Rats!

• Max Tremolada, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

There it was, big black eyes staring into my soul. I cower up a small ‘boney’ tree. (Which wasn’t the best idea) It circles the tree like a shark circling a deserted island waiting for its prey.
It was hard to escape this horror. The next door neighbour’s MASSIVE pet rat decided to chase me at night all around the street in my manly mini mouse pyjamas. I leap off the small thin tree, open the front door, dash up the stairs and go under my blankets thinking about all of the possible outcomes.
“Wait, did I lock the door, NOOOOOO!!! There it was on my bed, a dancing rat playing with its small, wet nose. “Okay, let’s do a recap, I am being chased by a small rat. Done! Oh no!” Millions of small rats fill up my house. “NOOOOOO!” I cry again. “Scram!” I yell to myself. I just realised I’m a 10 year old boy scared of rats. I can take this like a man, can I not?
I swim out of the rats, throwing them all over the place, but they cushion on each other and just come back at me. I try not to tear, but they just scratch me with their puny feet. ‘Wait, what, how is this even happening?’ I think. ‘Oh I’m sleeping aren’t I?’ I pinch myself but nothing happened. I look blankly at all the small rats. “Oh,” I say in a calm voice.