The sound of a car horn woke Surly from his sleep, and he let out a shriek as he fell down a branch. Gripping it tight, heart pounding, he lifted himself back up again. Looking around, it took him awhile to remember the events of last night and why he was here. He sighed and sat down on the branch. This was going to be a long week. Then a rumble from his stomach made him sit back up again. He realized he never ate anything last night because of the party. He looked over at the oak tree in the distance. He figured his sentence didn't allow him to get food from home. He would have to find his own. But Surly didn't know good places to find food. He's only been alive in this park for 6 months now, and even in that time he's been cooped up around the tree. He looked out over the city, and cringed at the idea of having to find food out there. He remembered the stories of the city, or how it was filled with diseased rats, killer cats, and humans who would stomp on you. Then he also remembered of hearing stories of huge bins humans would put old food in. Surly looked around the outskirts of the city, and spotted a small tin under a street light. He figured good would be in there, but he would either have to cross the car infested street, or climb over the high wires and risk falling down into the street. Surly decided he would be safer above ground. Looking around, he saw a pole just one jump from his tree. He ran up the branch to get as close to it as possible. Surly remembered how weak his jumps used to be.
"Legs, don't fail me now."
He wiggled his haunches and shot off the branch. he stuck out his four paws and slammed against the pole. He dug his claws into the pole as he slid a few inches down and stopped. He peeked open and eye and let out a sigh. He made his way up the pole and sat on top. Now he could see over the roof tops of the city, and over the entire park.
"Wow, I never realized how small the park is…"
He said to himself, then turned around. He gulped when he saw the long wire in front of him. Surly had never crossed over something that skinny for a long distance before. He slowly trekked onto it, setting two paws onto it. He felt wobbly and quickly stepped off. He sighed, feeling like he should give up. Then he heard Andie's voice echo in the back of his head.
"Use your tail to balance yourself, that's what they're for."
Surly took a deep breath and stuck out his tail, then he slowly walked out onto the wire. He found better balance and began walking forward. Everyone now and then he slipped up, but he held on tight as he crossed over. Then a pigeon flew down and landed right in front of him. Surly peeked over the fluffy thing and cleared his voice.
"Excuse me, may I get through?"
The bird just sat there and fluffed up its feathers. Surly began to feel annoyed.
"Hey bird, let me pass!"
The bird let out a yawn and closed its eyes. Surly frowned and growled at the bird. He stood up on the wire, and gave a mighty kick. This sent the bird off the wire. It quickly flapped its wings and turned to Surly, chirping madly, before turning off to fly to another wire.
"Yeah just fly off! Man, animals in the city don't have any manners do they?"
He said to himself, and continued to walk forward. Soon he finally reached the other side and let out a breath of relief. Then he looked down at the trash can. A human was walking outside quickly and poured out a bunch of garbage into it. Then surprisingly, he left the lid off and set it on the ground. Surly licked his lips, and scurried down the pole. Once the human had returned inside, he jumped into the can. He wrinkled his nose at the stench of the garbage, but tried to ignore it the best he could. He was going to have to get use to it this week if he was going to have to live. Digging around, he found a piece of corn on the cob half eaten. Laying down in an old box, he began to nibble off the kernels. Then he perked his ears to the sound of a beeping noise that seemed to be getting closer. He didn't make much of it until he heard a large noise from outside the can. Looking up he saw a huge metal claw come down and grab the can. Surly tried to scurry out but the can was lifted up and then dumped down into a giant garbage truck. Surly screamed as he was poured inside and landed at the bottom with a thud. Debris sprinkled on top of him from the rest of the can. Then the claw set down the can and the door to the roof started to close. Surly looked for a way out but couldn't find one. He gasped for air in the stink filled truck, the stench was unbearable.
"Great, how am I gonna get out of this?"
He felt the giant thing lurch forward, and he guess they were now driving down the road.
"No, It's going to take me away from the park. I'll never find my way home."
Then the garbage truck stopped and he felt backwards. He looked up to see the roof open up again and a bunch of garbage poured in. He quickly scurried out of the way, and watched the stuff fall in. Then he noticed a metal can fall from it, and it landed onto the ground below. A horrible squeak was heard from inside it. Surly tilted his head, wondering what made that noise. Soon the can was emptied and the truck was started up again. Surly looked around and found a dented spoon. Picking it up, he slowly approached the can that had made the noise. Moving his paw over, he quickly swiped it on it's side and held up the spoon ready to hit what was under it. Then his expression changed and he lowered the spoon. Under the can was a tiny rat with a little back pack on, and it couldn't be more older than 4 months old. The rat looked up at him and covered his face afraid. Surly didn't know how to react. Animals always said if you ever ran into a rat to turn around and run the other way. They said they were filthy, disease infested, and ruthless. But this little rat didn't match any of those descriptions. That's when Surly noticed the rat's foot. It had a long gash on it, and blood was oozing out. Surly reacted on instinct now, dropping the spoon and bending down over the rat. The rat started to shake and he covered his eyes.
