Cherry and Atticus Go West

chapter 5

Meanwhile, Cherry, Atticus, and Fievel were walking alongside the railroad tracks as the sun was baking them alive. They were all muttering about needing water and they had been out in the sun so long with no water, this led to hallucinations.

"You know, we wouldn't be in this situation if a certain young mouse hadn't sneaked away in the middle of the night." Atticus glared.

"I didn't mean to make us fall..." Fievel defended, though a little weak due to being extremely thirsty.

Cherry wiped her head. She was sweating, she hated to sweat.

"I know, it's just that it's so hot out here, I cannot wait for us to get to some shade." Atticus said.

Fievel's ears went up. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Cherry asked as the heat was affecting her the most due to hating hotness.

"It's Mama..." Fievel sounded relieved, but still exhausted and dehydrated.

"Oh, no, I think he's experiencing his first mirage." Atticus said.

"Those really happen?" Cherry asked. "I thought maybe they were just urban legends."

"It could happen." Atticus explained.

Fievel kept moving closer and closer, unfortunately for him, he was about to run into a cactus field.

"Oh, no, he's about to run right into one of those--" Atticus said.

"Fievel, stop!" Cherry tried to speak up.

It was too late, Fievel giggled and hugged the prickly plants, but once he got jabbed, he jumped high in the air in pain.

"Cactus." Atticus finished.

Fievel came back down and winced as he was in pain now. Cherry and Atticus then continued to walk with him around the sandy surface, trying to find civilization.

A little while later, there were calls heard for Fievel that sounded familiar.

"That sounded like Tiger..." Fievel whispered.

"You sure?" Atticus asked, already knowing what Tiger's voice sounded like.

"I swear it..." Fievel whispered, then looked thoughtful and frowned. "Nah, it has to be just a mirage..."

"You never know, Fievel, sometimes mirages can confuse you to what's real." Atticus said.

"That's true..." Cherry agreed.

Fievel walked with them, passing the obviously real Tiger, but still didn't want to believe it. "Hi, Mirage Tiger..."

"Hi, Mirage Fievel and his new friends..." Tiger weakly greeted back as he went off to the opposite direction.

"Wait, that mirage didn't sound echoey," Atticus realized. "Could that have been..... Nah."

"All I know is that I am ready to go to bed..." Cherry muttered.

"Maybe a little rest would be great, that way, we can continue walking at night when it's much cooler." Atticus said.

"Yeah, I never got that about deserts, but at least it's cool out at night, which is so perfect for me..." Cherry sounded relaxed for a change.

"So, then why don't we stop and rest?" Atticus suggested.

"We can't stop now!" Fievel encouraged.

"Fievel, we're in the desert, it's hot, we need to stop and rest." Atticus said.

Fievel did not want to give up, but he eventually tired himself out.

"Come on, a little rest will do us some good, besides, once it's night time, it'll be less stressful for us." Atticus said.