Chapter 1

Today is the day I've been waiting for. The chance for freedom is at hand. I woke up and the girl that feeds me was gone away to bed and so were her parents. Naturally the cage roof was open, because the male human thinks I am too stupid to get out of the old fish tank that is my cage. But I will show him. I will tell of what happens once I am safe and out somewhere. *** Yes! I am free! Oh, right. What happened. Ok, so at first I tried to climb out but it was too slippery so I tried to climb my wheel. But of course whenever I got on it just turned and there I was down again. So I took my food bowl and shoved it under the wheel and it got stuck. Then I was able to climb it and jumped out of the cage and landed on the table. I climbed down the leg but it was slippery and I thumped at the end. But I got right back up and ran across the room, this way, then that way, never running just straight. Sometimes I'd put in a little leap too for good measure. Once I was at the door I easily squeezed under and lifted my nose to sniff. It smelled moldy and damp, yet it smelled of crisp warm air rising too, with a slight dusty touch. I continued to another door, but this one was too tight to squeeze under. So I changed direction and scampered down the hall. At the end of the hall, I could smell something... something like... fresh air! And plants! And other wonderful whiffs caressed my nose. I now knew what that smell was... freedom! I charged towards the smells and found a door wrenched a bit open by a small wooden block. I happily scrambled outside, and behold! A wonderful world awaited me, as far as I could see. I stared for a while then shook myself. I needed to find a place to rest for the night. I hopped into the grass and started exploring. Lots of grass, some gopher holes, the stale scent of cat, and loads of other interesting things. After a while I spotted a small crack in the wall of the 701 building I had just left. By sucking my stomach in I managed to squeeze in and found it widened into a small cave that I could use as a den. Mold grew all about on the wall and it's smell was not so pleasant. I crawled outside again, and grabbed a stick in my teeth. By backing slowly backwards into the crack with the stick dragging I was able to get back in, although the sides grazed my fur and coated it with old dirt. With the stick I scraped away the mold and then I stuffed the stick into the entrance so that it blocked most of the draft flowing into the small cave. Then I dragged some softer grass, a small fluffy chickadee's feather, and a couple of dandelion seeds into my new den, and arranged it into a suitable nest. I curled up into it, and (yawn) now I must rest my head for a few hours until my energy is restored.