Sips Co. Fairytale
Chapter 12
Sjinderella - Part 3
By: MPNFF/CAM
"Breakfast time, everybody up!" Sjin announced, walking out of the small kitchen and into the clear morning air. Out of their large coop, as well as all different angles of the small farm, chickens of every gender and colour came towards Sjin, covering the ground as they flooded in. A grey horse lazily stuck his head out from his stable, looking around with droopy eyes. A few chickens had run out of his small home, and frankly he was glad. He could use the room, old horse.
Up in yet another crack in the ancient estate, five small brown creatures stood, watching Sjin like small harmless hawks. With their beady eyes, they eyed the grass seed in Sjin's palms, and their stomachs began to rumble. Their mouths began to water. It was a good thing Xephos spoke up when he did.
"C'mon guys! Grass seed!" He commanded, beginning to break into a fast run for the nearest exit. The other two followed, and for a moment, Honeydew only watched them.
"What about Honeydew?" He mumbled, and then sighed. The grass seed was probably the only food he would get that day, so he began to catch up with the others.
Through the crooks and crannies of the Ridgedog Estate, the mouse squeezed their way through to the exit. The nearest exit was to through the kitchen, where Lomadia still lurked.
The mice were only to figure this out when they got out of the hole. Xephos stopped abruptly, realizing they were then in the presence of the feline. The other two bumped into Xephos, almost sending him forward. Honeydew was the last one out, and bumped into all three of them. He was of course the strongest of them all, and caused them all to stumble, almost sending Xephos to the floor. The mice frantically looked around, their eyes falling on the blonde cat just a few feet away from them.
"Aw, no..." Xephos muttered. Quickly, they all filed back into the hole, thinking that Lomadia could notice their presence at any moment.
They formed a small huddle. They spoke in hushed tones before Xephos quieted them down.
"Listen- I've got an idea, right? So, one of us can just go distract her, get chased, blah-blah-blah, and get chased in a corner or something. Then, the rest of us run out. Sound good?"
The two mice agreed, but Honeydew thought it was the most stupid idea ever. Risk their life like that? How stupid! But... since everybody was agreeing, Honeydew felt stupid being the only one not to. The mice surely knew what they were doing. So, Honeydew nodded. Xephos nodded back. One of the other mice spoke up.
"Who's going to do it?"
Xephos thought for a few moments before nodding. "Okay, okay- tails in guys."
Each of the mice turned around, so they faced away from all the others. They stuck their tails in the middle of the small circle they had formed, tying them together. Shielding his eyes and picking a random tail out of the bunch, Xephos called out "Now!"
The two mice jumped away from the circle, soon followed by Honeydew. Thankfully, neither of them got picked. Unfortunately for Xephos, he had stupidly grabbed his own tail. He looked at it now with a slightly disappointed and scared expression. The other mice, taking this as a death sentence, removed their hats and sadly waved at the mouse in mourning. Xephos sighed, turning to face Honeydew.
"Eh, you'll be fine." Honeydew said, waving the thought away. Xephos smiled, happy to have somebody rooting for him. He took a deep breath, giving a stern nod to the mice, then marching out. The others crowded around the crack in the wall, watching with anticipation.
Xephos stepped out, hugging the wall as he watched the cat with fearful eyes. Lomadia sat, facing the doorway, her blonde furry tail swaying from side to side occasionally. Xephos heart rate sped up as the anticipation increased. It was adrenaline rushing, this devious task. Knowing that Lomadia wasn't going to look behind her anytime soon, Xephos began to quickly tip-toe across the stone floor. His pace quickened with each small step he progressed into. He stopped abruptly just as he arrived inches away from the feline's flank. Making sure Lomadia was not apparent of her surroundings; Xephos began to creep up from the side of her. His small hands grazed her fur ever so slightly, but it was not enough to bring her back to reality. Her fur was usually brushed with a high quality brush every evening, and boy did it make a difference! Lomadia's fur was quite soft and silky against him. But that didn't matter to a mouse. Perhaps in another story this pairing will be more apparent.
