Writing for English Class: Short Story
Rascal The Mouse
Beneath the floorboards Rascal listens for the creatures above moving about. Their steps sound like the tromping of clumsy beasts. It had been a week since Rascal had eaten much more than scraps saved from his earlier runs into their domain. He looks down at his tail, now much shorter cut in half from running across a trap. Rascal shakes his head at the carelessness of it. The creatures put the trap before his tunnel in, he had snuck across the trap a dozen times before, but this time his tail twitched and triggered the lever. When the trap sprung Rascal was lucky it only got his tail. He had thrown his pack into the tunnel before and was already far enough along that it didnt get his head or leg. Thats how his Uncle William went back when he was a kid.
Rascal heard the creatures move away from the domain above and into one of their other lairs and then he heard the grand thud, the sign that it was safe. Rascal starts moving through his tunnels leading into the creatures domain. As he moves through his tunnels Rascal picks up his pack and his walking stick. When the little mouse comes to his opening into the creatures domain he sees that the trap before his tunnel is back again. He looks over the spot of crimson on the plank that marks where his tail was caught. The little mouse shivers at the thought of his lost member. Rascal steps out onto the trap slowly each step he takes is well placed and planned. The second Rascal is across he runs to the cupboard and squeezes through a crack in the wall. Within Rascal sees his bounty, the creatures grain bag, their root basket and several herbs hanging above.
The little mouse fills his bag with a variety of food stuffs as well as stuffing a few kernels into his mouth. He sniffs around finding a new scent in the cupboard. Rascal starts climbing the shelves moving around over the other grain sacks and boxes in the cupboard. Rascal finds the new scent, some dried beans inside. They have a smoky rich smell. Rascal bit into one of the dark dried beans and chewed the bitter smoky fruit. For a moment it seemed as though there was nothing appealing about the new food, but as Rascal started climbing down he felt his heart pumping harder, his blood pumping faster and his nerves on edge. The little mouse found the floor of the cupboard his feet moving in a jerky twitchy fashion. When he crawled out from the crack with his back his eyes were wide and his ears were twitching about here and there rapidly. As he skittered across the floor toward his tunnel Rascal could feel his feet moving faster than he meant to move, he was jittery, jumpy. Half skipping he came to the trap, the plank of wood before his tunnel. The mouse hurled his pack into the opening right over the trap and then began across himself. His heart was racing as he took each step, with trembling legs and twitching toes. Sweat began down his brow as he crept. This time Rascal walked with his tail in his hand as me moved across but he could feel it twitching this way and that in his grasp.
When he finally comes to his tunnel Rascal jumps inside landing beside his pack. His stores would be fine for sometime with this bounty he thought and looked back at the trap. A smile came to the little mouses lips as he took his walking stick in hand and walked back to the opening. With a quick swipe Rascal whacked the trigger bringing the trap to a close with a resounding snap! The mouse quickly race over the now impotent killing device and snatched the treat that baited it with a smile, hearing from the lair of the creatures sounds like we got the mouse. Rascal smiled wide popping the cheese into his mouth and heading home with his refreshed supplies.
The little mouse heads down the tunnels back to his home, a small nook tunnel that ran under the creatures domain. Inside his home Rascal carefully stored his newly gained supplies in his stores, small holes within his homes walls. With equal care Rascal placed his little brown pack in its storage area of the room. After set himself upon his bed and took inventory of his home, making sure that none of his neighbors had come while he was away. The little mouse saw that his wardrobe was in order as were all of his little suits of clothes, from his tunneling and work clothes to his fancy dress suit. He then moved on to his bed, a simple thing, it was a huge piece of cloth that was synched together to form a tube that closed off, mostly, at the end. Rascal had folded the cloth, with great effort, across itself leaving the synched end rolled tighter for a pillow and the open end as a blanket, a point that Rascal felt very proud of. His bed was far warmer and more comfortable than the nests of shredded paper and rubbish he sometimes saw his neighbors using. After this Rascal continued his inventory, his glimmering trinkets all there some in niches placed carefully for decoration and some hidden under his bed, such as the one that makes the beating with the long chain of sparkling metal. Rascal had taken the chain and wrapped it around his bed, keeping it fluffed up and keeping a break between the bed and the floor. With his possessions all in order and his stores now replenished and put away Rascal now headed out for the rest of his weekly agenda.
