Forum Thread

His fingers trembled as he placed his palm on the door, still taking in its magnificent design. So lost was he in the beauty, that he did not see the knocker just beneath his frame of vision transform into a liquid snake. Nor did he feel it slither around his wrist. Mikhail did, however, notice the pain as it tightened, preventing his hand from moving.

“Ssstate your name and your intenshionsss.” The coil’s head spoke, and, for a moment, he felt frightened. Animation of objects was as of yet beyond his ability. Again, he wondered how in the Heights Anya managed to sneak this person in. A hiss of his own escaped his mouth as the bindings tightened, a silent message to hurry and speak.

“My name is Mikhail. I was just exploring,” He cut off as the snake tightened yet again. Unbidden, his other hand now began attempting to loosen the grip. Naturally, to no avail.

“The truth, Immortal.”

“Release me, creature. I am Mikohailros, son of [Name] and [Name]. But I did not lie when I said I was exploring.” His hand was beginning to purple beneath the tourniquet, but the ensorcelled knocker showed no signs of letting up. “Now! Or you will pay!”

“Isss your hand really worth keeping your sssecretss? For I know you have yet to be fully honessst with me.”

“Fine! I noticed Anya looking at the clocktower entrance. Once she left, I decided to take a look at what she was protecting here.”

“Why? What could posssibly have been worth your time?” The pressure released slightly, as if in exchange for the truthful words so far.

“I hoped the entrance to the Underworld was hidden down here. And just in case you feel the need to ask. Though my methods might make it seem so, I do not have evil intentions regarding obtaining this knowledge.”

As soon as his hand was released, he not only pulled it back, but took several steps back until he touched the wall. As he massaged the feeling back into the dying limb, he wondered why he simply hadn’t destroyed the thing. Perhaps he’d feared what would come of it. After all, this was magick beyond his ability.

Quote from RoyalGecko from Star Wars

“Move it men! For the repub-” yelled Private Sharky before he was shot by a battle droid. He was just one of the unlucky ones. Another was Yesnt. His tower was shot right in the beginning of the battle, killing him and some others instantly. Another trooper sat dead in the trench. One medic placed their fingers on the trooper’s neck to try and find a pulse but cursed loudly when he didnt find one. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see another clone behind him who yelled over the blaster fire, “Leave them, Bob! I’ve got two more out on the bridge that need help!”
Bob turned his head and yelled back at the clone as they moved through the trench. “Where’s Raran?! I thought he was a runner!” yelled Bob. The clone shook his head.
“Raran was gunned down during the first charge!” replied the clone as they continued to move. He took out a little laser pointer and pointed at the man Bob needed to help. The clone was out in the open. One of his legs were gone but he was still firing his blaster at enemy droids. “That’s Koi, his leg was shot out from under him! I need you to get him back here so we can help- hey are you listening to me?” said the clone as he noticed Bob wasn't paying attention. He smacked the back of Bob’s helmet.
“Ya, Cypher!” shouted Bob as he began to take deep breaths in to ready himself for what he was about to do. Bob put his blaster down and nodded his head. “Tell me when!” yelled Bob as he waited for Cypher’s signal. Cypher then stood up and opened fire, which was Bob’s signal. He jumped out of the hole and began to run like hell to help Koi. As he got closer, he fell to the ground and began to crawl to avoid blaster fire. Eventually he stood back up and continued running until he slid into cover among some of his clone comrades. One of them looked at him and yelled.
“Bob, why the hell are you out here?! You’re on trench duty!” yelled the clone. Bob then responded.
“Raran’s dead,” said Bob as he looked around. He didn't see Koi anymore. He looked back at the clones and yelled, “Bantam! Where’s Koi?”
Bantam pointed farther up on the bridge. “He’s the only one moving up there other than the generals!” yelled Bantam as several shots hit their barricade. Bob nodded his breath and began to run once again, causing Bantam to shout after him. But Bob didn’t listen. He didn’t care about anything at this moment, other than helping his injured brother.
He stopped when he reached Koi and knelt down to help him up. Koi put his arm over Bob’s shoulder and Bob lifted him up. The two of them moved as fast as they could to cover, but droid blaster shots rained down onto them. Suddenly, Bob felt as though he was carrying 250 pounds all on his own. “Come on, Koi! We’re almost there!” said Bob as he continued to move to cover. But when he turned to look at Koi, he saw the blaster burns on Koi’s armor and realized what had happened. But he continued to walk with Koi’s body in tow. He continued walking until he too was shot in the back and fell to the ground. He coughed up blood and looked at Koi. His eyes became glassy, and even when Bantam and a few others ran to pull his body back to the trenches. Back to where he would just be another unlucky soul in this war....

