Mouse in the House: Chapter 1

Corin shook nervously as he scampered through the crack in the wall. Corin was covered in messy, grey fur. He had a mess of brown hair on his head, and big, golden eyes. A belt with tiny, makeshift tools was wrapped around his waist. He pushed a wheeled, wooden board ahead of himself, upon which sat a little rope. The rope was made from fishing wire, while the wheels were made of beads. Corin was followed by his brother Howey, as well as the rest of the scavenging party.

"Remember the plan." Howey said. "We sneak into the kitchen, grab some food, put it in the tray, and rush out before anyone notices us.”

"I know, I know." Corin said as he scratched his big fluffy ear. "I heard you the first time."

Corin and his friends were a race known as neeras. They were part human, and part mouse. But mostly mouse. They lived in a world of giant, talking animals. Neeras, unfortunately, weren't giants; in fact, they were quite small. It was a miracle when a neera grew to be over three inches in height. This meant that neeras had to live in hiding in the forests of under giant creatures’ homes to avoid getting crushed, eaten… or worse. Most neeras were accustomed to scavenging through trashcans and garbage bags, so they could make use of whatever scraps were thrown away.

Corin and Howey were part of a neera colony that lived in the woods behind a giant house situated at the top of a hill in the suburbs of a big city. Even though the journey to the house was perilous for the colony, it was decided that living there meant less predators to worry about. Corin and Howey were part of the team of neeras chosen to venture into the house to find food for the other neeras. The brothers had just recently turned eighteen, making them officially adults in the eyes of their family.

The "house" was enormous, even by the standards of giants. There were many windows and columns on the outside. The neera colony had spent almost a week surveying the outside, trying to find a way in from the ground floor. One day, they found a small hole dug into one of the side rooms, and they began their plans.

And there they were, sneaking into a massive room. The hole they scampered through was shielded in darkness, produced by a big mahogany desk. The desk had several drawers on the side, partially blocking the view. A chair sat in front of the desk, exposing the light of the room beyond. A great big bed sat at the back left of the room. A bookshelf sat on the right, all of which were arranged in a neat pile. The floor was polished marble. A door was next to the desk, closed tight.

"How are we going to get out?" One of the neeras asked.

"I think we can sneak through under the door." Howey said.

"Okay." Corin said. He made to run out from under the desk, but Howey grabbed his shoulder.

"Not that way." He said. "We need to stay hidden."

"But there aren't any giants in here." Corin pouted.

"Not YET, anyway." Howey scolded. "Come on; let's sneak around towards the door."

"Should someone stay and keep watch?" Corin asked.

"That's a good idea.” Howey poked Corin’s chest. “You do it."

"M-Me!" Corin exclaimed. Howey quickly covered his brother's lips with a furry hand, a finger over his own mouth.

"Shh." Howey hissed. "We need to stay as quiet as possible, Corin."

Corin angrily pushed Howey's hand away. "But I was supposed to handle food-escort duty. I even prepared a cart and everything."

"I know, I know." Howey shook his head. "But how many cuts did you give yourself just MAKING your little cart?"

"Uh..." Corin's eyes shifted around. "Three?"

"Five." Howey snapped. "Look, I'm in charge. Give you cart to Richie, and keep watch for any giants that might discover the hole. You can keep your belt."

"But-"

"Do what I say, Corin." Howey glared.

Corin sighed in exasperation. "Fiiine."

He gave his cart to Richie, who carefully pushed it along. Howey moved to the front of the group and made a hand signal.

"Okay, everyone. Let's go." Howey and the other neeras began scurrying towards the left side of the table. Corin sat down just behind the blockage covered by the drawers. He waved begrudgingly as the other neeras vanished from both sight and hearing.

Corin waited for five minutes, and then looked to see if they had come back. When he didn't hear anything, he waited another five minutes, and then another. Unable to take the boredom, Corin picked up a hammer from his belt. The hammer was made of a round rock, attached to a piece of wood and tied up in leather. Corin fidgeted with his hammer, to alleviate the boredom.

"Sheesh, what's taking so long?" Corin wondered. "I'd almost be happy to hear a-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud creak filled the air. Corin tensed up, clutching his hammer tightly. The door opened up with a slam against the wall.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The ground shook as something got closer. Corin peaked around the corner formed by the drawers to see what was coming.

