The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
8 — Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Rat and mouse: summer days
All designs by Juan Pablo Angel Marcos/MiC
JUAN PABLO ANGEL MARCOS
MiC Columnist
Michigan in Color
To Phat,
one of my bestest friends who continues to inspire me every day,
love you forever and always.
It was a hot, sticky summer day in the forest, and
to beat the heat, the forest animals did everything
they could to remain cool. Some would sit under their
favorite leaf and read their favorite book, while others
would take a trip to the market and cool down with
the help of some freshly scooped ice cream.
However, Rat and Mouse took a different approach
to staying cool in the summer heat; they preferred
spending the day swimming with friends at their lo-
cal creek. The two fuzzy creatures had been attached
at the hip since they were just baby rodents, sharing
blocks of cheese with each other during recess. They
were best friends and did everything together — today
was certainly no different. Under the beaming sun, Rat
and Mouse had made plans to swim in the creek with
their friends to fend off the most dangerous of rays.
Rat was the friend who seemed to have everything
in order; he was diligent, quick-witted and street-
smart, while Mouse was a little more carefree, scat-
terbrained and book-smart. Rat always loved to tease
Mouse about the one time he tried to make a delicious
chocolate cream pie for their neighbors. He baked
the pie that day so it would be extra fresh, following
the recipe he wrote down step by step while listen-
ing to Rat talk about his new cooking class. But it
turns out Mouse had misheard Rat. Mouse wrote
down “mustard” on his notepad, but Rat had actu-
ally said “custard.” Even though Mouse thought the
mustard request was a bit odd for a chocolate cream
pie, he never bothered to double check with Rat to
see if he misheard him. Instead, he went along with it
and ended up creating a monstrosity of a dish. That’s
Mouse for you.
On this particular day, Rat jumped for joy as he made
his way to Mouse’s home. He couldn’t wait to dive in
the water and practice his new butterfly technique. But,
unbeknownst to Rat, the day was going to take a turn
for the worst. You see, everyone was responsible for
bringing something to the creek — blankets, food and
games — but of course, Mouse had forgotten the items
he was responsible for.
Classic Mouse.
“Today’s the day!” said Rat. “I can’t wait to swim,
swim, swim!”
“Yes! I can’t wait to swim and relax as well,” said
Mouse, wiping the sweat from his brow as he began
to pack his backpack. Suddenly, Mouse realized his
mistake.
“Wait, oh no! I forgot, I do need to get some things
from the store before we head over.”
“What!?” screamed Rat. “Dude, you had all week to
get your stuff!”
“I know, I know,” said Mouse nervously as he started
making his way out the door. “It was a really busy week
at work, I… uhh… barely had time to cook dinner and do
laundry! I couldn’t even call my mom, that’s how busy I
was. And you know I always call my mom.”
Rat quickly followed Mouse out the door. “Sure…
Wait up!” he shouted after him. “This better be quick,”
he added in a mumble under his breath.
“Alright, which flavor are we thinking of?” said
Mouse as his eyes surveyed the shelf.
“It doesn’t matter to me! Just pick your favorite one
and let’s get out of here. We’re already late!” said Rat,
catching his breath and fanning himself with his tail.
“Good idea! Okay, let’s see… hmm… favorite one?”
said Mouse, rubbing his chin. “Everything Bagel
crumb or Baguette crumb? Hmmm, this is hard, Rat.
You know that I have more than one favorite!”
Mouse stood there for a second, thinking hard. The
Everything Bagel crumb or the Baguette crumb? Two
very delicious choices that had Mouse in a bind. The
Everything Bagel crumb was savory, the spices’ many
flavors creating a wonderful aroma, but the Baguette
cru—
“Ahh you’re taking too long,” said Rat, throwing his
arms up in the air.
Rat stood behind Mouse impatiently, before quickly
ripping the money right out of his pocket and throw-
ing it over the counter.
“We’ll go with the Baguette crumb! Thank you very
much,” Rat said to the cashier.
So they bought their crumbs and out the door they
went. But, as they made their way to the path leading
to the creek, Mouse realized he forgot to get another
item he was assigned to bring.
Classic Mouse.
“Ah, finally, all set, let’s get g—” Rat’s excitement
quickly came to a halt.
“Ahhh! I forgot one more thing, Rat!” Mouse ex-
claimed. “Berries from the Fruit Stand!”
Rat was in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me,
Mouse, let’s hurry up and go! The water is waiting for
us, I can’t stand this heat!”
