Personal Log - Anne, Grandma, Twins, and a Brave Schlompi - Small Comfort - Earth XII

Posted on Sun Sep 14th, 2014 @ 10:18am by Commodore Andrea Levine PhD & Danielle Atarah

1,310 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?
Location: Earth

-- CONTINUED --

For the children in the Levine-Grant household, their world in the past few months included staying almost exclusively at home. The twins didn't seem to mind much, having relatively basic needs, though they could be heard blabbing and chattering about "Eh Pak" -- The Park -- while playing.

It was a different matter for Anne, though. Not only were the events of the past few months a constant cause of stress, especially to her mother (and Anne was always especially tuned for that) -- with the situation as it was outside and other parents' concerns regarding Andrea's house arrest, Anne's world completely collapsed, shrinking into the tiny confined bubble of the house. No school, no friends to visit, no summer camp to go to, no freedom to roam around and no after curricular activities where she could meet and mingle with friends.

It was only her, and her brother and sister, and her mother, and Schlompi. And grandma, who came to visit and stayed the night four times a week.

So it was an especially sweet and excellent adventure for the girl, and for her trusting rat, to go on their walks to the park with grandma when she came by, even if those, too, were somewhat limited, and the older woman wouldn't let Anne go anywhere outside of reach. Still. It was the outside, the park, with sunshine and grass and Schlompi's nails scratching the pavement.

Blissful fun, where she could almost, for moments at a time, forget that the entire Earth is in the garbage. "In the crapper," she heard her grandpa say one night after dinner, but she didn't think she should repeat that.

And today was a lovely day. The weather was nice and warm, with a soft breeze that ruffled through her hair and made Schlompi's fur sway lightly. The rat walked briskly near her, barking occasionally at the twins who found that gesture completely hilarious, and giggled merrily. Even grandma Levine seemed to momentarily forget her dislike for Anne's little furry friend.

And then things changed.

* * *

Schlompi noticed it first. The oversized rat paused, his fur standing up taught, his eyes narrowing, a low growl emanating deep from his gut. They all looked at him, but had no time to be too confused.

It happened fast. Six of them, burly and armed, moved close; two remained in the periphery, three approached on all sides, and one, their leader, approached carefully. Schlompi's growls intensified as the man spoke to grandma Levine, his voice calm but firm, gesturing at the others that surrounded them.

There was not much choice, not much chance to resist or run or flee; Mrs. Levine picked up the twins protectively, lifting them from the blanket on the grass, and the two squirmed, alarmed by the sudden change of atmosphere, reacting to the stress of the woman that held them.

Anne moved closer to her grandmother, muttering to Schlompi to hush. The overgrown rat ignored her, which was completely unlike him. It may have ended without trouble, the family would have climbed, scared but unharmed, into the waiting shuttle.

But then the man put his arm on Anne's shoulder, and the girl jerked away defiantly. He lowered himself only slightly to reach for her, to grab her hand, and her grandmother hissed a warning--

And that was when Schlompi attacked.

The rat jumped, using Anne's half-bent knee as a platform, launching himself on the man's reaching hand, attaching himself onto it with his sharp teeth. The man yelled in anger and recoiled, blood gushing from pierced skin that was still attached to Schlompi's mouth. The rat, relentless and defensive of his family, did not let go.

Panic ensued. Mrs Levine retreated, pulling Anne with her, her eyes frantically looking at the weapons in each of the men's belts, worried.

The leader, his hand bleeding, cursed loudly and shook his arm, grabbing Schlompi by the scruff of his neck, pulling him forcefully off his skin with a loud sucking noise. The rat barked a warning and growled, then twisted, avoiding the large man's swatting arms. This time, he went for the kill, jumping high, missing the man's face, landing on his shoulder, planting his sharp teeth in his shoulder, hanging on for dear life as the body beneath him twisted.

Anne screamed.

The group of men came out of their daze and moved in to help their bleeding leader. "Take them inside!" he yelled, and they did, two leading forcefully, the other grabbing for the girl, and the rest trying to grab for Schlompi's twitching form.

"STOP IT!" Anne yelled, and twisted, freeing herself from the man's grip, nimble as a cat. She ran, and the man behind her, surprised, reacted instinctively, launching himself at her, grabbing for her arms. He tripped at the edge of the large green lawn that only moments ago symbolized the freedom and joy she so missed. They both fell, she inside his grip, him on top of her, slamming into the grass, twisting her arm and hitting her head on the pavement.

She yelped, calling for Schlompi, crying in surprise and fury as blood gushing from the cut on her forehead.

But the rat, panicking now, in full attack mode, dug in deeper. The man he attacked grunted and yelled obscenities and then, finally, grabbed him, roughly, twisting the rat's body and tossing him off, away, flinging him out into the air like a fury football, slamming into the branches of a tree and falling off it, vanishing behind the small walking bridge nearby.

Anne cried out in horror. Reality vanished; she didn't notice she was lifted, kicking and screaming, her hair sticking to her face, she didn't hear her grandmother's horrified yelling or her brother and sister's panicked cries. She heard nothing, felt nothing, her eyes remained fixed, wide and full of tears, on the bloody splotch on the tree.

On what was left of Schlompi.

And then it was over. Bystanders, who were hiding and cowering during the whole event, running away from the developing drama, now started coming back, slowly, though most made their way outside, to the safety of their homes. No one interfered. No one dared. It was just one more horror in the reality that was occupied Earth.

* * *

The leaves ruffled lightly in the soft breeze, and his fur shifted. The rat opened his eyes slowly, reality rematerializing itself in his field of vision, memories coming back, rushing to fill in the void. Instincts made him jump up and growl, a growl that turned into a soft whine of pain.

He was covered in blood, some of it already drying, the absolute most of it wasn't his own. He looked up, at the tree branch that broke his fall, at the trail of blood that he left as he fell, and sniffed it. Bad blood. The bad, evil, putrid-smelling blood of the man who tried to hurt Anne. He growled again, and this time kept it low, his eyes narrowing intensely.

She wasn't there anymore, he knew; her scent was almost completely gone. He limped a few feet, climbing the rocks up the small walking bridge, sniffing and growling. His left leg pounded painfully, and he folded it close to his small body as he trotted towards the edge of the grass.

Anne was away, the trail stopped cold. He looked a moment, confused, searching, considering the world around him.

And then, sneaking towards the bushes at the edge of the street, aiming back towards the house, back to the people he knew, back to either finding Anne, or finding help for Anne.

Half limping, intent on his mission, shaking off bits of dried blood from his fur, Schlompi, the oversized Andorian rat, sprinted home.

* * *

Anne Levine-Planck
Madison and Cooper Levine-Grant
Roberta Stewart-Levine

&

Schlompi, the brave Andorian Rat

 

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