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Cheddar
Warrior - The Journey Begins
The
rat was tired of being the smartest subject in the laboratory.
At night he'd sneak out of the lab and creep down to the waterside
to work on his boat - the Cheddar Warrior. The name inspired hope
and awe in the rat. One day he planned
to use it to flee this place where rats were forced to run mazes.
He'd search for the mythical Rodent Island, where rats and mice
ran free in the sunshine.
Then
one morning before the scientists had turned up, one of the lab
mice told him all the rats were to be 'phased
out'. The rat knew what
that meant. It meant being put to sleep.
He
didn't have the luxury of timing his escape any more. He had
to leave right away. He
ran over to the other rats and urged
them to run. 'Maybe tomorrow,' they said. 'I don't feel like
fleeing
today.'
Even
while the others made their excuses they heard one of the scientist's
cars pulling up out front. The rat and
mouse
glanced
at each other and then bolted out of the room, through the
gaps in the walls and towards the waterside.
The
rat scampered toward the water's edge, the lab mouse struggling
to keep up
behind him, towards where the Cheddar
Warrior was
fitted only with the bare necessities the voyage. The rat
suddenly stopped.
'I'll need food,' he gasped. 'I could starve out there.'
'That's
something I wanted to tell you about,' his friend squeaked.
'I'm coming with you. And I'm paying my way.'
They
reached the boat and the rat was astonished by what he saw: a
huge wedge
of fine Edam cheese packed into
the bow.
'That's
my payment,' said the mouse. 'Let me come with you and we'll
both eat like kings.'
The
rat was overcome with a thousand emotions at one. 'Of course,
but we've got to hurry.' They puffed
and strained
to push the
Cheddar Warrior into the water.
Our
biggest adventures sometimes start when we least expect it. 'This
is it,' thought
the rat.
'The journey
begins.'
Copyright
2006-2007 Mark David
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