The mouse

!warnings, gore

She reached her hand towards one of those many flowers covering the field she stood in. It was a fragrant, light-yellow flower, with orange pollen, elegant white thin petals that gently opened to seek for the sun.

Picking a flower, the one's first action would be to smell it, it just so happened that she too - associated flowers with smell, and brought it up to her face, taking in the scent.

A scene came up to her mind.

The forests were disturbed by the abundant wind, their exuberant crowns shaking and whistling. The sky, ever so blue, the sun - hot. Several leaves were graciously falling down with the wind, but slowly, as if never reaching the ground, dancing in the air... And nearby - is a tiny stream, glistening in the sun, beckoning with coolness.

The scent, an opulent sensation of green-leaf, or the hissing of hot, wet summer lawns - a strangely intense and yet cool and floral, was the scent of the narcissus flower, described by many.

***

Once, three creatures and five arrows were presented to an enemy's sovereign.

That sovereign, standing on the border of nations was overjoyed because of it. "Those people give up!", he exclaimed to his soldiers, "They have come to truly understand my greatness!..."

Soldiers, though glancing with confusion, complied to their ruler's wisdom and cheered on.

"Three grant gifts were given to me."

He picked up creatures one by one.

"A toad means their waters are free for me to use and wander."

"A mouse - their soil and territory, all are mine!"

"A sparrow - that even the skies are now under my controll... Not even a bird would fly without me - knowing...!"

And so, the sovereign basked himself with the sights of overflowing power, only it arose merely in dreams of his.

***

She walked through the field towards a quite decent hut, holding a funny bouquet of flowers, mint and greenery. Entering, she saw a figure sitting on the floor in tears, sobbing.

"Oh my, what happened? Is everything alright?..."

Leaving the bouquet on the coffee table, she asked, crouching down.

"...S-sister...sob sob sob... I-I..."

"What is it, dear?.."

"...Our food is... it's...!!"

The smaller figure started crying more frantically. She reached out a hand to another's, reassuringly intertwining their fingers.

"....Sob, sister..."

She smiled towards the smaller figure. Expression ever so calm, warm eyes locking with those teary.

The figure calmed down a bit, enough to speak.

"...Our food supplies, those in the old stables, they were infested with mice!.. So..so many of them..." The figure sniveled.

She paused.

"How very unfortunate... truly..."

Seeing the smaller figure nervous and in distress, a hug from her soon followed.

"But we shouldn't be so down, hm, bunny...? Shh... Let's check how it is now, shall we? Were you scared? It's okay now...", - she murmured.

Shortly after - they approached the stables.

A muffled yet somewhat loud sound, a mix of scratching, rustling and gnawing was surely detectable through the door.

She twirled a key a few times, and as she pushed the handle - the door sharply opened all by itself. A few mice that seem to be previously pushing on the door just sneaked out to the wilderness. An odor of feces, mixed with amoniac that was so strong in the room now reached these too, both of them instinctively covered half of their face, including noses. A smaller figure jumped up after looking inside and hid behind her, trembling out of fear.

"...Sister, I saw less..."

She looked inside.

The closed stables were ones used for their true purpose, but as the family's financial situation became more difficult, horses were sold and the building lost its meaning.

Instead it was decided that the family would use it for other necessities, in our instance - they turned it into a food storage. All the stable's interior was still there, the only thing different was the food, neatly packed by the walls, creating a picture of a considerable order.

But at the current moment it was far from that.

Packages of rice, cereals, all sorts of foods, canned or in tins, were all over the floor, covered in a layer of mice. They were queaking, occasionally bitting into each other if one mouse would be impudent enough to look at someone else's food. It was a full mess. Blood was smudged under their little grabbers. Even though it didn't seem that mice have been here for long, but because the numbers of them were simply disturbing, they have already made such a mess.

There were hundreds of them in this so-called barn, their little bodies exceedingly overstimulated, jumping onto every piece of food in sight. Mice that were jumping onto each other - here and there were making such particular lumps, many of creatures in which could already be even called "little corpses".

SQEEEK

SQWIRSH

Swiiip...!

...

She, Margaret Angevin, was the first child in her family, graceful, fair and smart. Also she finished college with high regards even being a women, and could theoretically apply for a good higher education, her soul wandered somewhere far away from the bustling streets of the city, and she soon found herself back at the house she was raised in.

At the time she returned home, 5 years ago, the Angevin's were still considered quite wealthy, so she needn't to look for a job and could just live her life in full tranquility with nature, as she used to do, before being send off to studies.

She would draw. Sometimes it would be landscapes, more often just a variety of flowers.

As her dad said: "What else could a women even want to draw, if not some silly flowers and other pretty things...". He never took her works seriously, but she never intended for him to take her art seriously.

She really just liked to draw and look at pretty things.

It brought her esthetic happiness. She enjoyed looking at things pretty.

Perhaps it also was the reason she moved back to their family estate, there was an ever so vast field of narcissus flowers all around it.

