LISA
A Proud Murid Mother of Seven
Her babies were born during a summer thunderstorm. She nurtured them in a disused ventilation shaft whilst secretly dreading the day they’d leave the nest.
She prepared them well though – taught them about hawks, owls, cats and foxes even racoons although there weren’t many of those to be found around Digbeth Coach Station. She warned them of the temptation of poison bait boxes, and the dangers of eating cold kebab meat straight from the bin.
They first ventured out at the crack of dawn. They stuck closely together but went straight under the wheels of the overnight coach from Aberdeen.
RICHARD
Hello World
I’ve always been painfully shy. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been the one hiding in the corner, keeping as low a profile as possible, and avoiding interaction with others.
It had to stop.
I got counselling – in itself a huge leap forward – and they gave me suggestions of ways to break out of my shell.
The internet was the perfect way to keep people at a distance, whilst stepping out of my comfort zone.
Try writing stories for a podcast, they said.
So, I did.
And here I am.
At long last, it’s my turn to shine!
LIZZIE
At the crack of dawn, the rats would come out to play.
He knew they would try to shine.
But he wouldn’t let them. Oh, no.
At the crack of dawn, the rats would start to talk.
He knew they’d give him up.
But he wouldn’t let them. Oh, no.
There was only one way to stop this madness.
He drove to them.
At the crack of dawn, he knocked on their door.
They opened, saw him and tried to run.
It was messy and they never got to shine.
He almost felt for them, at the crack of dawn.
SERENDIPIDY
Every morning, at the crack of dawn, the rats return to their lair.
The village breathes a collective sigh of relief, and once the sun is high in the sky, life can resume as normal.
Doors and shutters are checked, freshly-gnawed holes are filled, and bait and traps set, only then can we attend to the preparing and cooking of the meat snared overnight.
Once we have eaten, we prepare once more, for the darkness and horror of the night.
By day, we may feast on the rats, but when the night comes, they seek to feast on us.
TOM
Even in the quietest moments
Maurice surveyed the horizon, a mere sliver of light over the waves of black sand. He was not the one to be up at the crack of dawn. He was the night hawk, the man with the 10,000-yard stare. When he saw her face in the starlight, he could not bare to wake Amanda. It was the first time in weeks he noted the grief had for a moment crept away into the blackness about them. The trouble with the blackness is it was just as likely to creep back at you. What was creeping towards them were the rats.
NORVAL JOE
A kindly old woman smiled at them from behind the counter inside the store. She leaned forward to look out the window. “How’d you three get here?”
Sabrina picked up a shiny packet of powdered donuts. “We’ve been walking since the crack of dawn. Will this road take us to Eureka?”
She nodded. “Ferndale, Fortuna, then on to Eureka.”
Billbert paid for their donuts and milk. He headed for the door and stopped. A jeep pulled into the parking lot with three familiar passengers.
“Rats!” Billbert said. “In reviewal of our situation, is there a back door we can use?”
PLANET Z
Drusilla is painfully shy.
Sits in the back of the classroom.
Never raises her hand.
Wets herself when she’s called on anyway.
And if she answers, she answers in a whisper.
Changes in a bathroom stall for gym.
And runs to the bathroom to change back.
Nobody invites her to their parties.
Which is fine by her.
She likes to keep to herself.
And her pet rats.
Well, she calls them her pet rats.
But they’re just ordinary rats in the house.
Running around the cellar.
She puts out cheese for them.
They eat, and run back into the shadows.