What? That’s… not true at all… 

...

Listen, I know your story. Ah! If you’ll humor me, maybe I can change your mind?

…You’ve got some nerve, girl. Even more than your father ever did... but... I’ll humor you. How could you ever possibly change my mind? 

	Zoey was sprawled out on her bed, staring upwards at the dark ceiling above. The morning sun was just beginning to creep through the blinds and lit up the room. She sighed as the light slowly filled in through the blinds, brightening up her room and it’s familiar features began to show. To her, it was just another day predestined to boredom that left this little mouse idle. Recently, she felt that it became more boring with each passing day. She had laid there for nearly an hour since she woke up, but as the beams of light began to creep onto her bed, she began to stir. The little mouse wiggled onto her side, her oversized nightshirt tightening up and nearly binding her, and fixed her gaze on her door. Soon Jeremy would come through that door and usher her out of bed, help her dress, and the day would begin and end the same way. She would read, play and talk with Jeremy, and then her father would come home and they’d discuss idle things before bed. Every day of her summer vacation has been like this for as long as she could remember, but now she was growing discontent.

        The only things that ever changed were what she and Jeremy did when she wasn’t reading. He was always there to talk with her and help her. Anytime she needed anything at all, Jeremy would be there as if he was born to do it. Brush her hair, cook for her, or even carry her around. For as long as she could remember, Jeremy was always here taking care of her. But, from what she knew, not everyone had someone quite like Jeremy in their life… or at least not quite the same since most other kids had moms for these things. She always assumed that she was just lucky that someone popped out of nowhere to care for her… but a caring rat like him couldn’t have just appeared, could he? A few days ago she tried to ask where he came from, but her request was met with the promise of telling her later. Ever since that promise, she began to realize her discontent. Even though he’s her best friend, the only thing she really knows is that he isn’t related to her or her father.

	When the bedroom door cracked open, Zoey broke away from her thoughts. The door slowly opened up just wide enough to reveal a tall rat. Jeremy was wearing his usual casual wear, a pair of jeans torn at the knees with a faded red shirt. He peeked into the room to check on her, but he quickly realized that she was awake and locked eyes with her.

        “Huh? How long have you been awake, Zoey?”

	“...Not very long.”

        Jeremy nodded and pushed the door through, letting more light shine in from behind him. “Well it’s time to get up, sweetie. We’ve been sleeping long enough today…” The rat stood tall and grinning at the young mouse, always waking her up with a smile on his face.

        Zoey yawned, her lips grinning as her mouth gaped open wide, “But I wanna sleep more…” She teased. 
        
        He chuckled and stepped into the room, “Well we all wanna sleep more, but your dad is a hardass.” He retrieved a small pile of clothing from atop her dresser. Just a cute little black skirt and pink shirt, a simple outfit he put together before sleep last night.
        
        Zoey sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed where she waited for the gentle tap to her head. When she felt it, she raised her arms up and Jeremy pulled her oversized nightshirt off. 
        
        Jeremy placed down the assortment of clothes next to the little bare mouse and started to lazily fold up his old rock band shirt, “You want anything special for breakfast today, Zoe?”
        
        She didn’t respond as she started to dress herself, tilting her head down and focused on pulling up her clothes. 
        
        He raised a brow and hung up the shirt on his shoulder, “...Zoey?”
        
        “...Am I going to just read again today?” She answered back in monotone. When her head lifted back up from focusing below, her little grin was gone, but she kept dressing herself. 
        
        “Well...you can, your dad told me what you should read today. But that’s for later, Zoe.” Jeremy had his orders from Dennis, it was business as usual. Once breakfast was done she had her page numbers out of some book from her father’s bookcase. Part of his day was ensuring that Zoey’s mind was ‘stimulated with the classics’ or something along those lines. She wasn’t forced to read, but he definitely tried to urge a routine on her like many fathers do. “You just wake up, I’ll worry about that for now.”
        
        Zoey slipped on her shirt and stood up from her bed, looking up at Jeremy. She hardly made it past his thigh, she was small, even for an eight year old mouse. She reached up and poked at his gut. “When Eurydice had to worry about things later, it didn’t end well.”
        
        “I don’t kn… Right, you’re right.” He cleared his throat and reached over to pat her head, thinking that this morning was starting off a little strangely. “We’ll worry about it together… but over breakfast, alright?” After some little pats, he reached behind her back and led her out of the dark room into the rest of the house already bright with light.

        Jeremy sat her down at the kitchen table with some juice before moving to the stove. He often chatted around with her while he prepared the meals, but after such a different start to the day. He expected her to be even chattier than usual, but the poor girl was silent. Everytime he peeked over at her she was just idly sipping at her juice.  He shrugged it off and started cooking, he thought maybe she took him literally and was waiting for food before talking about it.

