In a forest buried in an inexplicable never-ending winter, one human stands defiantly against all obstacles and sets to the most inhospitable place to save his kind on the brink of extinction. But when circumstances threaten their livelihoods, a hum...
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Our paths have crossed for a reason...and for that I am thankful. Even if it was just for a moment.
Waking up is no longer the pleasure it was. There is a fleeting moment when he is whole again but it evaporates faster than water off over a fire. Then his lids that were drooping and leaden with sleep snap open as violently as if he'd been woken by the wailing of a turbulent snowstorm. There haven't been larger predators for a week now, but no animal remains untouched in the Forest. Only half the tents erected remain standing and they are crowded with grieving survivors from the human house. Strangely, given the circumstances, the mouse was one of them, one of the dispossessed, relying on the charity of neighbors. So by the time his eyes are open his brain has become overwhelmed all over again as if it were all new, fresh, raw. He wishes he could linger in that blissful ignorance of waking or else never sleep.
"Larry!" He heard a voice, but could not see who shouted his name.
"Lucas...?"
He didn't let him finish. Rushing forward, he was in front of him in two long strides and reaching out, grabbing his shoulders and pulling himself close to him. Next thing Larry knew he was brought up and pulled into a tight, pleasantly resilient hug from a familiar white bat. Shocked, Larry wrapped his arms around Lucas and squeezed, embracing him so tightly he suddenly worried he couldn't breathe.
"Larry! Holy shit...! I-I thought I lost you for good." The mouse looked into Lucas's red eyes, widened with an unnatural look of shock and relief. Lucas held him passionately. "I wouldn't forgive myself if you have drowned on my watch."
The only other bat Larry knew who seemed this sensitively affectionate was his Monti. It took him quite a while to realize it, but eventually, Larry saw through the feigned indifference, undemonstrative façade Montimer displayed ever and anon, especially around fellow bats. Inside, Montimer was estranged by his father, his brother, and every other bat within the colony. However, whenever around him, Montimer felt a sort of wholeness he never experienced before.
"It's all right, Lucas, I'm all right," said Larry, embracing the white bat in return.
Lucas's hands found the back of the mouse's head, then the sides of his face, making him look at him. Something exploded within his chest, burning away the tension and confusion and fear. Burning away the hurt of seconds earlier. For a moment it felt like nothing mattered anymore. Like nothing would matter ever again.
When the tension died, Lucas released Larry from his grasp and allowed the mouse some space. It was at this time Larry recognized his surroundings. While he was damp and cold, Larry was not particularly freezing from hyperthermia. Then he felt the ground... the ground was hard and dry unlike the soft blanket of snow. It was ill-lit, except for a ray of light shining directly above him. This was not the lifeless open area. Where were they?
Reality crept in: they were no longer outside of the laboratory but in it.
"Lucas, where are we?" Larry asked. "How did we get here?"
