There are so many mice in the world that it’s hardly worth singling any individual one out. The majority serve no purpose, other than being a filling meal for someone higher up on the food chain. There are lots of mouths to feed out there! But to every living mouse, they do not see themselves as naught but a morsel. They live and breathe and enjoy themselves as much as any other creature crawling about! The same can be said for one particular plump mouse, Julia, who has been fairly successful at evading one of many possible gruesome ends thus far in her life.

Julia’s origins are nothing uncommon for rodents: Born to a large family, having many brothers and sisters, out in the countryside. Weather was almost always good, food was plentiful, and predators were scarce. Julia herself wasn’t a stand-out by any means either: Brown fur coat with plain white fur underneath, big ears, hairless tail, and a snout that was always twitching away. She got along just fine with her family, siblings and parents alike! Things were normal for the rodent family who had made out pretty well for themselves, all things considered.

Strength in numbers was key to keep the family going. Julia couldn’t remember how many siblings she had from the get-go, what with one or two getting picked off by a hungry snake early on in her life. Wander too far from the nest, her parents cautioned, and it could mean the end of you! Wander they did, as young ones are wont to do, and some paid the ultimate price (the sated serpent appreciated the tasty treats). Julia had zero intentions of wandering astray, preferring the company of family and the bountiful foods available, opting to laze about most days instead.

Julia wasn’t exactly made of stone in all of life’s temptations, though! Said food – nuts, grains, the occasional fruit – quickly grew boring and not so satisfying for the rapidly-growing mouse. She wondered if it would be possible to ever spice things up, and got her answer one day when out playing with her sister Tisha. Julia had found herself in somewhat of a growth spurt of late, and she enjoyed the physical advantages this gave her. Unfortunately for her this also made Julia suffer around mealtime, as rations were equal and there was no room for discussion on the matter. The bounties they enjoyed would whittle away too fast if everyone ate all they wanted, after all. So, while out playing with Tisha one day, a game of Hide and Seek was had. Julia, who found a lazy hiding place behind a rock, sat there with paws on her empty tummy, it growling at her. She pawed at it and thought of dinner, so far away from now, before thoughts turned towards Tisha…

Julia was surprised at the thought of her shorter, stockier sister making her drool some! And when the plump brown mouse rounded the rock and proclaimed “found you!”, Julia’s hunger roared. She gripped Tisha’s shoulders and stood, leaving her sister to kick her hinds and thrash her tail, Julia playing “too rough” and wanting to be let go. All motions ceased when Julia, a grin escaping, yawned her buck-tooth maw wide open and shoveled the mouse headfirst straight down her gullet! Julia yanked the simple dress down and off Tisha (Julia herself never bothering with clothes), pressed paws to her sister’s rear, and quickly devoured the squealing mouse. It took only a few swallows, Julia not stopping to taste. The muffled cries fell on deaf ears as Julia slurped up the noodly tail and polished Tisha away with a climactic gulp, furry belly pressed to the rock Julia had hid behind.

What a revelation! So full! So content! The squirming, digesting mouse in her belly filled Julia’s spirit as much as her gut, and it was obvious to her now what she had to do to sate her constantly-nagging appetite. Grains, plentiful as they were, wouldn’t do anymore. Julia’s family was now on the menu!

And so, over the course of weeks, Julia picked off her siblings, one by one (sometimes in pairs, as Julia grew fatter and larger at a much quicker pace thanks to her diet). What started as a dozen was reduced to two: Julia and her brother Timmy. Julia’s parents watched the pair like hawks, oblivious to their daughter being almost as big as they were in a frighteningly short amount of time, thinking instead that predators were getting aggressive and more plentiful. They pondered moving, thinking the habitat was no longer welcome for mice such as them, despite the abundance of food here. Julia remained innocently silent all throughout the discussions that followed. Eventually, it was decided to move within a week, which gave them time to gather supplies and more for the trip.