Xephos, noticing the dish of milk placed out for the cat, began plotting. Once he got an idea, he waved over to the others. Three small pairs of eyes locked their gazes onto the mouse, and then he began playing charades. He gestured over to the dish, then to her face, and then he kicked into the thin air. He nodded for approval.
The others smirked, but it took Honeydew a bit longer than them to notice what was about to happen. Soon though, when a light bulb sprang to life in his mind, Honeydew began to laugh his loud laughter. The others quickly covered his mouth.
Xephos turned back to the dish, readying his strength. He focused all of his strength on his leg muscles, took a few steps back, then lunged, fiercely flinging his small leg out and hitting her square in the front leg.
Lomadia's front leg, which she had been leaning her head against, smacked down to the dish, causing the contents to fly out in her face, staining her fur. The dish clattered down and soon slowed to a stop. Lomadia sat up straight, temper boiling. She looked around the room, and then caught sight of Xephos, who smiled deviously up at her while laughing so hard he was crying.
Xephos wiped some stray tears from his face; thankful his vision was clearing up quick- he would need his vision for the next part of his plan. Lomadia screeched, and then lunged to scoop Xephos up in her paws. Xephos yelped, beginning to dash away. The two ran around like idiots, Lomadia chasing Xephos around table legs and past the broom. Once the broom left his vision, the sight of the mouse hole came into view, and Xephos was quick to turn back around, scramble up the broom, and then into the hole. Lomadia glared at the hole for a moment, waiting for Xephos to escape at any point.
Another hole was in view, and from there Xephos appeared. He gave a wave over to the other mice, signalling that everything was safe for them to cross into the outside.
The mice happily walked out of the hole, waving to Xephos as they did.
X
Outside, Sjin quietly hummed to himself, feeding the seeds to the horse outside. He gently stroked the horse's long smoky mane. With his other hand he held the fabric of his apron, which in its dip held the seeds. Around him, the multicoloured chickens swarmed to feed.
"Sjin, Sjin!" The two other mice called in their high-pitched voices. Honeydew only innocently stood by, not exactly knowing how to talk to Sjin. When Sjin noticed them, Honeydew gave an awkward wave. Sjin smiled softly back, kneeling down.
"Hey, I was wondering where you guys got to!" Sjin said, not acknowledging the lack of Xephos. "Anyways, here comes breakfast!" Sjin reached into the pile of seed with his free hand, coming back out with a handful of the yellow seed. He gracefully threw the handful onto the ground nearby the mice.
Before the chickens could get a hold of their morning meal, the mice acted fast; dashing into the pile and grabbing as many seeds as they could. Honeydew let the others go before him- what a horrible choice that was.
In a matter of seconds, chickens flocked to the new pile of food, pecking at it furiously.
Now if you knew Honeydew, you'd know he was one hungry dw- I mean, mouse. He was not going to let anything get between him and his food, especially not dumb chickens. For a few moments Honeydew struggled to get through the growing crowd, attempting to get at least one seed in his hands. Sadly though. Whatever seed he went to the chickens already had grabbed it first. Then finally! A single piece of seed awaited him. He pushed a chicken aside, clawing at the seed and hugging it close to his chest.
"Excuse me, sorry!" Honeydew chirped, turning to walk away. Unfortunately, his bad luck swooped in again, and the chicken stepped on his foot, sending him to collapse. The seed fell out of his grasp, tumbling away from his hands. Honeydew swore. Whose idea was this anyways? Quickly, he collected his balance, running over to the last seed that was caught in another chicken's beak. Honeydew let out a battle cry, grabbing hold of the seed and not giving up his wrestle with the chicken. It had seemed that his bad luck had left the building, for Honeydew had been shaken and shaken by that chicken, ending up sprawled out on the ground once again.
Only difference that time was that he had the seed in his small grubby hands.
Mission accomplished.