MICE (any gender, mid teens to mid thirties)
Carmen, we don’t have time for a plan. The sun is going to come up in an hour, maybe less.
I know your scared. I’m scared.
Those creatures are in the woods.
If we go in the woods, we are going to run up against them.
But if we stay here and try to think of the right way to get to the den, we’re going to run out of time.
It’s just like a story my dad used to tell me about a stupid mouse. A bunch of mice were trapped in a maze. While they were trying to decide what to do, the stupid mouse just took off running. He smacked into dead end after dead end. He broke his nose, his teeth, his hands... but he kept moving and he crossed off each entrance to a dead end. And after an hour, all the dead ends were marked and the mice all sped to the exit.
Carmen, we can’t be afraid of getting hurt. As far as anyone knows, those creatures only scratch and bite. They don’t kill. Not yet. There’s not enough of them. If we find the den, and we will find it, we can torch the whole thing before the sun comes up. Before those things have a chance to multiply.
Let’s be stupid and survive.
Copyright 2016 by Matt Haynes.
If you would like to use this piece, please credit: "Courtesy of Matt Haynes and The Pulp Stage"