The female searat Floania was the first to awake from the searat camp near the coasts. She cast a look at her sleeping infant, Cavan. The young rat was sleeping soundly sucking his thumb. Smiling at her sleeping child, she left the makeshift shelter silently and made to the coast.
The shore was still misty from the storm that wrecked the searat ship the previous night. All around her were the remains of her ship Stormbrew. She peered through the thick mist and was astonished to see the faint outline of what looked like a basket of some sort floating toward the coast. Floania waded through the shallows to reach the basket. It was a wicker basket, hand-woven and waterproof. As she carried it up, she felt the wicker basket move a little. Opening it, Floania saw a small squirrelbabe curled up in her waterproof cradle, sleeping soundly. She smiled a little. This infant was not much younger than her own son. She carried the cradle towards the camp. Then, she remembered that it would be too risky to bring the babe among the searats. Who knew what they might do the infant squirrel? Yet it was too cruel to leave the small infant there. Having being brought up in the hard, cruel environment of a searat galley, she knew what it was like. She had always wished to start life afresh, like a good creature, with her son. But of course, it was impossible. "Once a searat, always a searat." was what she had been told. Besides, she was seen as vermin and spat upon. She shrugged upon her sad fate.
The squirrel in her arms started to whine softly. Floania carried the infant up to her. As she did so, she saw a small red stone on a worn piece of thread dangling from the babe's neck. She picked it up, and saw a small inscription. She peered and scrutinised it trying to make out the inscription but to no avail. Holding it up to the light, she saw that that on the stone, there was a picture of a tree carved onto it. The carving seemed to be done in a hurry, with many uneven scratches here and there.
"Eh, eh, doan't cry yer liddle babe." Amazingly, the squirrel stopped whining and looked at Floania longingly. "Yer hungry?" she asked the small infant. The squirrel opened her mouth wide as if indicating that she wanted to eat. Grinning, the mother searat held the babe to her breast so she could suckle. "Good thing I jus' had Cavan, eh? Else yer'll still be 'ungry."
As she sat on the beach, Floania thought about the squirrelbabe and her own small family. There was no way she'd be able to care for the infant among the searats. They were hard cruel beasts and there was no telling what they might do to her.. She could not leave the infant on the beach either; it would perish sooner or later. Floania had grown attached to the small squirrelbabe nestling peacefully between her paws. Then she realised that the child did not have a name. She pondered over this for a good long while.
"Aha! Mistrose!" Floania jumped up suddenly. The babe was jolted out of her rest and started to weep. Floania quickly silenced her by stroking and petting her gently. "Yer came out of the mist, an' yore like a pretty rose from all this ruin eh? Mistrose. That be a good 'un. Ne'er thought I'd be so smart. Dint have a eddycation, y'know."