A Day in a Life In After World: Sugar

by Eric Johnson

are standing you rodent!" he called down at her.

  Down at her! It infuriated her. In a single movement Hash had ruined her day, wasted her food, and dirtied her dress and now she was being spoken down to!

  Her knife was still in hand and she leapt back up onto the bench and dived over at the other mouse gloating behind it. She stabbed at him with the knife but the blunted edge did no damage.

  Hash, knocked over by the surprise attack shoved her off of him and stood upright again.

  "Sugar!" He shouted, "What has gotten into you?"

  She gave a guttural grown and leapt for him again, this time slashing with her small weapon which turned out to be much more effectual. Two red slashes appeared on the sleeve of his shirt.

  A whistle blew behind her. A member of the watch had spotted the ruckus.

  She looked back and then at Hash. He was standing there holding his arm and looking back at her in disbelief. What she had done suddenly dawned on her. She had tried to kill him, over words. Over words and a stupid melon she had tried to kill him. She knew he would heal easily enough, all of her kind did. But the damage was done.

  The whistle blew again and was much closer.

  "Hold it right there!" came the voice of Officer Really.

  Both mice reacted to the officer's words as all mice do. They vanished. Feud forgotten, they both made a mad dash for a nearby alley. The officer was in close pursuit behind.

  When they reached a spot in one wall, Hash stopped and motioned Sugar to go in. She did not hesitate but dived into a small crack in the walls between two buildings. Hash followed right behind.

  "Ow!" Hash suddenly shouted. "Let me go!"

  Hash was pulled bodily out of the crack and the officer's face was suddenly filling the crack and staring in at Sugar shivering there, just out of reach.

  "Get out here you wild mongrel. We will not put up with any of this violence under my watch."

  Sugar could hear Hash struggling outside.

  She considered coming out and facing the officer, but then looked down at her dirty dress and remembered Hash's words, "Without that pretty little dress and clean hair you would be just like the rest of us. Hunted, hated, beaten, and killed." She knew her hair was probably a mess too with all this tumbling.

  So instead she went deeper and quickly found what she knew would be there, a burrow.

  She climbed down into the hole in the ground between the two walls. Her dress got caught on something, a nail possibly, but she could not see. She was not in a position to climb back up and her hand could not reach what it was stuck on. She was forced to continue down the hole.

  A terrible ripping noise rent the small cavity before finally the dress gave way and she tumbled into a small open space.

  She lie on the floor crying for a moment from the shock of what had just happened to her, what she did, and what could have happened if she had went back.

  A minute later a body came flying down the hole and landed on top of her.

  Oof! All the wind was knocked out of her and she saw stars.

  "You okay?" A voice asked her, it was Hash.

  "Hahh?" She could not form the words, she was still out of breath from him landing on her.

  He helped Sugar up. It was very dark here, but like other mice, she could see very well in the darkness and could see him clearly.

  She nodded in response to his earlier question and then concentrated on getting her breath back.

  "How did you escape?" She asked when she finally could.

  "Bah!" He replied. "Stupid officer let go of me to get his cuffs but was blocking the entrance, so I ran back into the market. He followed so I turned around, ran right past him and back to here. Simple as that."

  He struck a heroic pose.

  "Oh." She was impressed, she would not have known what to do. That is why she got caught last time.

  "And, I got you this!" He said presenting her with half of a cantaloupe.

  She took it from him and turned it over in her hands. It was covered in dirt. Grainy sand stuck to the moist fleshy fruit. She dropped it in disgust.

  "Hey now!" Hash complained picking it back up. "I got that for you, don't waste it!"

  He tried to hand it back to her but she refused.

  "It is dirty and ruined!" She cried. "I cannot eat that!"

  Hash took a bite out of the melon.

  "Look!" He said, "It's good food, don't waste it!"

  To Hash it was quite excellent. He was used to spoiled fruits, stale bread, or gristle cast offs from bins. This was the staple of most mice.

  Sugar shook her head.

  She sat down hard in the space and pulled up her knees and cried softly. Her dress was ruined, she was grubby and now the watchmen would be looking for her.

  "There now." Hash tried to comfort her. "It's going to be okay."