First on the list for Rascal was checking the wildlands outside the creatures domain. There was often something left there by the creatures in passing worth mentioning, such as the beating thing. With that in mind Rascal took up his walking stick and headed out through his tunnels to the opening that lead to the wildlands. The grass was tall at this point in the week. Just before the huge creatures would harvest it and store it away. Rascal looked over the vegetation in the moonlight and smiled. This was a peaceful time as long as you knew what to be careful of. The first and foremost thing is the white winged beast that watches from the tree. Rascal saw the demon sitting up there its head moved and rotated in unnatural ways. At one point the mouse had seen it move completely around its body tracking a rabbit that hadnt been paying attention, as Rascal has learned to do, and after being satisfied by the rabbits complacence the demon struck down and took the poor thing into the air kicking and screaming, into the black that is beyond. Rascal always keeps a sharp eye on the demon. But there are other creatures throughout the wildlands that Rascal is equally aware of, second would be the prowling devil that the creatures in the domain above board. Rascal has seen them stroke the devil can speak to it in calm sweet tones, though the little mouse saw almost no reason for this. The creature pays them little mind and has even bit and scratched them at times. Rascal could see no reason to board the creature accept as a ward against his theft from their larders. Rascal has learned that the devil freely moves from the domain of the creatures to the wilds without care and hunts at night in either area. This makes tracking it so much more dangerous.
Rascal moved through the vegetation slowly and carefully. Being sure to watch the demon and keep an eye out for the devil. The little mouse traveled the wilds looking for trinkets, foods and anything else that may catch his interest. He collected sever insects traveling the plants unawares, as well as two small mushrooms, some berries and some thin bone discs with holes in them, the little mouse thought these would be perfect for a few things, plates maybe or some sort of plaything, but if nothing else he maybe able to utilize them for trade with his neighbors. Pleased with his findings Rascal moves to head back to his home when he realizes that the winged demon has moved from its perch.
The little mouse tenses up and looks around the sky above him. He catches a glimpse of the demon moving through the air gliding about here and there its eyes fixed on something near Rascal. The mouse knew what that meant. The demon would fall from the sky and pounce upon its victim consuming it when it reaches the black. The little mouse was not sure that the demon was focused on him or if there was something else that may have caught its glance. Knowing that if he darts now he will catch the demons gaze he crouches down and looks for cover. One the ground just a few feet from him Rascal catches sight of a large item left by the creature in the domain. It had a natural round opening as well as a nice tunnel in which Rascal could take cover. The little mouse moved as silently and quickly as he dared toward the object in the plants keeping his eye on the demon above.
Just as he came to the object he saw the demon fall from the air and tear across the expanse toward him. Rascal dove for the object and as he came to the opening he sees the demons true target, a small gopher also dashing toward the same cover. Rascal lands hard in the item the floor was covered in slime but was hard just beneath it. Rascal looked out the opening and saw the gopher diving at the can as well, but not to the same result as Rascal. The gophers tiny hands reached out and Rascal reached out to grab them, but as the gophers body was in midflight to safety the demon snatched it up from the air and with a burst of air that turned Rascals safety over again and again the demon took back to the air and vanished into the black.
The little mouse felt a knot in his throat, his heart was beating as if it wanted to leap from his chest and continue running for safety on its own. Rascal sat in the safety of the object for many minutes and rested just waiting for his heart to calm and when it finally did the little mouse took several slow deep breathes in order to keep a measure of calm to continue if trek back home in safety with his full wits about it. Rascal gathered himself up and checked his pack. A few of the insects inside had been killed in the ruckus and he promptly consumed them, not wishing for them to go to waste, then he slowly reentered the wilds and made for the path that would lead him home.