Margaret imagined this house to be as if in the other universe. Blocked from all of the troubles - only beautiful flowers, stunning landscapes, picturesque forests and charming little streams of water adding to the picture.

But there was a second reason for Margaret to return home. There now was a tiny beam of light, outshining everyone with happiness, a little child, her new sibling she was so excited to finally meet and hold. At the time she returned, Madeline was already 2 years old.

"Madeline was a true miracle from heavens, that blessed my not so young parents with her birth. And I too felt blessed, as I finally had a sibling I always dreamed of. It brought our family even closer, we build so much memories together, living in dreams ", - was written in Margaret's diary.

She decided to start journaling the moment she met Madeline. Just too capture her young years, so there were more to remember, so that Madeline could look through this diary when she would be older, and know how much her family loved her. There was even a careful phrase on the cover of the diary: "To my daring sister Madeline".

...

SQEEEK!

It just so happened, that one day their parents dissappeared, leaving her and Madeline alone. To top this, collectors visited them soon after that, and took away all their funds, stating that their parents were in a huge debt.

"Miss, it's all just legal procedures."

Margaret made a decision to sell the house, they could not live without money.

She never worked, her creative and gentle soul only knew how to do delicate things. This whole situation was quite a shock for her, still she could not give up at that, Margaret had a sister.

Maddie was 4 at that time already. She could talk and read, quite fast at that, Margaret was really proud of her. But she also understood the reason her little sister grew up so fast - they both had a tough time.

After she sold the estate, they were forced to move to a hut at the other side of the field Angevin's owned. It was located near the stables. Margaret's dad found this location really convenient, since he loved to go hunting from time to time, and, as a person of nomadic roots, he needed horses for that too.

And the hut he used to sleep in out of pure necessity from time to time, saved Margaret's and Madeline's situation in such hard times.

...

"Madeline, sometimes I look at you, and I think you cry and reprocreate fear only because you have lived next to me for so long. Your older sister is not the best example, please, forgive me. She will try to stop showing you that part of herself, I really hope you would become whom you truly are."

...

"Madeline, I can't apologize enough for leaving you all alone at such a tender age of 5... The money we got from our house would not always be enough, your sister found a job, she will have to leave you all alone, but she promises to return before dawn and make you a nice dinner... In a few days I will gather courage and will notify you about this all... When the day comes, you will have to stay strong... my boss is not really welcoming of children, but maybe I can still try to persuade him..."

...

Piii...!

Margaret closed that door in an instant. She was frightened, but she did her best to make it not show when she turned around to her little sister.

"Maddie... seems like little mice were hungry and just stumbled..."

She gulped.

"Stumbled upon our food storage..."

Madeline took a few steps away: "... Sister there was blood—", - and triped over one of the mice that was able to escape from the stables.

SQEEEK!!

"AH!..."

"Maddie! Come, take my hand..."

The mouse run as fast as it could away, back to the place it came from but found the door to be closed.

Madeline stood up with the help of her sister.

"There, there, are you okay? Be careful..."

That mouse tried to squeeze back with no luck.

It turned around and ran at the little girl, jumping at her.

The mouse's eyes seemed to gain a red hue, even though it clearly didn't have albinism.

"Huuh..?.."

"...Maddie!!"

Margaret reacted at the right time and threw a boulder at it, pinning the mouse to the door, blood splashed all around it.

She fell to her knees, her hands were trembling.

"...sister?..."

"I think there was something wrong with that mouse, Maddie."

Madeline cling to Margaret's arm.

"...sister..."

Margaret pulled herself together and stood up, giving her little sister a hug. She could not help but smile, seeing her sister ever so cute.

"It's okay now, they are all behind that door... don't look at that side, look at me, how are you feeling?"

"...I'm feeling..."

"...Hm?"

"As long as I am with you, sister, I am feeling okay..."

"That's my brave girl", - Margaret gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Sister will buy us some more food and we will keep it in our home, okay? We don't need to go back there, mice have decided to make it their own home, we shall not disturb them, perhaps life was hard for them too...", - she murmured reassuringly.

Madeline nodded.

"Let's head back, okay?"

"Yea..."

Even if she spoke with such conviction, Margaret's mind was all over that mouse that suddenly became so feral. She was debating between the reason of such behavior.

And as she was so deep in thought, something made a sound near her feet...

SQEEEK

Her eyes wandered back to the door. She saw that there was a crack from that boulder and that some mice have managed to come out of it. She held her sister closer.

"Maddie, listen to me, darling..."

As if the food have been finished in the storage - more and more mice have started to come out, and all through that crack, each time cracking it more, squeezing through it with their bodies, landing on the land, lit by moonlight.

"...we will need to go really fast right now, be ready, okay?"

"Sister what is that sound from behind—"

"Cshhh, don't look back, we need to go, run, now, take my hand!"

Margaret sensed that something was not right with these mice, all of their eyes have turned red, just as that one feral from before had them...

She took Madeline by hand and they ran away together. She led them to the forests, away from the field, hundreds and hundreds of feral mice were after them.

