The Frame: Part 1
Well...I was in the middle of editing/revising my story until my laptop decided to crap out on me...thus losing everything I changed. Luckily, I have the original copy...so here is the 1st page of the story. It sucks, but whatever.
The old woman had been tempting us all day by leaving those rodents in the box. She kept us well fed, we had a nice bowl of food with a fresh bowl of water everyday, but that was the problem. We had it everyday. It’s like that with all species. I’ve seen the old woman’s young child, how sick she gets from eating that mushy, discolored blob for sustenance and how her eyes widen and twinkle with glee when she was fed a piece of candy. In our eyes, the rats were our candy. Every so often, the old woman would catch a bunch of these vermin somewhere outside the confines of our shelter with a special trap that would snap the neck of our villains. I suppose that is one thing we have in common with the enemy, the rats can't resist eating the cheese as much as we can't resist consuming them. Her old age did not allow her to catch many rats as she did during her youth, so the very sight of the box with so many rodents was quite a delight for all of us.
Before I knew, the sun had disappeared and the night fell upon our old and decrepit sanctuary. I remember a few times during the day wandering by a closet that was located in the back corner of the main room. The old woman violently deterred us from being near the closet for reasons unclear at the time. The old woman had always been very protective of the secrets hidden in the closet, sometimes even killing a feline for peering into the closet. I suppose curiosity does kill the cat after all.
The rest of the day’s events were unclear, but what I do know is when the sun gives way to the moon, the old woman would fall asleep; and before she retired to her bedroom she would feed us. The other cats and I crowded around the box with eager anticipation for the feast that lay ahead of us. She spoke to us in her language, something she would do often as if we were able to understand her, but we didn’t. However, there was something different about the tone of her voice that evening. It seemed very soothing and calm, as if she was trying to relax us and put us at ease. Perhaps it was the chaos and excitement that ensued when she set the box down before us. All of us were clawing at the box, kicking and scratching each other with our feet and licking the outside of the box. Only a thin layer of clear plastic separated us from our meal. How delicious they looked! The mound of rats rose to about eye level, hundreds of them, freshly slaughtered, bloated from all the cheese they had so foolishly eaten earlier in the day. Never had I seen so many that were so big!
The old woman began to serve the vermin to us individually, each time she muttered something to us in her incomprehensible language. I was the last one to receive the meal, and she spoke to me for quite a while she gently stroked my back. I courteously listened, but the rat in front of me was taunting me, begging to be eaten. How much longer must I wait?!
Finally, the old woman went upstairs to pass the night. I took my meal to the top of the table. I gazed down at my entrée with almost a sadistic grin. The time had come! The moon was shining brighter than normal that night. It shined almost as bright as the sun that day, and it looked as big as the sun too. I stared outward over the edge of the table. I could see many of the cats enjoying their meal. I began to eat mine slowly. I meticulously made an incision down the chest of the rat with a claw I sharpened for the very occasion. The redness of the flesh began to appear. Oh what a sight! Tom would have loved to been in my position. So many years Tom spent chasing Jerry around for that satisfaction of tasting the meat of his enemy, but alas! It is me who was lucky enough to taste victory!
The old woman had been tempting us all day by leaving those rodents in the box. She kept us well fed, we had a nice bowl of food with a fresh bowl of water everyday, but that was the problem. We had it everyday. It’s like that with all species. I’ve seen the old woman’s young child, how sick she gets from eating that mushy, discolored blob for sustenance and how her eyes widen and twinkle with glee when she was fed a piece of candy. In our eyes, the rats were our candy. Every so often, the old woman would catch a bunch of these vermin somewhere outside the confines of our shelter with a special trap that would snap the neck of our villains. I suppose that is one thing we have in common with the enemy, the rats can't resist eating the cheese as much as we can't resist consuming them. Her old age did not allow her to catch many rats as she did during her youth, so the very sight of the box with so many rodents was quite a delight for all of us.
Before I knew, the sun had disappeared and the night fell upon our old and decrepit sanctuary. I remember a few times during the day wandering by a closet that was located in the back corner of the main room. The old woman violently deterred us from being near the closet for reasons unclear at the time. The old woman had always been very protective of the secrets hidden in the closet, sometimes even killing a feline for peering into the closet. I suppose curiosity does kill the cat after all.
The rest of the day’s events were unclear, but what I do know is when the sun gives way to the moon, the old woman would fall asleep; and before she retired to her bedroom she would feed us. The other cats and I crowded around the box with eager anticipation for the feast that lay ahead of us. She spoke to us in her language, something she would do often as if we were able to understand her, but we didn’t. However, there was something different about the tone of her voice that evening. It seemed very soothing and calm, as if she was trying to relax us and put us at ease. Perhaps it was the chaos and excitement that ensued when she set the box down before us. All of us were clawing at the box, kicking and scratching each other with our feet and licking the outside of the box. Only a thin layer of clear plastic separated us from our meal. How delicious they looked! The mound of rats rose to about eye level, hundreds of them, freshly slaughtered, bloated from all the cheese they had so foolishly eaten earlier in the day. Never had I seen so many that were so big!
The old woman began to serve the vermin to us individually, each time she muttered something to us in her incomprehensible language. I was the last one to receive the meal, and she spoke to me for quite a while she gently stroked my back. I courteously listened, but the rat in front of me was taunting me, begging to be eaten. How much longer must I wait?!
Finally, the old woman went upstairs to pass the night. I took my meal to the top of the table. I gazed down at my entrée with almost a sadistic grin. The time had come! The moon was shining brighter than normal that night. It shined almost as bright as the sun that day, and it looked as big as the sun too. I stared outward over the edge of the table. I could see many of the cats enjoying their meal. I began to eat mine slowly. I meticulously made an incision down the chest of the rat with a claw I sharpened for the very occasion. The redness of the flesh began to appear. Oh what a sight! Tom would have loved to been in my position. So many years Tom spent chasing Jerry around for that satisfaction of tasting the meat of his enemy, but alas! It is me who was lucky enough to taste victory!
posted by A. Nguyen at 2:52 AM
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