Rascal has witnessed the demon claim souls before but never at that close a distance. It was a moment of awe and horror to see something so much like him being torn up from the ground and carried off, no hope of survival, into the air by the demon. The creature is now back at this perch upon the tree, obviously its hunger was not sated by the soul of the gopher. What could sate the appetite of a demon? Rascal pondered this for a few moments, even tried to remember if the demon had returned when it took the rabbit all that long ago. Rascal kept a much closer eye on the creature sat upon the tree until he got back to the niche that would lead him into the lands under the creatures domain. Once back in the cool dank lands under the creatures domain Rascal allowed his guard to drop slightly. Here there were very few predators, the devil that the creatures board has been down here once or twice in his life but the chances are so rare that Rascal doesnt often think of it here. No, here the danger was his neighbors or possibly the serpent.
Rascals neighbors, a small family of moles, werent much of a threat to him, at least at a distance. They could barely see at all and if he wanted he could easily outrun them. But if they surprise him in numbers they have been known to bully him for his supplies, pack, clothes or when they find his home, they steal from him. As long as Rascal kept an eye out for them he could either avoid them or keep their meeting in his terms. The moles often found interesting trinkets or will have some of the tastiest grubs from the tunneling. But will trade many of them for small morsels of the creatures foods that Rascal steals, as the moles havent the talent to be thieves like Rascal. So as far as threats are concerned the only major one here to worry about is the serpent, a huge long leathery creature with no legs and a darting tongue that tastes the air.
Rascal had seen the serpent several times. Its den is on the opposite side of the underground land that is beneath the creatures domain. The serpent sleeps for long periods of the year, sometimes through whole seasons. But when it awakens the first thing it does is look for food. Rascal doesnt fear this creatures appetite nor does he think that the creature would come into his home to feast on him. No the serpent is in the middle of its long sleep and the last time it had awoken it seemed to favor the prey of rabbit over the likes of a mouse. Rascal walked back into his home, now back in safety. No. Rascal was big enough to do anything but small enough to be overlooked. The little mouse thought as stored his things, undressed and laid into his bed.
Rascal The Mouse
Beneath the floorboards Rascal listens for the creatures above moving about. Their steps sound like the tromping of clumsy beasts. It had been a week since Rascal had eaten much more than scraps saved from his earlier runs into their domain. He looks down at his tail, now much shorter cut in half from running across a trap. Rascal shakes his head at the carelessness of it. The creatures put the trap before his tunnel in, he had snuck across the trap a dozen times before, but this time his tail twitched and triggered the lever. When the trap sprung Rascal was lucky it only got his tail. He had thrown his pack into the tunnel before and was already far enough along that it didnt get his head or leg. Thats how his Uncle William went back when he was a kid.
Rascal heard the creatures move away from the domain above and into one of their other lairs and then he heard the grand thud, the sign that it was safe. Rascal starts moving through his tunnels leading into the creatures domain. As he moves through his tunnels Rascal picks up his pack and his walking stick. When the little mouse comes to his opening into the creatures domain he sees that the trap before his tunnel is back again. He looks over the spot of crimson on the plank that marks where his tail was caught. The little mouse shivers at the thought of his lost member. Rascal steps out onto the trap slowly each step he takes is well placed and planned. The second Rascal is across he runs to the cupboard and squeezes through a crack in the wall. Within Rascal sees his bounty, the creatures grain bag, their root basket and several herbs hanging above.
The little mouse fills his bag with a variety of food stuffs as well as stuffing a few kernels into his mouth. He sniffs around finding a new scent in the cupboard. Rascal starts climbing the shelves moving around over the other grain sacks and boxes in the cupboard. Rascal finds the new scent, some dried beans inside. They have a smoky rich smell. Rascal bit into one of the dark dried beans and chewed the bitter smoky fruit. For a moment it seemed as though there was nothing appealing about the new food, but as Rascal started climbing down he felt his heart pumping harder, his blood pumping faster and his nerves on edge. The little mouse found the floor of the cupboard his feet moving in a jerky twitchy fashion. When he crawled out from the crack with his back his eyes were wide and his ears were twitching about here and there rapidly. As he skittered across the floor toward his tunnel Rascal could feel his feet moving faster than he meant to move, he was jittery, jumpy. Half skipping he came to the trap, the plank of wood before his tunnel. The mouse hurled his pack into the opening right over the trap and then began across himself. His heart was racing as he took each step, with trembling legs and twitching toes. Sweat began down his brow as he crept. This time Rascal walked with his tail in his hand as me moved across but he could feel it twitching this way and that in his grasp.