Bright sunlight cascaded down the sides of the large library, and permitted entry to the nesting place of so many books, soon poured incandescently into the library, creating a blinding sheet of light that illuminated patches of the floor. It was still bright and early, yet with the way the library and its windows were designed, the place was almost immediately clad in a bright cloak as soon as dawn swung around. In absolutely no hurry, a young man walked around each shelf, shuffling books in each aisle and shelf into their correct positions, a placid air around him that set all who could see him at ease. He could hear the playful banter, murmuring like doves, filled with quiet cheer and deep thought. Such was to be expected at the The Flower Garden. Rowan Crane knew that if there was one place that he could just focus on his job without worrying about the utterly terrible state of the world, it was here in the garden. He hadn't known it then when he filed his resumé and gone in for his interview, but when he landed the job, when he'd gotten the email that he was hired, it only took a week for him to realize that he was here to stay. Where else would he go?

Rowan didn't usually find it in himself to pay attention to customers and their various needs unless he was mentioned or if someone needed something from him. Frankly, he wondered if he should actually apply for a desk job - and stop being in the background so much. But considering that he had not yet found a good way to well - put his circadian clock on track with that of a human- he could really risk falling asleep. And wouldn't that be embarrassing! Picking up a series of mathematics textbooks, all written by Lance DuBois, that had gotten displaced, he carried all four of them over to the correct place several shelves over, only staggering slightly under the rather cumbersome weight. Silently, he sighed to himself, running a hand through his light brown locks. While he was not one to openly rebuke anyone who was kind enough to pay The Flower Garden a visit, it annoyed him to no end when people didn't put the books back properly. Or when they openly mistreated the books they were reading, such as putting dog-ears or spreading them flat when they wished to preserve a page. 'Books should be treated with respect and care if they were to last.' Rowan thought quietly to himself. So absorbed was he in his work that he did not expect the ear-splitting shriek — 'Shien, bring the medical books here please?' Rowan literally jumped a few feet in the air as he felt the discordant sound ways smash into his sensitive ears, leaving them ringing long after the shout faded. Since his hearing was at least ten times as sharp as the average humans, even the smallest things could feel piercingly loud. Rowan took a few deep breaths, his heart racing. There was a chorus of thuds as all the books he had been carrying tumbled to the floor. Great. He'd wanted them in a certain order too.

The strigiform directed his peeved look at the inanimate novels scattered haphazardly on the floor instead of at the actual offender as he collected the books up once again, making sure to put them back in the right order this time before moving on. Ordered by title, in alphabetical order. The peace of the once quiet library disrupted, Rowan moved on to moving the books to the correct locations without a glance at the people at the counter. It didn't seem that they'd noticed him anyway. Apart from these set of vagabond books, it seemed the shelves were in good order, and Rowan set the books down with a gentle smile. With that done, he straightened up, stifling a yawn before making his way to the counter. He rolled his eyes at the sappy puppy look that had come over his coworker, Shien, when he handed the girl his book, like a puppy expecting his master to give a treat for good behavior. Given the current conversation exchange, he waited patiently for his turn to speak. He didn't miss the astonished look the girl gave Shien when she spotted how feline the jackal's eyes were. What did she expect anyways? Shien's behavior deviated from the normal human's so much so Rowan was tempted to pet him.

Guess this was a first for her.

"The shelves on the left wall are all sorted now." Rowan said respectfully to his boss, a thread of worry going through him - showing up within his cognac optics when Miyabi started coughing again. His health was not in the best state, and whether the red haired male knew it or not, Rowan would definitely be keeping an eye on him. "Oh dear. Try some honey for that cough?" He said with concern, only trailing off when he realized how out of place that must sound. Especially since the girl seemed to be an experienced healer. Making his way to the freshly arrived books, he began to examine them carefully, putting them in separate piles for later.

Snip it from The Kingdoms Three!

