By Dante Cross

I had hoped that I could quickly travel through the small village of Colby to reach the port town of Gubbeen. However, mere minutes after arriving in the village of Colby, I take a tumble down a pipe and land in a rather unpleasant puddle. The stench soaks into my chestnut fur, and the thin gash I had recently received from a paper sword irritatingly stings. My own paper sword becomes quite soggy. I crawl out of the puddle and scurry to the central fountain to wash myself off the best I could. After climbing out and shaking off, I search for a paper-smith that can fold me a new sword.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of glass breaking above me. I look up just in time to see the silhouette of another mouse falling from a windowsill, upon which a rather nasty looking feline perched. I reach out to catch the mouse while dodging bits of shattered glass, but the other mouse crashes into me with such force that I fall to the ground. The other mouse rolls off of me onto the ground.  I turn my head to look at her, and looking back at me are the most beautiful pink eyes, accentuated by the most luscious cream fur I had ever seen. I quickly get up and dust myself off before reaching out a paw.

“Squeak?” I ask.

“Squeak,” she replies as she takes my paw and I help her up. “Squeak squeak squeak.”

“Squeak squeak.” I bow. 

“Squeak?” she asks.

“Squeak. Squeak?”

“Squeak.”

Ah, Julianna, what a beautiful name for a beautiful mouse. “Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak?” I ask.

“Squeak squeak squeak!” she says, pointing up. I look up at where she’s pointing just in time to see the looming feline jump down from the windowsill. I step in between Julianna and the beast.

“Meow meow, meow meow.” 

“Squeak squeak.” Preparing to fight the beast off, I reach for my sword. I whip it out, but my soggy sword falls flaccid in front of the feline. The cat grins. I turn to Julianna. “Squeak!” I yell, and we both scamper as fast as we can down the street. The beast is in hot pursuit. They are gaining on us fast. 

“Squeak,” Julianna says as she darts into a small hole in a wall. I follow, emerging into an abandoned building. The cat tries to follow as well, but all they do is get their head caught in the hole. We turn to look at them as they desperately try to get their head unstuck.

“Squehaha squehehe,” we both laugh. Then I get an unexpected kiss on the snout from Julianna, and I blush a little. I turn to look at her, dumbfounded.

“Squeak squeak squeak, squeak squeak, squeak?”

I nod. She smiles and scurries off. I look at the cat, still struggling to get out, and chuckle. It looks like I’m going to be staying in Colby for longer than expected.

*   *   *

Dante Cross is an aspiring author/narrative designer. He lives in the Dallas, Texas area with his cat, The Almighty Cat Overlord (aka Taco). He enjoys cooking and running D&D campaigns. His current ongoing project is a serial fantasy fiction titled “Darklight Memories.”