Once Upon a Miserable Soul

Chapter 1: God Bless This Child

"Ten, nine, eight, seven!..." the crowd outside was screaming.

It was New Years Eve in Ratropolis. Everybody was celebrating... except one couple. Nigel and Amanda Malone were expecting their first child soon. They were at a party when Amanda started to cramp. She was scared because it was her first time going into labor. They were expecting a boy. Nigel was glad because he needed somebody to help him on the family boat, the Jammy Dodger. They had a boy's bedroom set up with boy clothes in a closet, made by Amanda herself.

"Push, Love." Nigel encouraged his wife. Amanda was screaming and crying. For a moment, Nigel thought she was going to die. Amanda's face was dripping with sweat and her hair became frizzy.

"Six, five four three...!"

They could hear the Londoners yelling.

"Two, one..."

The sound of a baby crying took over the noise of the people screaming "Happy New Year!" Amanda slumped back into her bed as her brother Jasper took the baby to clean him up.

"Wow wee, are they in for a surprise." He said washing off the blood. The infant was wiggling in his arms, screaming. He wiped a cloth on its pink skin and wrapped it in a pink blanket.

"Congratulations mates!" he said. "It's a girl!"

"A girl?" said Amanda. "The doctor said it would be a boy."

"Well those bloody humans have all the good technology to themselves." Said Jasper annoyed. "Are you disappointed?"

"Not at all." Said Amanda. "She's precious."

"And besides... I can use her help on the boat... that is if she has no interest in dance or anything."

"What should we name it Nigel? We didn't think of girl names."

"Well we were going to name it Liam."

"Well that's a boy's name."

Amanda waited impatiently as she held the child in her arms attempting to calm it down. The screams outside were bothering her.

"Well let's see. There's Maria, Laura, Taylor, Rita, Maggie..."

"Stop." Said Amanda. "How does Rita sound?"

"Rita Elizabeth Malone... sounds beautiful. Cant wait to see her with fur."

"I can't wait for her to open her eyes."

It was worth the wait. Nigel and Amanda loved Rita with all their hearts. Three months past and Rita opened her eyes for the first time. Months later, she started growing fur. It was the same color as everyone else's. The hair on her head was exactly the same as her mothers, a flaming red tone. Over the years, they watched the child grow, as they had more children. Rita was depressed whenever she saw her dad leave. After seeing him on that boat she knew what she wanted to do. Follow her father in his paw prints. Five years later, she knew how to steer and could climb a wall using a bungee cord.

But they weren't completely happy. They lived in a shack and barley had anything to eat. By the time Rita was eight, children were complaining from starvation. All they had was soup and tea, and they only had one bowl to put it all in. At occasions, Rita would find a tadpole and feast on that. But now that things got really horrible, she and her father had to go dangerous places to find food. Tadpoles were barely seen in the sewer and the slugs were her friends. At occasions, she's find coins from Up Top abandoned and would spend it on food. But she hardly found anything.

One day, she had a real crazy idea. She thought about telling her dad, but was afraid he'd get mad. There were three kingdoms near Ratropolis; The Evergreen Kingdom, Le Toads Estate, and the one that ruled overall, the St. James Palace. Her idea was to rob Le Toads Castle. He was the lord of the sewers as people thought of him. He was an evil dictator, competing with King August of the St. James Palace trying to make his laws more official. He wanted all the power, not just a share of it.