There's that smell again. That rat.

I sat up in my cozy basket and smelled the crisp night air. My master was asleep in her bed. She obviously didn't smell that dirty creature. I pity humans for the fact that their noses are so weak.

I gave my paw a quick lick and leaped up. The reeking rat scent drifted into the dormitory from the open window across the room. I never liked that rat, not from the first moment I smelled it. There was something unnatural about its smell, something that made my stomach churn. It made me so disgusted that it overpowered the urge to eat it.

But even that couldn't stop me from trying to hunt it. As far as I was concerned, any rat that wasn't already dead, should be. And I will do the world a service and rid us of that freakish creature.

I grinned toothily at my plan. The wind was blowing in my direction so hopefully the rodent hadn't caught my scent yet. With one leap, I jumped onto the window ledge.

My eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness of the school grounds. I swiveled my ears around and picked up the sound I was looking for. The sound of tiny rodent claws scrabbling through the grass.

I squeezed my blocky head through the gap between the glass and window pane, and somehow managed to slide the rest of my body through. I balanced on the ledge and looked down into thin air.

Many a night I had escaped the cramp quarters of the girl's dormitory, restless and in the mood for a snack. Luckily, I knew the particular route of leaps and clambering it took to reach the ground. More than once I had nearly slipped and fell to my death.

After I finally made it to the ground, I noticed the scent had drifted. I could hear the rat scurrying somewhere in front of me.

I hunkered down into my stalking position and began to slowly move towards the smell. I daintily moved my paws through the grass. The rat had slowed before me and I quickened my pace.

But suddenly the wind changed. The accursed rodent caught my scent and the chase began.

Of course, the damn rat dashed toward the tree line, hoping to gain cover. I chuckled to myself. Like some trees and shrubs would save it. The rat swerved around the lawn haphazardly.

My paws propelled me forward at breakneck spead, and I began to close the gap between us.

Finally, I thought, I'll finally catch that little creep. After all the chase and trouble it's cost me.

I began to see the tip of the rodents ears ahead of me, and I streched my legs for every molecule of speed in me.

In my focus on speed and intent on finally catching that laothsome, furry pest, I failed to keep track of my surroundings. But I was quickly reminded.

WHACK!

A massive tree branch swung in front of me and I was hurled backwards. I lay stunned on the ground. I had gotten a good few feet of height and the oxygen was forced out of my lungs on impact with the earth. My head ached powerfully and I had the sensation that my face was now even flatter.

I opened an eye and caught a glimpse of the tree that had bested me. The rat was scrambling up the trunk and I saw it push against a knob in the wood.

The wild thrashing of the branches stopped, and I noticed the rat scurry down the tree and into a small gap that was at the base. Never before had I been allowed close enough to the barbaric tree to notice it before.

The rat disappeared down the hole and I cursed myself. Damn it, I thought, I let it get away.

My body still throbbed with pain, but I carefully got to my paws. My tail was puffed out more than usual, showing my anger at myself, that tree and that rat.

I slowly limped towards the castle. I didn't dare venture back up the way I had came. Instead, I curled up next to the cool stone wall. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take me, and hopefully the pain with it.

One day, I told myself, one day I'll get it. I'll catch that strange rat. It can't run away forever. It's time will come.