He saw two big feet, covered in brown scales. They were attached to a giant, who moved the chair away from the desk. There was a great CRASH up above as the giant dropped something heavy onto the desk, before sitting down and pulling up the chair. Corin watched as giant, black toe-talons rapidly approached him. When they came to a stop, he sighed in relief.

Corin sat there, watching as the giant sat calmly at the desk. He could hear pages flipping, bottles turning over, objects being shuffled around, and other odd noises. One of the giant's feet began tapping to some rhythm he didn't recognize. The neera watched the toes moving about, mesmerized.

Corin felt a strange feeling well up inside himself. Giants were big, scary predators, and he knew that. And yet, there was something Corin liked about this giant. He wanted to get closer.

Corin snuck forwards towards the giant's talons. He lifted his furry feet up with every step, trying not to make a sound on the marble floor. He stuck a hand out, reaching for the closet toe. Taking a deep breath, the neera placed a few of his fingers on the talon.

Corin flinched, awaiting a scream. But luckily, the giant hadn't noticed; it just kept on keeping on. Corin sighed in relief. He looked around at the toes, enjoying his close up view. If Corin were to hazard a guess, the giant had to be at least six feet tall.  The toe-talons were polished clean; the neera could almost see his reflection in them.

I wonder what the rest of the giant looks like, thought Corin.

The neera let go and turned around to move back to the wall. But as he was walking away, the giant lifted up its foot and brought it down on his tail. Corin squeaked in surprise and pain. His tail had become trapped under the giant's big toe. The neera grabbed hold of his tail and tried to pull it out. He struggled in vain against the giant's weight.

Corin heard the giant's chair move away from the desk. He shuddered in fear as he looked up at the face of his captor.

The giant was a dragoness. Thick, ram-lick horns grew atop her head, around a mane of neat, dark grey hair. Grey spines grew atop her muzzle, and scales of a matching color ran down her neck along her belly. Two great, wide wings grew from her back, along with a tail. Most of her body was shielded by giant, blue silk. A pair of dark eyes bore down into Corin’s gaze.

The neera shivered in fear. The dragon kept watching him, tapping her fingers on a thigh.

"Well, well, well." She said in amusement. "I didn't expect to have any neeras in here so soon. You've caught me unprepared."

Corin's eyes went wide; the dragon was EXPECTING them! He struggled even harder to free his tail, straining and shutting his eyes.

"I wouldn't do that. You might hurt yourself."

Corin looked up to see the dragon reaching for him. He quickly grabbed the hammer from his belt and swung it around in the air. He stuttered as he tried to shout to scare her off. The dragon moved her fingers to just beyond Corin's reach. While the neera was mid-swing, the dragon grabbed his arm, holding it in place. Corin shook his arm around, trying to wiggle it loose.

"Let me go!" Corin squeaked.

"You can talk?" The dragon asked in amazement. "Interesting..."

The dragon moved her foot off Corin's tail and lifted him up. She tilted her hand so that Corin was pulled up and into her palm, which she then shut tightly around him. Only Corin's head was free as the dragon lifted him off the floor and into the air. The neera looked into her eyes again as he continued to struggle.

"Put me down!" Corin shouted.

"Can you understand me?" The dragon asked.

"W-What?" The neera looked at her confused.

"Can. You. Understand. What. I'm. Saying?" The dragon asked seriously, taking time to enunciate every word.

Corin wasn't sure what she was playing at. He kept his mouth shut, refusing to say anything. He just looked up at her, fearfully.

"Come on..." The dragon insisted. "You must've learned to speak my language SOMEHOW. And I'm sure I'm not hearing things. Say something to me."

Corin still refused to answer. The dragon groaned. She moved the neera a little bit closer to her face.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you know.” She said calmly. “Most other people my size would gobble you up as soon as finding you. If you talk to me again, we can have a nice conversation. Otherwise, maybe I'll just save you until I'm feeling peckish..."

"No!" Corin exclaimed. He immediately gasped, having just given himself away. The dragon grinned.

"I knew it." She said matter-of-factly. She opened her palm so she wasn't squeezing the neera anymore. Corin looked up at her cautiously, wrapping his tail around his waist.

"So, do you have a name, little mouse?" The dragon asked.

"Corin." He answered blankly.

"Alright. Corin. I'll have to remember that." The dragoness picked up a pen and wrote his name down on a piece of paper. The neera gulped, unsure of what she meant by that. "You may call me Catherine, for the time being."