Faith gathered herself for a moment before looking at them, relaying the bad news and the vision she'd been given by her sisters: The invadable war, Faith's eventually face off with Talla, her surrendering to the later, what it would mean for the Solar Kingdom, and how tomorrow would possibly be the last day of peace. Reve's new orders were at this time tomorrow was to gather all of the servants and bring them all in the secret chambers until the bloodshed was over. Faith was advertently trying to avoid any innocent lives being killed, even if it meant that she became a martyr in the process.

The burden was heavy on her shoulders as she carefully went over a plan that she'd made, in hopes that fate would help them eventually. Maddy, Drake, Maeve, and Robin would take the kids and go as far away from the kingdom as possible to help them learn how to use the pieces of the Solar Diadem that they also had to find to avoid falling into the wrong hands, mainly Talla's. The pieces, as Faith explained, were scattered and she didn't even know where they now rested, were very important.

The group obviously had many, many questions and Faith seemed ready to answer them, not once did she look up from her folded hands on the table.

Snip it from My Miitopia Adventure (on my Quotev)!

Akane looked down from where the Dark Lord had been and watched as the people panicked. Brit's lover was mourning over the loss of Brit's face, the grandmother and the guide were kinda just standing there with their heads lowered in what Akane could only guess to be shame, Rudy's head was lowered as well, but he was sitting. As for Rascal's worried mother, she was basically an absolute mess, there wasn't any better way to describe it.

        "Ma'am?" Akane slowly approached her. "Ma'am? Are you-"

        The woman suddenly grabbed Akane's robes and started to sob. "My poor Rascal! Please, traveler, you need to help me! Please help me get my son's face back!"

        "Ma'am, I-"

        "Please!" The mother looked up at Akane with wet eyes from the ground. "He's all I have left!"

        Akane mentally sighed, why did she have the feeling that this was going to bite her in the @$$? "I'll try, but-"

        The response was cut off by her hugging Akane to the point of choking, after a few moments she released her and put a small purple and gold pendant around Akane's neck. "It's a family heirloom, a good luck charm. I want you to have it, to protect you."

        Akane looked at it for a moment then at the mother. "Thank you, it's beautiful. I swear, I'll do everything I can to get your son's face back." With a final look at her, Akane walked out of the small village.

        It had been at least a half-hour of searching in the nearby woods when she felt the cool air prick her skin, Akane looked up as Boots, who had been hiding in her bag the entire incident of Greenhorne had happened, hissed.

        Dark Lord Nina stared down at her sister before chuckling in amusement. "Is someone trying to be the big hero?"

        Akane looked up at her sister and taking a deep breath attempted to call out to her. "Nina, please give Rascal's face back!"

        "What? This ol' thing?" Nina asked presenting the said child's face, Akane nodded. To her dismay, Nina gave her a nasty grin. "Hrrm. Maybe I'll give it back to you. . .but you'll have to earn it." Nina smirked and summoned a small yellow slime. "How good are you in a fight?"

        "Nina please!" Akane attempted to plead, "this isn't you, don't do this!" But the plea fell upon deaf ears, much to Akane's dismay, the Dark Lord fused the child's face to the monster.

        "Be seeing you, if you survive, that is!" With a laugh, the Dark Lord that wore her sister's face was gone. The golden slime monster slowly inched its way towards Akane then lunged in attack. Out of pure reflex, Akane put her hands up to defend herself and flinched away, bracing herself for impact. Instead, a wall of fire shot out and blocked the slime. At the same time, the heirloom suddenly started to glow as it removed itself from around Akane's neck and hovered in front of her, a voice suddenly spoke to her from within it.

        "Akane. . .Akane, can you hear me?"

        "Um, yeah?" Akane was half focused on the voice as she was more concerned about the slime in front of her, which had appeared to stop its aggression for the moment.

        "It does seem like you're hearing me. . .what good fortune this is! Now you may not believe this, but I'm kind of a guardian spirit-"

        "I'm sorry, you're a what now?"

        "Please, just hear me out. It seems you're in a bit of trouble. Would you like my help?"

        "Yes please."

        "Ho ho! Excellent, excellent! I, er, bestoweth upon thee, the awesome power of the Guardian, the gift of Devine Power!"

        Akane watched as her traveler's clothes started to be covered in a fine golden dust, the dust disappeared where it landed and a simple mage's robe replaced her old garb. In her right hand, a simple wand formed from the small amount of dust that had landed in her hand that she had extended to observe the dust. When the transformation was complete, she looked herself over. Much to her relief, Boots and her bag had been left untouched despite being touched by the dust. "Would you look at that. . ."

