn't know what it meant. Was he going to be saved? Or would he die? Would they even bother looking for him? He hoped so. He had nowhere else to go.

Suddenly, he froze. A figure moved towards him! Someone was here! Oh no. Did they find him?! Please don't let them see him! He pressed back against the wall of the garbage can. If he was caught, he'd be sent back to space. He'd never see Earth again. Never see his family again.

The figure came closer, and closer, the small rat felt his tiny heart beat even faster than ever as he silently prayed.

"Boo." The figure squeaked back bluntly.

Tha small rat looked up to his suprise, a bigger rat. He was standing right in front of him.

"Hi." The smaller rat said timidly. He was still hiding under the garbage can. He glanced at the larger rat. "Who are you?" He asked quietly.

"My name is Freddy." The big rat replied, crouching down beside the smaller one. "You're not supposed to be in here." He explained.

Freddy. That's a pretty name. A bit silly though.

"What's that stare for, runt?" Freddy laughed.

"I'm not a runt." The smaller one mumbled.

Freddy raised his eyebrows. "Okay. What's your name then?"

He thought for a moment. What was his name?

He didn't remember having one?

"Umm... I don't know. I've never had one." He replied sheepishly.

Freddy nodded, understanding completely. "Well, welcome to the world of the living, runt."

"Thank you..." He whispered.

"You got nothing to thank." Freddy chuckled.

The smaller rat smiled shyly. Freddy could tell by how small his face was compared to his.

"Hey... you hungry? I could get someone to get it for you," Freddy suddenly spoke.

The smaller rat shook his head.

Freddy frowned. "Come on, you gotta eat!"

Another shake of the head.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Freddy huffed.

"Because I'm afraid. Humans aren't nice to animals." He said softly.

"Humans? Who said humans live here?" Freddy questioned.

"They do. My mom and dad told me so!"

Freddy frowned. "But why don't they come rescue you?"

The little rat paused, wanting to question the same thing. But a silent voice gave him a reminder why, exactly, those humans were scary.

"They're dead." He finally answered.

Freddy was silent.

"I'm sorry." He said simply.

The shorter rat shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He muttered.

Freddy sighed, standing up.

"Where are you going?" The small rat asked curiously.

"To find food. You hungry yet?" Freddy asked.

"Not really..."

Freddy rolled his eyes. "How long have you been stuck in here anyway?"

The smaller rat glanced down. He had no idea.

"We need to find you someplace safe to hide until we can figure out how to get outta this weird place." Freddy added.

The smaller rat shook his head. "I think I'll be okay in the dumpster."

Freddy snorted. "Dumpsters? You're kidding, right? There things bigger than you who'll swallow a runt in one gulp."

He pointed out.

The smaller rat gulped. "Oh..." He mumbled. "Um... well, what am I supposed to do now?"

"That's easy. You should come with me." Freddy stated.

The small rat hesitated, glancing around nervously. "Are you sure?" He asked timidly.

"Do you wanna get eaten alive?" Freddy teased.

The smaller rat shuddered slightly.

"If you go with me, I promise I won't hurt ya." Freddy assured.

The small rat stared at him for a few moments. Then, slowly, he nodded.

Freddy grinned. "Good. Come on. Follow me." He commanded.

He started walking away, leaving the smaller rat in the dumpster behind him.

The small rat sat there for a few moments. He stared at his empty hands.

Then, slowly, he started crawling after him.

***

After walking for a while, they reached a big building. The door was propped open.

Freddy turned around to face the smaller rat. "Alright, runt. Stay here. I'll try my best to not get killed before I get back." He said, gesturing for the smaller rat to crawl into the doorway.

The smaller rat hesitated for a second. "You'r not gonna leave me?" He finally asked.

Freddy rolled his eyes. "Of course not!" He snapped. "Now stay! Before I change my mind and leave you here!".

The smaller rat jumped into the doorway, making sure to keep the door closed.

"Uh, what if I see something weird? Or scary? Or-"

Freddy interrupted him quickly. "Just call out my name If ya see anything spooky, but stay there and try not to pest around."

He turned and walked off, disappearing around a corner.

The little rat stayed quiet. Eventually, he began to feel tired. His body was exhausted.

And his brain was tired. He decided to rest just for a minute. After all, he couldn't stay awake forever, could he?