"Okay..." Corin said sheepishly.

"Tell me, Corin; did you come here alone, or with some of your little mouse friends?"

Corin shivered, dread forming in his gut. "I... uh..."

"You'd better tell me the truth." Catherine insisted. "If there are other neeras in this house right now, it's for the best that I find them as soon as possible."

"Why? So you can eat them sooner?!" Corin shouted. He covered his mouth, once again realizing he made a foolish mistake.

"My, what a temper."  The dragon mused. "But I'll worry about that later. For now, tell me where your friends are."

"No!" Corin protested. "I'll never tell you!"

"I'm not going to eat them, Corin." Catherine said.

"And why should I believe you?!" The neera demanded.

"Because if I don’t find them, someone else WILL." She stated. "I'm not the only dragon in this house."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Corin demanded.

"Fine, I'll prove it to you." Catherine closed her hand around the neera again and walked towards the door. She opened the door with her free hand and walked into a hallway. Corin saw that a large, letter "C" was marked upon the door of the room they just left. Three other doors were arranged around the first one, with the letters "K", "M", and "T". Several more doorways and a staircase completed the hall.

"I have roommates, you see." Catherine said. "Tell me where your little friends ran off to, and that reduces the risk of them getting eaten by MY friends."

Corin gulped again. "F-Fine. My friends went to find food for our families back home. They're going to the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" Catherine blinked. Almost immediately, she bolted down the hallway. She held Corin against her chest as she made for the kitchen. Corin squeaked in displeasure, his eyes spinning back and forth.

"Slow down!" Corin protested. "I'm going to be sick!"

"This is bad." She said. "It's almost noon; that's lunchtime for the girls! If your little mouse friends are in there-"

Catherine pushed the door open into the kitchen. Every inch of the room sparkled a brilliant shine. A giant fridge and several cabinets ran along the back wall. A large, L-shape countertop took up the center of the space. Two sinks were against a window, while the stove was opposite them. And three dragonesses were crowded around the countertops; red, yellow and blue.

Corin saw that his fellow neeras were tied up in a net on the counter. The yellow dragon giggled as she watched the tied-up neeras, while the blue one watched from afar with a nervous expression. The red dragoness lifted up Howey in the air, over her wide and awaiting mouth.

"Howey!" Corin screamed.

"Kara, stop!" Catherine exclaimed as she stepped forward.

"Oh, hey Catherine." The one named Kara said, turning to face her. "You're just in time. I caught a bunch of these pipsqueaks trying to steal our food. Want one?"

"They're not for eating." Catherine snapped. "I let them in myself."

"What?!" The other dragon exclaimed. The neeras looked surprised as well, especially Howey.

"I didn't intend for a whole group of them to get in." Catherine said. "I only needed one."

"Why didn't you just go out and catch one, then?" The yellow dragoness asked as she scratched her head.

"Because I was planning on having a neera stumble into my room specifically." Catherine stated. "In any case, let them go; I've picked the one I want already."

Catherine held her hand up to show Corin to the other dragonesses. They eyed him with a mix of suspicion and intrigue.

"Can I at least eat the cute one?" Kara asked, shaking around the terrified Howey.

"NO!" Corin shouted. "He's my brother!"

The three dragons gasped in surprise. They immediately got closer to get a better look at him.

"He can talk?" The blue one asked.

"Oh, he's got such a cute little voice!" The yellow one cheered. She reached down to rub Corin's cheeks.

"Hey, stop that!" The neera protested.

The red dragon moved down to get a better look at him. "Say, he's even CUTER than this other one. Can I eat him?"

"NO." Catherine snapped. "You can't eat ANY of them."

"Alright, alright, geez..." Kara plopped Howey down beside Corin. "Sheesh, you NEVER let me have any fun..."

Corin lifted up Howey, who's chest was heaving. "Howey, are you okay?!"

"The plan failed..." His brother shivered. "The red giant caught us as soon as we walked in. She came out of NOWHERE..."

Catherine lifted her hand up to examine the neeras closely. "Is he alright, Corin?"

"He's been scared half to death." Corin whimpered, nuzzling Howey's head.

"Oh dear." The brown dragoness sighed. "I'm sorry for what my friend did to him. I wanted to keep this from happening. But I'll make it up to you and your friends... if you agree to something."

"Agree to what?" Corin asked worriedly.