        "Ho ho! This is exactly what you need to deal with the Dark Lord's feinds! Now fight, O Akane! Make your foes fear you!"

Quote from Royal Academy: Mages And Knights

Samton picked up the fangs of the black serpent, the only bit of it still left behind, and went forward. Going on further deep, he saw a little girl, about 5 or so, crying on the forest floor.

"What brings you here, young one? It's dangerous." 'Oh crap I sound like a grandpa'
"Mama... papa... goan.... Rororo scared... Rororo mish em... bery mushh..."
After saying this much, she once again began crying. Tears rolled down her cheeks. No person with a heart would be able to leave such a child behind.

"I'll help you find them, don't worry." Samton smiled. He reached for her hand, intending to help her up.

DIE
A feeling of unease swept through Samton as he got closer. He felt as though his mind was letting out a blood curdling scream. He hesitated for a moment. Looking there once again, on the spot were the young child was, now stood a 6 ft tall humanoid blob. It seemed as though it was a mountain of poison which came alive. It reached for Samton, ready to swallow him whole. Its creepy smile from ear to ear paralyzed Samton, who fell to the ground. Its grabbed Samton's hand, opening it's mouth wide enough to swallow Samton whole. A huge bolt of extreme pain made Samton feel like his hands were being dissolved by acid. Samton fainted.

---

When he woke up, Principal Sparmi and Tien Sebas were standing by his side. Sparmi looked at Samton kindly and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Principal, there was this girl... but she became a thing... I have never seen anything like it... I nearly died, sir... my hands- they felt like they were gone, sir..." Samton was barely able to speak. His voice was shaky and he had terror in his eyes.

"You're fine now Samton. Nothing happened to you. Take rest for the day." Sparmi said kindly, put Samton back in bed, and went for the Staff of the Academy.
"Call all the students back. There have been far too many terrible things happening lately. We must no longer take chances."

"But still, how did a mimic...? How here...? Thank you, Spirit Spirimine, for protecting this boy of yours."

---

---

Quick reminder that if a whole quote is italicized, then it's not speech but thought

Spirimine is the name of the butterfly spirit of light. (Name origin: Spirtus Lumine (lit. light spirit))

Quote from The Gifted

Yawning, silence. Blinking, silence. Groaning as he sat up, silence. Stretching, and the horrible sound of ripping and shredding cloth. Phenix groaned again, glancing over his shoulders to verify what he'd heard. Indeed, there it was; The sheets from his bed were strewn across his wings, the edges at the top having quickly slashed it apart before tangling it against the dull spikes at the bottom. For a few moments, he sat still. Then, he groaned once more and stood, feeling his back pop. Once, twice, three times. It was a lovely feeling in the morning. After that, he went about with carefully removing the shredded polyester from his extra limbs. Seventeen, and a soon-to-be senior in high school. 'And you're still having bedtime issues,' teased a quiet voice. The young Osiris grimaced, finally loosing himself from the sheets and dropping them on the floor before changing out of his sweat pants and tugging on some jeans. His white tank top stayed, though. Mostly because he couldn't get it off. It had been a big enough pain getting it on, he didn't need any excuse to run short on time. Speaking of time... Glancing at the clock, Phenix sighed. Breakfast, school satchel, out the door. Five minutes? Maybe.


Breakfast consisted of buttered toast with a fried egg and a piece of bacon on top. Holding that carefully in one hand, Phenix grabbed his satchel and slung it over one shoulder, then tugged on his shoes and started towards the door. Sure, he wasn't a straight "A" student, but school was fine enough. His only morning grievance was the chill of the air. Shivering against the cold air, Osiris quickly finished his breakfast. He had a medium-sized house, his parents hovering over him and providing what he needed to pay the rent for the subdivision, despite his efforts to get them to stop. They were too generous, but that was to be expected, Phenix supposed. Starting off down the quiet roads, Phenix silently plotted out his path to the school, a public school by his demand. Likely not the best demand, as there were more students in a public school that in the nearest private school, but at least he didn't have to worry about a uniform.