Agh! Such a stupid decision, mice are small, trees are not a problem for them! I should have turned to a field instead!...

They ran with all they had, but mice still managed to stay quite close to them.

"..S-sister!... I can't anymore...!"

"Hold on a moment more, we are almost there... Maddie, think of it as of a game of catch..."

Margaret's voice cracked in the end, she truly had no idea where they were going.

And so they run and run.

...

"Sister I... I truly can't run anymore... what are we running from?", - Madeline asked with an innocent voice, huffing after each phrase.

Margaret picked her up. She was not strong at all, and thought that perhaps that was not the best decision, as it could slow them both down, but truly, what other choice she had?

She continued running with her little sister in arms.

"...Maddie, you asked me to take you sight seeing the other day, if we don't hurry we—"

"Sister is that a mouse???"

Shit. She forgot that Madeline was now facing her back and could see behind her.

"...Sister there are so many—"

"Shush. Listen to me– Agh!.."

Margaret felt a sudden pain, looking down she understood that her leg was bitten, she quickly shook of the mouse and run a bit faster under the adrenaline.

"Sister..? What was that, are you okay?..."

She needed to think of something, and they didn't have much time.

The field covered a big part of land. At it's east side was a railroad, and at it's west was the forest they were in right now.

They could not go to the railroad, trains don't usually appear in this area at this time, and to get there... They needed to what? To cross the whole freaking field? How crazy is that! These mice will catch on to them much quicker...

The mice were closer with each moment, now they were only a step away.

Think Margaret...

Going to the field would be a total suicide. An open area, hundreds of feral and hungry mice against too tired humans.

Oh?

"...Maddie do you feel at least a tad bit more rested?"

Margaret asked with a sweet and gentle voice of her's.

"...A little bit..."

"Good, my little one."

Margaret patted her head, and continued, coaxily: "Do you recall, we once were learning how compass works. Remind your sister what sides does it have."

Madeline thought for a moment and started counting with her little fingers.

"North... South..."

"Yes, two more. You are doing a great job."

"West and East?"

Margaret laughed, patting her head again.

"What a smart girl you are. You have no idea how proud I am of you..."

SQEEEK!

"Ugh..."

"...sister?..."

"Madeline, quick, take this..."

Margaret took off her crossbody purse and quickly put it in Madeline's hands.

"Your bag?.."

"Mhm, Madie, keep it close. I don't really remember what is in there, but I put a compass there this morning, for sure..."

"What is it for, sister?..."

"Your sister... can't carry us two for long, I am sorry, but, there is this thing we can do..."

"In a moment, I will lift you a bit higher and leave on one of the tree branches. Listen carefully,"

Margaret took a deep breath.

"You should hold on to that tree, sit on that branch, and count to 100."

Margaret was already so out of breath, she barely could keep her composure.

"Sister—"

"No, listen... You are going to count, and as you finish, you would jump down the tree, then you will have to use... that compass, and head East."

She took in some more air.

"...You will need to head East for a long time, okay? Make sure you head the right way, an arrow on the compass should be turned to a letter E, okay? Do you understand?"

"Yes...", - Madeline murmured, a little bit annoyed.

"Good, Madeline, you will need to stop when you reach the railroad, there would be a train, once you see one... hop in... be in it till.. it will.. stop and leave it... as other people do, will you do that for me?"

"Okay Margaret..."

"Haha! You pesky little thing!..., - she muffled her sister's hair, - don't act annoyed and be a good girl, do all those things I asked, if you would, your sister would meet you after some time at the train station..."

"Now sober up!"

Madeline perked up.

"I will lift you up in 3... 2..."

...

Madeline was running alone, through the field of beautiful and fragrant narcissus flowers.

In one of her hands was a compass, arrow pointing at "E", and the other hand held a bag.

She already rested once, there seemed to be some food in her sister's bag, just a few granola bars, thankfully some water too. The bag became a bit lighter after she drank from the water bottle.

Running like that was anew to her.

She could remember playing catch with her sister at this same field, but she never ever ran that far.

At some point running, she was able to see that estate, that her sister sold when she was very young. Madeline didn't have any memories with it, but her sister told that they used to live there. So, Madeline knocked to the door of that big house, the lights were on, but noone answered.

She decided to leave it be after a careful considiration, and continued to run to an "E".

With the luck only a child could have, she reached the railroad, as soon as the sun emerged from the edge of the sky.

The train would come, and without much effort she would hop in and hide in a place between the train cars.

In this way, sleeping soundly, she will soon open her eyes already at the station, were people hurriedly were leaving the train, as she will do as well.

***

May 24, year 19xx

"Before it all."

...

"You could associate these flowers with their fragrance, would reach out to smell them.

But for me, the only one thing, that comes to mind when I see one of those, narcissus flowers, is your face and gentle smile. If I were to take in the scent of them, the only smell I could distinguish, would be of a quiet longing.

I still remember the day, I understood my hope was pointless."