ARDEN'S FIRST LOVE
Chapter 1: The Drink
Arden woke from her slumber. After sleeping for hours, she woke up singing her Japanese song. She got to her knees. Her voice was scratchy. She held onto the wall. The streets were empty. She walked down the road not caring where it led.
Arden saw people in the human come and go. Arden didn't want to remember leaving Olivia, her parents, and everyone else. But she was happy with the fact that she escaped Professor Ratigan's wrath. As she walked alone, she kept her eyes trapped on her locket. It was still with her.
Arden couldn't forget the nightmare she had before she left Olivia (an action she had to do). She pictured it in her mind.
She looked at the shadow on the wall. She passed by a book shop in the rodent world. There was something that grabbed her attention. There was a black book in the window. In gold words it said the word "Rats". Arden ran inside. When she found the book, she gazed at the title.
"They have a book for rats? If Ratigan saw this, I bet he'd go crazy." whispered Arden to herself.
She sat down and looked through the bright pages. At first everything in the book didn't have an affect on her. But then she found a page the said a name that made Arden almost explode.
"They have a page about Ratigan!" she exclaimed. She read the pages that talked about him.
"Wow! Deep in his territory!" she said to herself. When she finally closed the book, she saw that the book was written by Basil!
"No wonder! But I didn't know that Basil was an author also!" said Arden. She went out the book store and she just couldn't keep the rats' book out of her mind.
.
Arden looked up and saw nothing but fog. Arden looked up at the moon. It was a crescent moon. She raised her hands in the air. She remembered that she would always dream about reaching to the moon. She'd actually touch the stars also. She looked at a little drinking house. She really needed some water. Or at least something.
Arden went inside and saw many people inside. Luckily Arden had some money in the pockets in her dress.
She went up to the counter.
"Hey. Beer please." she said solemnly.
"Aren't you a little young for that? You look twelve years old," said the bartender. Arden looked up at him and glared.
"Looks can be deceiving," she said sadly. She was given the drink and started drinking it. While she drank, some of Ratigan's thugs had entered and saw her. They watched her as she drank, wept, and groaned in agony. While she was drinking her beer, they snuck out and went back to the rat trap.
"Boss!" yelled the lizard thug whose name was Bill. Ratigan turned around. He was still holding on to his wound.
"What is it!" he asked harshly.
"We found her!" said another thug who had a cigar in his hand, and a bowler on his head. Ratigan immediately shot a look filled with alert.
"Are you absolutely sure? You would never lie to me, would you?" he asked menacingly. The thugs shook their 'no'.
"Never, sir. She was drinking beer, weeping, and lookin' all sad," replied one of the thugs.
"...Very well," said the Napoleon of Crime.
Meanwhile, in the bar, Arden was finishing her THIRD glass of beer. The mouse who was sitting beside her kept his eyes on her. He wore a vanilla colored shirt. He wore a brown hat and brown pants that were torn. He had a nervous look on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked. Arden looked at him. She felt weird.
Arden slowly slumped out of her chair in the bar and left. She inhaled and exhaled breath deeply. She looked at the walls. As she walked, she heard thumping. Arden started walking really fast. To make the fear of being watched go away, she sang her Japanese song.
She looked back. All she saw was fog and mist. She looked up and saw a street sign that belonged to the rodent world, her world. It said: "London Drive" and "Cheese Boulevard". Arden frowned.
"More like Depression Drive and Alone Boulevard," whispered Arden.
She heard thumping again. It was driving her nuts. She started to run.