Quote from Motionless: Icarus and Aelin

Time: 8:44, 14 Minutes After The Ball Began; The Ball, Where Icarus And Aelin Meet;


xxxxxxThe thrill that accompanied the acceptance of Icarus' dare was like flying, if a bit too close to the sun. His namesake came to mind, the ill-fated journey of his wax wings only adding a bit to his grin. However, what truly threw him into the lethargic collection of the dance was Aelin herself, stepping from the shadows. Indeed, though of Death as she was, this was no normal person such as Icarus or the others waltzing around the floor. This was something else entirely, the simple aura surrounding this beast, this terrifying and beautiful force of nature, was enough to say as much.


xxxxxxHolding his hand out once more, Icarus softened his smile as Aelin took it. His second hand rested carefully at her side, his nervous edge slowly melting as the lights of the floor cast the pair into such a world where nothing seemed real. A simple ballroom dance, that was what Icarus intended. Something easy to learn, in case his partner had less knowledge of it than he. Of course, this was the only dance Icarus knew at all. Square, waltz, cha cha… All of those were a mystery to him. But a ballroom dance? Why, it was only because he'd feared going to dances that he knew it. In this case, though, he knew that fear would be of no worry. Aelin's steely gaze settled on him, sending another thrill though his belly. The music slowly crept into their space, filling their ears, giving them a rhythm to follow: Icarus was ready, the only thing he awaited was Aelin's first step.

Quote from Thx 4 The Feedback

Klaqu's a forum-chatroom type website, committed to bring people together and sparking intuition between communities. It was the exact opposite in the flesh; Online wars happened ever day, between furries and gamers, commies and hippies, etc. and etc. The young artist was in between it all, selling her pieces along with her other mediocre friends; Lea, Mason, and Rachael. Amy knew only Rachael in real life, and Rachael claims she knows Lea and Mason in real life. Amy doesn't believe her crap about Mason and Lea.

She got up from her bed, went to the kitchen, and smiled as she poured herself some green tea. Amy was a great follower of green tea, maybe even religious about it... She always had her watermark as a cup of green tea, her username, "Amese3", plastered on the yellow mug. She returned to her lair and started to check her millions of commissions and business deals.

After checking her millions of emails, she then checked Klaqu's home screen. To nothing of her surprise, there was a 50+ next to the messages tab. Amy clicked it reluctantly and her first message made her eyes widened...

Quote from Our Last Dance

Madame English was a famed royal woman for her beauty, charm, and elegance on the dance floor. She was originally a ballerina in her prime days, but ever since she married her husband, Mister English, she has been deemed the princess of a constitutional monarchy. Mrs. English was twisted whenever she became princess, she abandoned her family, and since her maiden name changed to English, no one could find out who her family was.

One night, on a crisp evening of March, she was at a ball with her family and friends. That night, she never came out of the building...

Quote from The Experiments

Skorch sighed, seemingly irritated. He stood by a tree, not too close as to burn it, but still close enough that he could lean on it. His face dawned an unpleased expression. “Those humans... who did this to me...” He thought aloud, clearly disturbed by the human crimes to these poor pokemon, including himself, “they won’t get away with this! All they’ve done for just the benefit of themselves, while our homes are destroyed; our families torn apart... They say they care for us... but if they did, why would they use us as guinea pings to test their substances? Why would they mass murder us just for one of our unique friends? I say they should be wiped off of the face of the earth! Obliterated! Extinct! For Arceus’ sake, when are they going to give us rest while they are gone? Ripping us from our homes for us to battle other Pokémon for fun! What gain will they earn from giving us pain? No matter what they try to do to “help” us... IT WILL NEVER PAY FOR THEIR SI-“

The Spinda cut Skorch off; “Woah, woah, calm down there buddy! I’m sure everybody isn’t like those who enslaved us!” But Skorch stayed silent, kicking a pebble seemingly into the distance with his rage.

*two figures collide the man sees it raining heavily and the girl has no umbrella*You okay miss here use my umbrella i am sebby. the man said letting the girl take the item thanks the girl replied my name is cherry sorry about running into you like that. Me and my pals were gonna head to our car so i won't need it sebby said to cherry with a calm cold expression (when the fires reach the limit are we gonna burn do we stand a chance can we make it through the flaming path of pain) oh sorry thats my ring tone ima go take this sebby said hey guys i met a cute girl and gave her my umbrella can you pick me up in the parking building and can i crash in your rv sebby asked his friend yes and no ill let you use my raincoat and drop you off at home the man said thanks nick sebby replied bye miss cherry