When he finally comes to his tunnel Rascal jumps inside landing beside his pack. His stores would be fine for sometime with this bounty he thought and looked back at the trap. A smile came to the little mouses lips as he took his walking stick in hand and walked back to the opening. With a quick swipe Rascal whacked the trigger bringing the trap to a close with a resounding snap! The mouse quickly race over the now impotent killing device and snatched the treat that baited it with a smile, hearing from the lair of the creatures sounds like we got the mouse. Rascal smiled wide popping the cheese into his mouth and heading home with his refreshed supplies.
The little mouse heads down the tunnels back to his home, a small nook tunnel that ran under the creatures domain. Inside his home Rascal carefully stored his newly gained supplies in his stores, small holes within his homes walls. With equal care Rascal placed his little brown pack in its storage area of the room. After set himself upon his bed and took inventory of his home, making sure that none of his neighbors had come while he was away. The little mouse saw that his wardrobe was in order as were all of his little suits of clothes, from his tunneling and work clothes to his fancy dress suit. He then moved on to his bed, a simple thing, it was a huge piece of cloth that was synched together to form a tube that closed off, mostly, at the end. Rascal had folded the cloth, with great effort, across itself leaving the synched end rolled tighter for a pillow and the open end as a blanket, a point that Rascal felt very proud of. His bed was far warmer and more comfortable than the nests of shredded paper and rubbish he sometimes saw his neighbors using. After this Rascal continued his inventory, his glimmering trinkets all there some in niches placed carefully for decoration and some hidden under his bed, such as the one that makes the beating with the long chain of sparkling metal. Rascal had taken the chain and wrapped it around his bed, keeping it fluffed up and keeping a break between the bed and the floor. With his possessions all in order and his stores now replenished and put away Rascal now headed out for the rest of his weekly agenda.
First on the list for Rascal was checking the wildlands outside the creatures domain. There was often something left there by the creatures in passing worth mentioning, such as the beating thing. With that in mind Rascal took up his walking stick and headed out through his tunnels to the opening that lead to the wildlands. The grass was tall at this point in the week. Just before the huge creatures would harvest it and store it away. Rascal looked over the vegetation in the moonlight and smiled. This was a peaceful time as long as you knew what to be careful of. The first and foremost thing is the white winged beast that watches from the tree. Rascal saw the demon sitting up there its head moved and rotated in unnatural ways. At one point the mouse had seen it move completely around its body tracking a rabbit that hadnt been paying attention, as Rascal has learned to do, and after being satisfied by the rabbits complacence the demon struck down and took the poor thing into the air kicking and screaming, into the black that is beyond. Rascal always keeps a sharp eye on the demon. But there are other creatures throughout the wildlands that Rascal is equally aware of, second would be the prowling devil that the creatures in the domain above board. Rascal has seen them stroke the devil can speak to it in calm sweet tones, though the little mouse saw almost no reason for this. The creature pays them little mind and has even bit and scratched them at times. Rascal could see no reason to board the creature accept as a ward against his theft from their larders. Rascal has learned that the devil freely moves from the domain of the creatures to the wilds without care and hunts at night in either area. This makes tracking it so much more dangerous.
Rascal moved through the vegetation slowly and carefully. Being sure to watch the demon and keep an eye out for the devil. The little mouse traveled the wilds looking for trinkets, foods and anything else that may catch his interest. He collected sever insects traveling the plants unawares, as well as two small mushrooms, some berries and some thin bone discs with holes in them, the little mouse thought these would be perfect for a few things, plates maybe or some sort of plaything, but if nothing else he maybe able to utilize them for trade with his neighbors. Pleased with his findings Rascal moves to head back to his home when he realizes that the winged demon has moved from its perch.