  She did not look up, she only shook her head.

  "You should thank me you know." He said.

  She did look up at this.

  "I saved your life you know, and got you back to being a mouse proper." He sounded as though he really meant it as a good thing.

  She realized that she did not have her knife any more. She must have lost it while running from the watchman. If she had it still, she would slice at him until he was in pieces. Instead she went back to crying, much harder now.

  "What did I say?" he asked in an astonished voice.

  She was upright in a flash and moved forward on him pinning him against the wall.

  "You have ruined everything!" She shouted. "My food, my dress, my hair, my dreams! You have ruined all of it!"

  "Dreams?" He said questioningly, "Since when does a mouse have dreams?"

  "You wouldn't know of dreams!" she was livid, "You are content to just go from hole to hole and sneak out any time you smell a raisin in a dumpster or you see someone drop a puff crumb! I have dreams of having a life that is more than that! I live in the open and no one tries to kill me at every turn! Some people?"

  She paused for a moment the continued, "Some people even like me. Or they did. You ruined my dress, I don't know what he will do."

  "Is this about your dress?" he said encouragingly, "I can get you fixed right up. You wait here."

  He broke himself away and quickly climbed up the hole. A moment later he stuck his head back down and said, "I might be a while, just be patient."

  His head disappeared again.

  Sugar picked up the rind of the discarded melon and looked at it. It was still covered in sand and dirt and now additionally had some ants crawling on it. She tossed it away from her and sat down against the wall.

  She sat in silence for some time before she heard a scuttling from the passage above her. Suddenly two mice dropped in to the hole.

  "Did he see you?" One asked the other.

  "Naw. He was still trying to figure out what happened." The other said.

  It was a male and a female mouse, the first one speaking being the male.

  Sugar could see the female pull something out of her pocket. It looked to be a scone. She broke it in half and handed half to her partner.

  The partner took a good sniff of the open end and said, "Ah! Burrberry! That's the good stuff."

  He took a good bite out of the scone and that is when he noticed Sugar. He stopped chewing and tapped his partner a couple of times and pointed.

  "Well, aren't you the pretty one?" He said menacingly. "I have seen you around plenty. Walking around like you is a normal or something."

  Sugar felt very alone and afraid suddenly. Tur would not allow something like this to happen to her. Hash would even stand up for her. She tried to shrink into the corner and said nothing.

  "What is that you are wearing anyway?" He sneered at her. "You think you are pretty or something?"

  She shook her head and remained quiet.

  "You is just getting to be an adult, you been bred yet?" His tone took a much scarie
r turn with this question.

  Sugar felt her body tense up to spring on him but at the same time another mouse dropped through the hole. It was Hash! She could not remember ever being so glad to see him.

  "Hey Griss!" Hash said, "What are you doing to my Sugar?"

  Griss turned on the new arrival and looked for a moment like he was going to strike him but thought better of it.

  "And you, Bess?" He addressed the female now.

  Bess hung her head and did not answer.

  Hash pointed to the hole entrance, "The market was clear of watchmen a moment ago, you might make good use of that opportunity.

  Sugar knew the two of the mice could easily team up on Hash. She got ready to pounce in case there was trouble.

  But there wasn't. Amazingly the two decided to leave without saying anything else.

  Once they were gone, Sugar ran across to Hash. He held her and soothed her.

  "Oh!" He said suddenly, "I almost forgot!"

  He pulled a small bundle he had been hiding under his clothes. He laid it out gently and before Sugar's eyes was the most lovely dress she had ever seen. It was silky and shiny with pastel pinks and whites and had little frills around the collar, sleeves and dress bottom. It was almost too beautiful. Almost.

  "Where did you-" She started to ask but choked on her words.

  "Don't worry." He assured her, "No one is going to notice it missing."

  He looked smug.

  "Turn around!" She ordered.

  He rolled his eyes and turned around.

  Sugar wasted no time in getting naked and tossing her torn dress aside. She picked up the new dress and it slipped easily right down over her body. It was almost a perfect fit.

  The material hugged her skin in softness like she had never experienced. She ran her fingers down the front and loved the silkiness of it.

  "Where did you