Quote from The Kingdom of Luminia

A group of four pokemon were sat at their home, near the Relaxation Parlour. It was a fairly large bungalow, belonging to Azure and Yung which they saved up and brought from the funds generated by their business as well as Yung’s savings (He didn’t mind. He was all for having a big home in the skies with a large garden. Since he wanted to move up).
All in all, it was another normal day today. Another sleepy day in the kingdom. Most days were like that, the citizens lived freely as they pleased, preferring the peaceful life that the sky provides. Of course, if you wanted entertainment or something to do, the Arena was around the corner. And there were frequent organized events as well which had quite the variety. From art classes, to cooking. From concerts to meet and greets. Luminia really did have it all… Perhaps it was right to call it ‘Heaven’? For the living at least. And for those who lived there it certainly seemed that way to them. Mostly.
Now who were the four I mentioned? Of course, the four that I mentioned are a family who live in the suburbs. A Lucario, a Riolu, a shiny Suicune and a Mewtwo. An odd family, right? Yet their bonds are stronger than steel. Their names? Yung the Lucario, Emerald the Riolu, Azure the Suicune and Sachihiro the Mewtwo, Hiro for short. Right now, the quartet were just relaxing in the living room, reminiscing about past events

“It’s been a while hasn’t it? Since we moved up here?” Emerald asked
“It has been quite some time…” Yung mused while sitting on a bubble. In a sense they were all sitting on bubbles.
Hiro sat up, listening. “Hold on! So, you and Emerald haven’t lived here for long? Not since you were born?” He was surprised, after all, he had only joined the family recently under unusual circumstances.
Azure chuckled lightly. “Haha…I remember when the two of them came in applying for the assistant position I put up for the shop. They seemed like a spark so I took them in.”
Hiro looked at Yung. “Can you tell me how you found this place? After all, the contraption built to teleport people up here in the Forest of Beginnings was built after that incident… and you’ve been here for…?”
“Three years.” Yung replied. “How time flies…three years since I first moved up here. Well now, I don’t mind telling a bit about my past…I suppose I should reveal a little bit about my human identity too. You know that by now, correct?”
Hiro nodded.
“Alright then…where to start…let’s start with this…” He took out a picture of himself, looking a little younger. A picture of him three years ago holding a rescue team badge…

Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy evening, a small mouse searched for a shelter to house her family, to keep them safe from the weather and those who would do them harm. Staying to the shadows of the streets, the mouse did her best to hurry in her search as her worry for her children grew.

Thankfully, a warm light shining through a backdoor of a home accidentally left slightly open eased her mind. A quick peek into the cosy home revealed it to be perfect: Warm and dry with a mouth-watering smell of food carrying over to the mouse’s nose from further within.

Perhaps it was too perfect.

Resisting the urge to follow that scent then and there, she turned on her tail and scurried back to her family to tell them of her great discovery.

The mouse did her best to be careful as she hurried her tired and cold children onwards, assuring them they’d get to rest with full bellies soon enough. As the house came back into view, the backdoor still open, the mouse breathed a sigh of relief.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I was you. They don’t like vermin of any size there.”

Her heart leaping to her throat, the mouse chastised herself for getting ahead of herself and her stomach dropped as she spotted the one who had surprised them. A cat stared at them from a discarded cardboard box next to a trashcan.

“Go on, now. Just a little further,” The mouse hesitantly urged her terrified children forward as she kept her eyes on the cat who had fortunately stayed inside his cardboard home.

“It’s alright,” the cat tried to calm them, “I’m not in search of food nor should you look for any in there.” His words fell on deaf ears as the mouse family reached their sanctuary, the mother shooting parting words at the cat before disappearing inside as well:

“I’d rather stick my nose into a mouse trap than trust the word of a cat!”

With those bold words and the warmth of the house, the mouse felt more at ease once more as she went over to her children who had their noses curiously up in the air as their tiny eyes took in as much of the house as they could. The relieved mother did a head count. One of them was missing.

He couldn’t have gotten far, the mouse thought as she scanned the room, trying to locate her lost child. She was correct, it turns out, as she spotted him further by the wall of the home. He had found a piece of cheese on the floor. Oddly, it was placed on top of a small piece of wood separate from the wooden floors. There was a metal spring next to the cheese.

The mouse had no time to react in her dawning horror before the resounding snap robbed any comfort the warmth of the house could offer.