That night, Julia awoke with a searing hunger. It’d been some time since she’d been able to have a proper meal (due to her “supply” dwindling), and she decided it was time to feast on her remaining sibling. Timmy, nearly as tall as Julia but wiry and thin, awoke to the sight of looming mouse jaws dripping hot drool down on his face. Julia shoveled Timmy inward before he could squeak, and made a quick meal of the skinny sibling. His lithe form bundled up within Julia, belly groaning in pleasure, as Julia settled down right on his spot of the nest, to sleep him off. Her parents, none the wiser, snoozed through the demise of one of their only remaining offspring, and the tall tale Julia wove the next morning (“he just wandered off, wanting to fend for himself and not have to burden you two with keeping eyes on him all the time!”) placated the worried parents. At least, they thought, Timmy got away before a hungry serpent or raptor got him! (Julia’s belly responded with a soft gurgle, and she suppressed a belch.)

With three remaining, times were tough… for Julia! There weren’t any siblings left, just her parents, and as the days ticked by and Timmy was reduced to fat on her hips, the ever-hungry mouse pondered what she was going to do once the nest was empty. There was the big wide world out there, and as dominating as she was here, Julia knew she was but a mouse (however large and plump she’d become) in a world filled with predators. Still, the stomach wants what it wants, and the night before the move, Julia enjoyed the feast of a lifetime. Her father, tidying the nest up, found Timmy’s glasses. Surely, their son would never go anywhere without these things? How could he leave without them? He told his mate, and the two finally put the pieces together. Julia, nearly full-grown, and far fatter than even they were at her age, was eating her own kind!

The two tried to flee, a predator in their very midst all this time. But both bumped into the furry gut of Julia, who’d been eavesdropping. Dropping all pretense, Julia pounced on both, using her size to pin the two, who were begging for release, not even trying to condemn their daughter for feasting on all of her brothers and sisters. Julia saw Timmy’s glasses in the clutches of her father, and knew that she’d made a mistake: Julia never did care for eating belongings or clothing, after the upset tummy she had to nurse when downing Rebecca and her fancy frilly dress in one go. As such, she slowly unwound the long, warm, fluffy pink scarf her mother wore, and cast it aside. Her father turned away, trapped under the girth of Julia, as his daughter devoured her mother, noisily, sloppily, and scrumptiously. Her white furry belly distended greatly, and when her father looked up, all that remained was a squirming mouse rear and flailing tail. That disappeared down a slobbery maw fast enough, and he flinched at that final swallow, his wife robbed from him forever.

Julia belched and napped on the spot, crushing her father beneath her squirming stretched form to keep him in place. Julia arose the next morning, her body softened considerably, and it was time for breakfast. Her father, having succumbed from conscious panic into subconscious nightmares, awoke with a start with his head swimming down a stretched mouse gullet. He squealed and flailed all her could, but the proud father of 12 was soon nothing more than a very round series of bulges on Julia’s tummy. Julia licked and smacked her lips delicately, resting down on the floor with her hinds spread and tummy splayed along the floor, rump up. This, she reveled, was the way to live.

It took all day and night for the rest of her mother, and all of her father, to digest away. The following afternoon, a rather grown, full mouse waddled her way out of the den she’d grown up in, never to return. About her neck was the thick comforting scarf of her mother’s, the pink standing out against her earthly fur. All that she recently consumed gave her both the energy and confidence to leave the relatively-safe area for the first time ever. As far as Julia the mouse was concerned, the world was her oyster. Overconfident, she acknowledged to herself, but proud all the same. Her tail flicked as she made her way out into the world, Julia ready to make a life for herself, staying alone as she prefers, having developed a sense of independence after devouring every known member of her family. Others that may cross her path will find a large sassy mouse, though not too rude at least. In fact, one might consider her a bit flirty, like she wants to get some alone time with them!

If she asks for that, though, beware, for what seems like a fun night with a big mouse usually results in Julia awakening the next morning with a full, squirming stomach!