FREE STORIES 2012(108)

"What does it mean?" Alfie asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Mayflower Hoikuen." Notch squeaked climbing down out of the carry basket. He scurried up the ramped edge of the staircase to one of the small round portals that the mice used to enter buildings. There was an invisible barrier that kept Jack's paw from passing through the hole but the mice popped through it without slowing down.

Notch appeared on the other side of the glass doors and waved at them.

Automatic doors never worked for Jack. He apparently was too small to activate them, but they recognized Alfie bulk and movement. They slid open as the pony plodded up to them and into the building.

"And so it begins." Alfie grumbled.





Notch led them through several doors, moving deep into the building. The air inside was twenty degrees warmer than outside; the heating was working in the building. The last door opened to a vast dim room, filled with odd pieces of equipment, and a rank smell of excrement. Something fairly large was alive in the room.

"Ohayou!" Notch squeaked.

There was squeal in reply, too loud to be a mouse, but just as ear—piercing.

"Nigeru! Nigeru!" A swarm of mice squeaked as they came charging toward Jack.

With a patter of feet, the pursuing creature rounded the corner, running on its back legs, front legs raised over its head. It stood at least two feet taller than Jack. It was mostly white with a long black mane. It stopped as it came in view and stood a moment, blinking in surprise at the dog and pony.

Then it gave this odd gurgling laugh, which ended with another loud, ear—piercing shriek, and charged.

Alfie snorted loudly and took off running the other way.

"Hey!" Jack dodged an attack and raced after the fleeing pony. "Why are you running from it?"

"Because it's chasing me!"

"You're bigger than it!"

"It apparently knows something I don't!"

They outdistanced it easily as the creature wasn’t very stable on its back legs. It flailed its forelegs, laughing and shrieking and occasionally falling flat on its face.

"What is it?" Alfie snorted and pranced.

"I don't know!" For some strange reason, every time it fell, Jack had the overwhelming urge to run back to it and make sure it wasn't hurt. The weird instinct was warring with the knowledge that it was twice his size and obviously fearless.

The soft uneven patter of feet marked the approaching animal.

"Here it comes." Jack scanned room. The area was full of odd plastic equipment of unknown function in bright primary colors. "We need some kind of a plan to catch…. Oh crap!" This was because Alfie had bolted again, leaving him alone as the creature rounded the corner. It spotted Jack and squealed. Jack scrambled desperately after the pony. "Alfie, this is getting us no where!"

"It's getting us away from it!"

"We're running in loops!"

Alfie dodged right. "Now we aren't!"

The right had been a mistake. It led them into a virtual maze of the brightly dyed plastic equipment. There were ramps and slides and inexplicable pits filled with multi—colored balls.

Alfie suddenly jerked to a halt, his feet splayed wide, his eyes wide with fear. "Jack," the pony whimpered. "I think it's on my back."

It was definitely on sprawled across Alfie's back having leapt from one of the pieces of equipment. It had two paws clenching tight to Alfie's mane.

"Get it off!" Alfie wailed.

"Hold on a minute."

Not exactly what Jack had in mind of "catching" the creature, but far as he could tell, it wasn't actually hurting the pony. The back feet seemed to be lacking in claws and the front feet seemed more like Jack's than Renard's.

"Jack, I'm scared."

"Nothing to be scared of." Jack lied.

"But – but – but what if it falls?"

Jack cocked his head in confusion. "You – you don't want it to fall?"

"Falling would be bad. Head injuries. Spinal damage. Broken limbs. Falling needs to be avoided at all cost.

There should be a saddle."

"What's a saddle?"

"I don't know! It—it—it goes on my back and I shouldn't blow up my stomach when the girth is tightened."

"The girth?"

"Get it off before it falls!" Alfie wailed. "I don't like this!"

Jack circled the pony, trying to figure out how to get the creature who was twice his size off the pony's back without hurting any of them. "Can you lie down?"





Thus they ended up leaving the crèche with the creature carrying Jack as a very much—relieved Alfie walked ahead of them. Over the creature's shoulder, Jack could see mice appearing on the top step the building, seemingly hundreds of them. There were more than he ever imagined there being.