        After some time passed, he placed a small stack of pancakes in front of her and sat down with some eggs for himself. As he sat down, he watched her carefully, waiting for the first sign of that dissatisfaction she showed earlier. But she was still silent, looking lost in thought as she started to eat her breakfast.

        Jeremy let some time pass before he broke the silence, “You know, you can just tell your dad that you’re sick of reading, Zoey.” 

        She stopped eating to think about the offer, but she quickly replied after a little head shake. “I like reading. I just don’t wanna read today.” She replied before continuing to eat in silence. 

        Jeremy nodded, simple enough he thought, he would just tell her father that she decided to take a break today. However, the lack of his energetic mouse was still a little worrying. After more time passed, he stood up with his plate and went back to the stove to idly clean his mess while Zoey finished eating. Besides the unusual silence, the morning came and went like many others for him- peaceful, relaxed, and satisfying. Just the way he’s always wanted life to be. With a content sigh he stacked up the clean pans in the dish drain and returned to the table. He saw that she finished eating and went to gather up the dirty dishes. But as he reached down for her plate, he was met with a pair of bright blue, piercing eyes.
       
        He froze and stared back at her, holding the silent gaze for a few moments. He lifted a brow, “What?” Jeremy broke the silence, “I don’t have any flour on my face, do I?” Jeremy began to move again, gathering up the dishes to clean. 

	“No... But you promised me a story.”

	“...I did?” 

	She nodded her head furiously, “You promised to tell me where you came from.”

	“Uh…” He stood up with his pile of dishes, “Last week, right?”

	She gave him another brisk nod and clasped her hands together in her lap, “I asked where you came from and you said you would tell me soon. Is it soon now?”

	“Well… I meant soon as in like, later. Later being-”

	“So, it’s later now?” She turned in the chair and hopped down to stare up at Jeremy with hopeful eyes.

	Jeremy almost turned her away again, but this seemed to be something that she really wanted. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her waiting, so he  grinned down at the adorable little mouse and nodded. “Alright, Zoe. Lemme put away these dishes first, then I’ll tell you a story…” He wanted to wait just a little longer before sharing his story, not to shield her away from the ugly side of life like many other parents and caretakers do, but to make sure that she understood. Once the dishes were in the sink, he motioned for her to follow. It would be a rough story, but he felt that she would be able to handle it. After all, he knows how smart and aware she is for such a young mouse.

	Jeremy sat down on the couch with a huff and got comfortable. As he settled in, his head tilted up at the ceiling while he thought about how he should begin. He thought about everything that came before- recalling things that he’s come to peace with or tried to forget about. He began to think of his story, one that was by no means soft-hearted, but ended sweetly here in Greenwick. As he thought about how to present it all to her, he felt the couch give in next to him as Zoey began to settle in next to him.
        
        He winced as a prodding finger poked into his ribs, “Right, Right… Let’s see…” He looked down to see the little mouse wringing the tip of her tail with excitement. He grinned down at those bright little eyes of hers. “Okay. Zoey, I want you to imagine a gross… ugly, dirty old rug. A rug so dirty it makes you wanna…” He put a hand at his throat and started to fake some gagging noises.

        Zoey giggled and pushed up at his chest, “Okay, okay!” 

        Jeremy smirked and released his throat, “Alright good… now, imagine that rug being... kinda like a city. Like the big city that your dad drives to every day, but this one is far, far away from here.” He put an arm around her and squeezed tightly as he got into his tale, “A gross city where everyone is either rude or sad… sometimes both. And the sad people can’t do anything to get happy…” His smirk began to fade as he went on, “A city that you don’t wanna go out at night, but you don’t wanna stay inside the house either…” 

        Zoey anxiously wrung at her tail as she watched him start to stare off again, struggling to imagine somewhere that uncomfortable. 

        “I used to live in a place like that.” He started to feel that old discomfort as he started to unpack those memories. “...Since I was a kid actually. Back when…” He lightly patted at his stomach with his free arm, “I had a little less of a gut. It’s probably best if I start when… I was living with my cousin, Thomas. Both of our old homes sucked... They felt like sinking ships where things always got worse and worse but… it still wasn’t as bad as the water… if that makes sense.” He looked down and she nodded her head, “When we finally got the guts to get together, we bailed out of everything because... We were desperate to make something work out for once. When we were together, we were always talking about our dreams… He wanted to go outta state and visit somewhere cool for once in his life.” He gestured to himself as he faced forward again, losing himself as he spoke slowly, “And all I wanted was to get two or three good meals every day and watch some t.v.- the stuff I never got back at my parent’s house. Nothing crazy. We didn’t want a fortune, we just wanted our own kind of paradise… but life starts to chip at you when things are bad for a long time… Me and Thomas tried our best back in the city… but one night…”