The little mouse tenses up and looks around the sky above him. He catches a glimpse of the demon moving through the air gliding about here and there its eyes fixed on something near Rascal. The mouse knew what that meant. The demon would fall from the sky and pounce upon its victim consuming it when it reaches the black. The little mouse was not sure that the demon was focused on him or if there was something else that may have caught its glance. Knowing that if he darts now he will catch the demons gaze he crouches down and looks for cover. One the ground just a few feet from him Rascal catches sight of a large item left by the creature in the domain. It had a natural round opening as well as a nice tunnel in which Rascal could take cover. The little mouse moved as silently and quickly as he dared toward the object in the plants keeping his eye on the demon above.
Just as he came to the object he saw the demon fall from the air and tear across the expanse toward him. Rascal dove for the object and as he came to the opening he sees the demons true target, a small gopher also dashing toward the same cover. Rascal lands hard in the item the floor was covered in slime but was hard just beneath it. Rascal looked out the opening and saw the gopher diving at the can as well, but not to the same result as Rascal. The gophers tiny hands reached out and Rascal reached out to grab them, but as the gophers body was in midflight to safety the demon snatched it up from the air and with a burst of air that turned Rascals safety over again and again the demon took back to the air and vanished into the black.
The little mouse felt a knot in his throat, his heart was beating as if it wanted to leap from his chest and continue running for safety on its own. Rascal sat in the safety of the object for many minutes and rested just waiting for his heart to calm and when it finally did the little mouse took several slow deep breathes in order to keep a measure of calm to continue if trek back home in safety with his full wits about it. Rascal gathered himself up and checked his pack. A few of the insects inside had been killed in the ruckus and he promptly consumed them, not wishing for them to go to waste, then he slowly reentered the wilds and made for the path that would lead him home.
Rascal has witnessed the demon claim souls before but never at that close a distance. It was a moment of awe and horror to see something so much like him being torn up from the ground and carried off, no hope of survival, into the air by the demon. The creature is now back at this perch upon the tree, obviously its hunger was not sated by the soul of the gopher. What could sate the appetite of a demon? Rascal pondered this for a few moments, even tried to remember if the demon had returned when it took the rabbit all that long ago. Rascal kept a much closer eye on the creature sat upon the tree until he got back to the niche that would lead him into the lands under the creatures domain. Once back in the cool dank lands under the creatures domain Rascal allowed his guard to drop slightly. Here there were very few predators, the devil that the creatures board has been down here once or twice in his life but the chances are so rare that Rascal doesnt often think of it here. No, here the danger was his neighbors or possibly the serpent.
Rascals neighbors, a small family of moles, werent much of a threat to him, at least at a distance. They could barely see at all and if he wanted he could easily outrun them. But if they surprise him in numbers they have been known to bully him for his supplies, pack, clothes or when they find his home, they steal from him. As long as Rascal kept an eye out for them he could either avoid them or keep their meeting in his terms. The moles often found interesting trinkets or will have some of the tastiest grubs from the tunneling. But will trade many of them for small morsels of the creatures foods that Rascal steals, as the moles havent the talent to be thieves like Rascal. So as far as threats are concerned the only major one here to worry about is the serpent, a huge long leathery creature with no legs and a darting tongue that tastes the air.
Rascal had seen the serpent several times. Its den is on the opposite side of the underground land that is beneath the creatures domain. The serpent sleeps for long periods of the year, sometimes through whole seasons. But when it awakens the first thing it does is look for food. Rascal doesnt fear this creatures appetite nor does he think that the creature would come into his home to feast on him. No the serpent is in the middle of its long sleep and the last time it had awoken it seemed to favor the prey of rabbit over the likes of a mouse. Rascal walked back into his home, now back in safety. No. Rascal was big enough to do anything but small enough to be overlooked. The little mouse thought as stored his things, undressed and laid into his bed.