"Hey, hey. Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt ya."
Surly said, trying to calm the rat. The rat uncovered his eyes and looked up at Surly. Surly smiled at him and looked at his foot.
"Get this ugly thing from the fall?"
The rat nodded his head and removed his hands from his face.
"I could help you, if you let me."
The rat sat up and looked around, noticing a old rag. he pointed to it and Surly went over and grabbed it. He nibbled a long strip off of it, and placed it against the rat's foot. The rat squinted at the pain, but sat still.
"Sorry, this might hurt."
Surly said, and started wrapping the cloth around his foot. Then he bit off a long, thinner piece from the rag and tied the cloth securely around his foot.
"There you go little buddy. All better."
The rat look at his foot, turning it over to look at each side. Then he smiled and jumped up to give Surly a hug. Surly was taken back and simply patted the rat's back.
"Ok, yeah you're…welcome."
The rat stepped down and looked up at Surly, tilting his head.
"So you got a name?"
The rat frowned a bit and shook his head.
"Oh, well, I'm just gonna call you Buddy for now. Is that ok?"
The rat perked up and nodded his head.
"Don't talk much do ya?"
The rat shrugged his shoulders, then sat straight up when he felt the garbage truck stop. Surly looked around, they had to get out of here,
"Okay here's the plan Buddy, I'll get us out of here, and in return, you help me find Liberty Park, Ok?"
Buddy shook his head violently, then the two looked around for a way to get out. Then Buddy tapped Surly's shoulder and he turned to find what looked like a toy guy. It was one with a popper. If Surly attached a long rope to it, he could shoot it over the roof and they could climb out.
"Ok Buddy, quickly find all the rags you can now!"
Buddy nodded his head and began digging for rags, cloth, and string. Once they gathered enough, they began to nibble strands, and tie them together to create one large rope. Surly attached a glass piece of a broken bottle at the end so it would give the rope more distance once it was shot. Then the roof creaked open and Surly quickly loaded the rope into the gun. Pulling back the trigger, he let it loose and the glass piece brought the rope over the roof.
"Come on Buddy, hurry!"
He called and grabbed Buddy's hand, dragging him over to the rope. He let him start to climb first, then followed quickly after him. They were almost halfway up the rope when the metal claw brought trash falling down on them. Surly and Buddy tried to dodge it the best they could. Then a fork came tumbling down and hit Buddy, making him loose his grip on the rope.
"No!"
Surly yelled and reached for Buddy's arm and gripped it tight. He looked up at the trash can which was now emptied, as was being set down. They had to hurry before the roof closed. Surly looked down at Buddy who had fear in his eyes. Surly thought for a moment, then had an idea.
"Buddy if we swing the rope we can fling ourselves out of here. Buddy looked up at the roof then nodded at Surly. The two started to swing back and forth, getting more and more distance with the rope. The roof doors then started to close on then, and they thrashed harder.
"Ok Buddy, hold on!"
Buddy gripped Surly's hand as they swung the rope upwards, and Surly let go. They were flung out of the roof before the doors closed, and they were sent flying out as they landed inside the empty trash bin below. They heard the truck start up again, and drive off. Surly and Buddy lay there panting heavily and they looked at each other.
"Does this happen a lot in the city?"
Surly asked, and Buddy smiled and let out a tiny giggle. Surly rolled his eyes and sat up, crawling out of the trash bin. Buddy followed after and the two stood on the ground and looked around their surroundings. They were in an alley way, and Surly had no idea which was the park was now.
"So Buddy, recognize anything around here?"
Buddy looked up and around the alley, and nodded his head.
"Well then, lead me home."
Buddy nodded and took a few steps forward before falling on the ground, holding his foot.
"Oh yeah, sorry."
Surly said and bended down next to Buddy.
"Here I'll carry you and you point the way."
Buddy crawled onto Surly's back, and Surly held onto his legs. Buddy pointed in a direction, and Surly started to walk that way. Surly didn't know why he trusted this rat, but for now, he was his only chance of getting home.