“This is the last one, I swear!” said Mouse.
Rat looked at Mouse and said, “It better be, because
if not, all our friends will be done swimming in the
creek by the time we get there.”
So off they went… again. Traversing through the
heat, while the other forest creatures were keeping
cool. Over the log, under the fence and through the
grass, to make it to the Fruit Stand.
Rat and Mouse walked up to the Fruit Stand vendor
and to their surprise, there was only one fruit left
on the shelves. This meant that Mouse didn’t have a
chance to think hard about what to choose this time. It
would have to be the lone strawberry.
“Aw man, it looks like it’ll have to just be the straw-
berry this time,” said Mouse.
“Yeah, that’s really too bad, Mouse,” said Rat with
a sarcastic pout on his face. “Let’s get it and go! The
creek, our friends!”
“Yup, right, on it,” said Mouse.
So with all their goods obtained, Rat and Mouse
were finally able to start making their way to the creek
to enjoy their afternoon swim. Again they went, over
the log, under the fence and through the grass. Then
they had to go over the rocks, watch out for the fly-
ing birds and jump through the coarse sand to finally
make it to the creek. And right when they arrived,
something was off…
“Mouse?”
“Yeah, Rat?”
“Do you see what I’m seeing?”
“Yeah, the water is really clear! Looks great for a
swim, don’t you think? This heat is unbearable.”
“NO!” Rat shouted, “There’s nobody here! Oh no, I
knew this was going to happen, the day is ruined. How
could you forget the crumbs and the fruit!?”
Rat fell on his back and put his paws over his face.
He felt defeated because after a long day, all he had
wanted to do was spend some time goofing off with
his friends while they swam.
“Hey Rat, it’s okay, let’s just go for a swim,” said
Mouse.
Mouse walked up to the river and began dipping
his toes in the creek to get a feel for the temperature.
Mouse was trying to make the most of the situation
even if his friends weren’t there. Suddenly, he heard a
noise coming from the grass.
“Wait, I hear something, Rat! Getupplease,” said
Mouse, squeaking out the words hastily.
The source of the rustling sounds from the grass
revealed themselves to be Rat and Mouse’s friends,
Chipmunk and Rabbit.
“Oh my gosh! Sorry we’re late guys, Chipmunk for-
got to get the pie and carrots so we had to stop by the
market to get them,” said Rabbit.
“I’m so sorry, it’s my fault. These things really do
slip my mind,” Chipmunk said earnestly.
Having heard all this, the only thing that Rat and
Mouse could do was stand still while giving each other
the slightest side eye. Rat was looking like he could
explode in frustration at any second, while Mouse
looked like he could scratch his head in confusion
at any second. Even after a day filled with complica-
tions, Rat and Mouse were still the first ones to arrive
and Chipmunk and Rabbit had encountered an equal
amount of troubles.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Rabbit walked by Rat
and Mouse, giving them both a slap on the back. “Let’s
enjoy the water!”
“Come on Rat, let’s enjoy the water! We’re all finally
here, WOO!” said Mouse, running towards the creek.
“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m right behind you,” grunted
Rat.
Rat stayed on the shore for a while, trying his best
to keep his cool and not lose his temper on everybody.
Then suddenly Rabbit said…
“Hey, wait a minute, Rat, where’s the sunscreen you
were supposed to bring?”
“Sunscreen?” said Rat, “I thought Chipmunk was
supposed to bring that?!”
“Woah, Rat, you forgot the sunscreen?!” Mouse
asked, holding back a laugh with his paw over his
mouth. “Looks like even you can be a little scatter-
brained! C’mon Rat, let’s finally go for a swim.”
“Hey! …yeah, you’re right Mouse,” said Rat. “I guess
we’ll all be a little more sunburnt by the end of the
day.”
It seems like silly mistakes happen to everyone,
even Rat. Things may feel like the end of the world at
the moment, but with time, everything will eventually
fall back into place. At the end of the day, Rat was still
able to swim in the creek with most of the necessary
goodies and friends. So why not just enjoy his time?
Rat would shortly get up and cannonball straight
into the creek, finally getting to enjoy the water on a
hot summer day.
The truth was that Mouse did not have a busy week
at work. He did in fact have time to cook dinner, do
laundry and call his mom. He simply just forgot about
what he was assigned to bring.
So off they went, under the striking sun. First stop,
the Crumb Store, where the delicious bread crumbs
were sold.
THE END