CHAPTER 2: CAT AND MOUSE
"Snow, I'm glad you pulled through," Stuart said a short time later. The doctor had came to check up on him, but he was fine. He would have been a lot worse off if the cat hadn't intervened. Indeed, he might even be dead.
"Well, don't count on it again. I couldn't just let you die. But that doesn't make you my friend!"
"That's ok. We're family! We don't always have to like each other. We just have to be there for each other when we need it most."
"Family maybe in the most remote sense."
"Why so remote?"
"I don't like you. You're a mouse, that I can't eat."
"What do you mean 'can't eat'? Nothing's stopping you, even right now. Not complaining or anything. I really don't want to be eaten, cuz, well, you know, might hurt a bit."
"Might hurt a bit? Is that supposed to be sarcasm?"
"No, those teeth are really pointy and it would hurt if you were to..." Stuart, stopped, too afraid to complete the sentence.
"Chew you up to bits and cough up what's left of you as a hairball."
"Yeah, that," the mouse said, flinching.
"And you're not afraid of that happening?"
"I don't think you have it in you to go through with it."
"So, you think I'm a marshmallow?" Is that it, huh?"
"I know you're a bit on the chubby side, but I don't think I'd go anywhere as near as calling you a marshmallow."
The feline stood there, dumbfounded. The kid had misinterpreted his remark and wound up making a weight joke, he assumed, without even intending to. He soon burst into laugher. "That was kind of funny."
"I didn't find it that funny."
"Still, you can crack a joke. You aren't as sentimental as the two Littles."
"They're not that bad, really."
"They're too much for my taste."
Figuring that this cat liked humor, the mouse said "Your taste, huh? You thinking of eating them now? They're humans, not mice."
Snowbell cracked up even more. "Good one, kid!"
"I mean, our relationship started out a bit cat-a-strophic, but at least now it doesn't seem that it's going to be a wash-out."
Snowbell howled with laugher now. "Oh, you're a real comedian."
"I don't think so. I'm not good at blending in with my surroundings."
"That's a chameleon! Ha!"
"I guess I could be a stand up guy, but since I'm so short, I'm afraid people will still think little of me, even if I used platform shoes!"
Snowbell laughed so hard he was in danger of peeing himself. "Ok, stop, you're going to make me go tinky!"
"Ok, enough jokes for now."
"Where's you learn to be so funny?"
"When you're in an orphanage for years, watching everyone else get adopted and thinking your day will never come, you really do need a way to keep your spirits bright. Or else you'll lose your sanity."
The cat felt bad for the mouse now. He'd never really viewed the mouse as anything but an intruder. A rodent, barging in on his perfect little world and upsetting the balance of nature. Now, he found that he was developing feelings for the mouse. "Ok, I think we started things off a bit rough."
"it's not your fault. I am, adjusting to change is hard."
"Well, from now on, let's be friends."
"Ok. I'm fine with that."
"Let's shake on it."
"Ok. To being friends."
As the mouse shook the cats paw, the cat seized him and shook not just his hand but his whole body. Then he set him down. "Gotcha!" the cat chuckled. The two both laughed hard.