'Can you believe this?' Therese exclaimed, shaking her head as she gestured to the television in
dismay. 'They want us to accept that rodents are gonna be equals?' The talk show had only started,
and already she was leaping to conclusions. Mikaela rolled her eyes on the couch beside her. The
two cats had just gotten home from their college lectures for the day and already Therese was
letting her disagreeability show.
'Not equals.' Mikaela explained. 'They want to allow rodents citizenship. There's still no decisions
made on what this is gonna mean for hunting laws.'
'Are you kidding?' Therese retorted. 'What else would citizenship mean? Mice are food dammit, I
don't like one bit the idea that I'd have to... respect them.'
'Fair enough.' Mikaela sighed. 'I guess there's no point in watching this then is there? You already
know what you think.'
'Damn straight.' Therese grinned, standing from the couch and pulling the bottom of her shirt into
a mock curtsy. 'If the government wasn't so bent on trying to be more progressive than the canids,
we wouldn't have any of this crap to worry about.'
'Oh yes, damn them for trying to be fair.' Mikaela shot back, standing and following Therese into
the kitchen. The pair were greeted by Therese's brother and her romantic interest, Clive and Ben.
Ben was cooking something, and Clive was either helping or supervising the use of his cooking
implements.
'Ladies.' Ben nodded in greeting. 'How did your day go?'
'College is college.' Therese shrugged. 'I need a shower.' She stretched and yawned before
shuffling through the kitchen towards the stairs.
When she was gone, Clive allowed himself to laugh. 'I'm guessing she heard about the new push
for equality then?'
'Yep.' Mikaela nodded, leaning over the island counter and pulling one of the stools close enough
for her to sit on. 'So what do you two think of it?'
'Worst case scenario is we get squirrels living next door.' Ben shrugged. 'I mean, there's no reason
to assume they won't keep the housing districts by size. Most of the newer citizens will fit in our
category, and then they build another section sized for rodents. How hard could it be?'
'That's true.' Mikaela nodded. 'But Therese was more concerned with not being able to eat them
anymore. I mean, I swear she's addicted to them sometimes. Never seen a cat so keen on eating
mice before.'
'Yep.' Clive added. 'Even when we were growing up, she justified every stereotype there was.
There was actually a mouse colony in our house until she was nine. One night she found it and in the
morning? Every last one of them was gone.'
'She ate a whole colony worth of mice?' Ben asked incredulously. The look on his face suggested
he was deeply impressed and perhaps more by the idea.
'Well, some of them might have just fled the house.' Clive shrugged. 'She was pretty stuffed
though. I remember one time I had a cage full of them and we had a contest. I like to think I can
manage myself, but she ate me under the table...'
'Yea, don't ever say that again.' Ben said, shaking his head. 'I know what you meant to say, but
don't say any more words for at least ten minutes.'
'Speaking of minutes, what's our timeframe on dinner?' Mikaela asked, leaning forward to try and
see what Ben had sizzling in the three pans he had going on Clive's stove.
'Steaks, vegetables, my trademark steak sauce.' Ben replied. 'Aaand depending on everyone's
opinions on this whole equality thing... Maybe a mouse or two?'
'Well we can vouch for Therese's decision.' Clive smirked. 'What do you two think? Should we
practice letting the poor little mousies feel like they're our equals? Or should we just enjoy them
while they're still legally food?'
'What?' Mikaela slumped back into her seat. 'Now I don't know...'
'What's not to know?' Ben grinned. 'They fit in your mouth and they're delicious. Until someone
makes it a crime to eat the little bastards, I'm not thinking of it as one. When I have to talk to them
as my peers, I am fully prepared to do that as well.'
Clive had been browsing his phone for the last few minutes and simply nodded silently at Ben's
remarks. Another couple minutes passed with Ben tending the stove, Clive continuing to read
something and Mikaela lost in her own thoughts of possibly never eating mice again.
'So...' Mikaela spoke at last. 'I don't know if I'm as okay with this as I thought.'
'Don't worry.' Clive grinned. 'I've been reading up on what they're estimating the most likely
changes to be. Since the community is already divided into residential districts based on size, they're
just going to impose laws that protect citizens in their own residential areas. The business district
and all public transport will be considered protected zones.'
'So a mouse would be protected at work, and at his home, and on the bus ride between them?'
The striped woman asked. 'Doesn't that basically mean immunity?'
'Not totally.' Clive continued. 'It's built around business hours in the business and shopping
districts. Protection only applies after four in the morning and finishes at eight in the evening. So if a
mouse or say, even a squirrel works back too late, they're taking their life into their own hands.
Especially if someone bigger than them decides to work back as well.'
'Wait...' Ben interjected, adjusting the heat on the pan containing his sauce before turning around
to face Clive. 'You are saying that these laws will be built around size, correct?'
