Party Invitation

Watching closely at each other as they tried to gauge what the other one was thinking. Nico was thinking about how he can kill the rat if things started to look bad, while the rat was thinking about how he can fulfill what he came here for in the fastest way.

"Okay, fine! I will give you ten seconds to speak. And don't you dare move from where you are."

"Ha? That's waaaaay too short! Make it ten minutes," the rat demanded.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Hey!"

"Three…"

"Four…"

"Fi—"

"Aaaah! Fine! I came here to give you an invitation," he finally said. And Nico couldn't be any more dumbfounded when he heard that.

"A rat? Excuse me, but a rat? Giving ME an invitation?"

"Yes! Yes! Exactly! A party invi—"

"No, thank you." he flatly rejected.

"Wait! Wait! How can you decide so quick? Did you even think about it? C'mon! Hear me out first."

"No, that's enough. Your ten seconds are up. And I don't wanna hear any of this invitation of yours. I'm not interested. So if you'd be kind enough to leave, then please." Nico was firm with his decision that there was no point in even changing his mind. And the rat realized that too! "Also, don't come back. And oh! Don't you dare send me a battalion of sewage rats. My older sister hates them and you don't wanna anger her. Believe me when I say that."

And he was not even joking. They can be considered close as siblings. In fact, very close. But his older sister, Monica can be very scary in his eyes when she's angry. And he learned that the hard way. He even tattooed a reminder inside his heart that his older sister is a kind and loving sister until you anger her.

Hearing what Nico just said, the rat was rendered speechless. He could hardly believe his ears. But at this point, he knew that there was nothing he could do to change the boy's mind. For now at least. And he has no plans of backing out.

"I see," he finally said after a few seconds of silence. "Okay, I won't bother you anymore for tonight but I'd like to take back my coin. I didn't have plans of chasing you 'till here had you given me my coin back in the first place," he added. But that's not true at all. Because in fact, he deliberately rolled the coin by Nico's feet. His so-called assistant told him that if he did that, the boy will surely pick it up. And he was supposed to use that chance to speak to him, but that was when things went the unexpected way. Because the boy ran away in fright.

Clutching the coin inside his pocket, Nico was hesitant about giving it back. It's a gold coin and he badly needed that if he wanted to go to school next year. That's the one thing he has always wanted. To go to school. But school was too expensive for his family. That's why he was saving up.

Although it pains him to let the coin go, he knew that it wasn't his in the first place. And he thought that he wouldn't like it either if somebody else took his things and did not return them. And so, with a heavy heart, he gave the coin back.

"Thank you, young child. I'll see you again in a few days," the rat said before disappearing into the small window. And Nico was left there staring without moving, still regretful about the coin.

'It's okay, Nico. It's okay. Just work hard at the shop,' he comforted himself.

He stayed there until he finally heard a series of knocks. 'It's probably them!' he thought.

He ran to the front door, but before opening it, he first peeked at the small hole near the doorknob. His mother repeatedly reminded him not to open the door immediately just because he heard someone knocking. He should always check through the hole.

And when he saw that it was indeed his family, he finally opened it.

"Hello there, sweety! How are you?" His mother, Leonora asked him as she pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the cheeks.

"I'm doing great, mother. I helped paint a lot of toys in the shop."

"Is that so? Good for you then."

"Nico, my son! Give father a hug too," his father, Theodore said. He was a bulky man and quite tall as well. He was pretty intimidating. A lot of kids are scared of him. Especially whenever they saw his large hairy arms. It was all because of the famous kids' story called "The Lurking Giant". It's about a giant that was described as hairy as a monkey. It would roam around aimlessly in every nook and cranny every single night to look for naughty kids to teach them a lesson. Parents always use that to scare their kids from going out at night.

"Are we just gonna stay here all night? I'm starving, you know?" It was his older sister, Monica. She looked like a carbon copy of their father. Quite tall and large for a woman, but not fat nor hairy. She's very strong. She could easily lift a sack of potatoes on her shoulders. She's actually gotten stronger due to all the hard work she's been doing ever since she was a child.

"Hello, Monica. How's work?" Nico asked.

"You're really askin' me that? It's potatoes everywhere! I'm even starting to see you as a potato and might bite you if we didn't have dinner now," she said as she threw a cheap candy at him. "Eat that after dinner," she added before getting inside.

"Thank you, Monica."

"C'mon! Let's get in. We still have a lot things to do for tomorrow." His mother urged.

It was bread, and more bread for dinner and an ale. And the family of four was peacefully having their fill until Nico dropped a question that made them look weirdly at him.

"Mother, father. You too, sister Monica. Have you ever spoken to a rat before?"