Leather Feather

Chapter 04

While Grey twisted and turned in his slumber over memories that passed like dust on forgotten books, stranger things approached our lonely bat in his cold prison.

Pat's cries were reduced to faint whimpers and dry sniffles. It felt too pathetic to go on by that point, but he hadn't much else to hold on to. Dancing through his ear, came a distinct rhythm that came from one of the many surrounding cages. It soothed his heart's fading beats like a blooming orchid. A calm, loving voice that hummed and sang with warm, optimistic subtlety. He listened carefully as his tears faded. Words that resonated with his soul:

"Sometimes...things are not easy to comprehend~

It could've been better with a friend~

But you gotta hold on...

Till the end~"

Suddenly Pat felt his chest swell with warm hope despite the incarcerating cold metal bars he was held within. Hanged in a cage like a chandelier that stood in the middle of a huge room filled with dozens of grounded cells, he looked over from his high view for the source of that merry melody.

"Pssst. Over here," the voice called.

Looking below, Pat had not yet realized where he was. Rodents of all shapes and sizes filled his eyes. Fuzzy, scruffy and some seemed lean and fluffy, and they all gazed at him, some with curiosity and others with questioning confusion. In the midst of them, all stood the origin of rhymes.

She was as tall as Grey but much younger, probably as old as his sister that he never had, as she wore a warm, loving smile, and dreamy eyes that encapsulated his attention. He could not let his guard down! Grey told him about those evil rodents! But Grey left him here, with them. What does this say about him or Grey?

"What are you doing up there? Did the crazy old doc run out of space down here?" She called for Pat, but the little boy remained conserved and silent.

Noticing the audience she unintentionally entertained, there was nothing much to see in a doleful place like this but all that mattered was to calm Pat's distress. Fixing her overly baggy camouflage jacket that belonged to her late husband, she waved her arms more expressively to lock the boys focus towards her direction:

"Where are my manners, I sound like a creepy weasel, don't I? My name is Felicia. I'm a Ferret. Friends call me Fix cuz I'm as good with my hands as much as I run this club with my brains. Lost my boo in the war, and that's when I caught an infectious case of epiphany."

Pat's thoughts congealed and corroded. Conflicting between what Grey told him and what he is going through right now. What if Grey was wrong? What if Grey was the bad guy? There was so much yet so little for a little child to comprehend.

Realizing her success in raising Pats hopes, Felicia reached for her tall partner. He was a Rodent the size of an Eagle Elite and had one of his pair of buck teeth replaced with a golden nugget equal in size.

"This is Cheeks! He's our upbeat beaver."

Cheeks grunted.

Felicia continued:

"He used to be a construction worker until he got all infected with an epiphany. Actually, we all have it! Don't mind his height or vocabulary that's basically 'yes' and different types of groans. He is really soft and ripe as peaches on the inside."

Pat slowly felt more at ease. Maybe they weren't all that bad. Felicia, on the other hand, was so proud of herself in bringing back Pat's spirit to life, she rummaged through for more subjects to introduce.

"Oy! Do me next!" Called a raspy voice below them. She pretended not to hear it until a sharp kick on her ankle dragged her attention.

Raising up her petite friend to full view.