The Order of the Sewer

Once there was a community of mice. They lived peacefully in an abandoned home in Brussels, Belgium. They also had a hidden way of speaking. To the outside world, which they mice rarely ever entered, the chitters and high squeaks meant nothing. But to the mice, it was a clever language that none but the mice could understand. With, of course, the exeption of the snakes.

Down in the cellar of the abandoned house, it was cold, dark, and damp. Elder mice told of a barred grille, simply named the Grill, that lay in the cellar. It was feared, for behind the stone-cold bars lied the extremely confusing labyrinth of sewers. An enemy species lived and thrived there too, the poweful, cunning, and relentless snakes. They lived on mice, and sometimes each other. When mice, especially young and inexperienced ones, lingered too close to the Grill, snakes lie in wait 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to grab the mice with their shiny, venoumous fangs. If they had strict orders not to eat them right away, they would slither quick as lightning back to the altar of the snake king, Saturn Magnum, or shortened to Magnum. There, Magum would either give permission to kill the mouse or have it remain in his altar and slowly die off from the venom of the Grill snake.

Mice never went down to the cellar, let alone the Grill. Sometimes, the snakes were off duty and digging a tunnel through the sewers to find some hidden treaure, as Magnum said. But the king did not leave the Grill unguarded. In the snakes' place was a powerful enchantment. Whoever got within two feet of the Grill itself was overcome with an unusual feeling, a feeling of wanting to leave the safety of the abandoned home and roam the recesses of the Grill. Before the mice knew it, they were deep in the sewers, never to be seen in the above again. The mice roamed and roamed until the snakes sensed an intruder and sought them out. They were on strict order to bring any intruder mouse back to Magnum's chamber as fast as they could slither. Mice tried to outrun the snakes, but the snakes had so much experience slithering the sewers that they were as fast as any creature with legs. Mice feared snakes, snakes feared Magnum. It seemed that Magnum ruled both the underworld and the above.

There was a family that lived in the house that every mouse respected and liked. They were the Dashlings, consisting of Joey, the father, Hannah, the mother, and their three children Kayleena, Natasha, and Kirk. All three children were adventurous, and liked to play games. They played near the long stairs leading to the sewer, against their elders' warnings. One day, it was storming and overcast, and the house was thrown into almost complete darkness. Natasha, Kayleena, and Kirk decided to still play on the stairs, even though they couldn't see their own paws in front of their noses. When they got to the stairs, they peered down like they always did, to see if they could hear or see any creatures from the sewer. This time, they didn't hear a snake, but a high, piercing wail that cut through the dark. They peered down farther, but the scream got higher and more frantic. The three mouselings ran as far and as fast as they could go, away from the wail and the terrors of the sewer.