'Yes.' Clive nodded. 'And I've already thought of your next question. If it's going by size, then
really we cats aren't anything special anymore. Lions and leopards still hunt otters, and they're
bigger than us. I mean really, if a lion was prowling for stragglers and only found a cat rather than
that otter they were hankering for...'
'What's going to stop him?' Mikaela finished the thought. 'No. The constitution still stands, right?
All felids are to be considered as equal and shall not consider any smaller than themselves as prey?'
'I'm sure it will stand at first.' Clive murmured. 'But if this whole thing proves to be successful,
then what would stop our new fellow citizens from pushing for something more? They could want
the wording of the constitution to include them. But bigger cats might not accept that they can't
hunt anymore. I know it's a pretty bad case scenario, but all the same...'
'If things go rough, you think we could end up on the same level as... As otters? Squirrels?' Ben
asked with a little more concern in his voice than he had displayed earlier.
'You've never eaten a squirrel.' Mikaela scoffed.
'Isn't the point.' Clive shook his head. 'You remember History classes from High school, right? The
old Empire was formed and all cats became equal. But before that, well. Fair was fair. If you were
small enough to be food and got caught? Guess what, you were food.'
'But we've been considered equals for centuries now.' Ben shook his head, a pop from the stove
prompting him to return his focus to his cooking. Therese's voice rang out as she headed down the
stairs, humming something horribly off key as she re-entered the kitchen wearing nothing but a half
done up dressing gown.
'Recent culture might keep us safe for a while.' Clive shrugged. 'But it will only take it happening
once and we could be...'
'What the hell are you talking about?' Therese interrupted. 'Ben? Is the food ready? I am so
starving and I think I already ate all the mice in my brother's house.'
Clive rolled his eyes and handed his phone to Therese, pointing her to the article he had been
discussing with the other two.
'Just another couple minutes.' Ben replied, turning one of the stove's dials off and lowing another
to a gentle simmer. 'The vegetables have been on longer than I intended, so sorry in advance if
they're a little bit soggy.'
'Right...' Therese answered distractedly. Her eyes slowly narrowed as she took in what the article
was conveying. As infuriating as it had been simply to even entertain the notion of rodents as equals,
it was altogether terrifying to consider the implications that were being presented to her now. She
barely registered the sounds of plates being set up on the island benchtop in front of her.
'Therese? You okay?' Ben asked.
'Oh...' The white cat handed the phone back to her brother and looked up at Ben. 'Yea, I'm just a
little bit... hungry?'
'The next few years will be interesting.' Clive said, taking a deep breath and sighing as his mind
raced with thoughts. He pulled up another stool and took a seat as Ben began to dish out the night's
food to them all one by one. The mood was lightened as they all watched his sister's expression go
from concerned to ecstatic once a sauce covered steak alongside boiled vegetables was slid in front
of her.
'Got you the biggest steak out of the four, sweetie.' Ben grinned. 'You goddamn bottomless pit.'
'I love you so much...' Therese replied, audibly purring as he handed her a set of cutlery. Mikaela
seemed almost smitten herself, making a pretend swoon as her own food was passed to her. Usually
Therese would have told her off in an equally playful tone, but tonight there was no delay as the
white cat tore into the tender cooked meat.
Clive was silent but for a small thank you and the clack of his own cutlery as he sliced a piece of
steak free and took the first bite. Less than a minute passed after they started eating when Clive
nodded slowly and looked over at Ben. 'Okay. I was wrong. You are a damn fine cook.'
'And why would you ever doubt that?' Ben shot back confidently.
'You work at a sushi bar.' Clive shrugged, spearing a few vegetables and doing his best to lather
them up in sauce.
'Just because it was the only job in the food industry I could get doesn't mean I couldn't do others
if I got the chance.' Ben grinned. 'One day I'll be the head chef of some crapshack or another. And
then that crapshack will shoot right to the top.'
'I believe you.' Mikaela said through a mouthful of food, losing a dribble of sauce down her chin.
'Don't talk with your mouth full.' Clive scolded her.
'Mrrf.' Mikaela murmured in response, before swallowing loudly and pouting playfully. 'Better?'
Clive had no response, but the moment was interrupted by the loud clang of cutlery as Therese
dropped her knife and fork onto her empty plate.
'That steak was amazing.' She purred. 'And that sauce was heavenly.'
'And the vegetables?' Ben asked.
'They were...' She stammered a moment. 'Food.'
'Well...' Ben laughed. 'I'm glad you enjoyed it.'
Half an hour had passed. The four of them had finished eating, Mikaela had helped Ben to clean
up and now they were all back in the living room. Mikaela and Clive were on the couch, while Ben
cradled Therese in the nearby armchair. Mikaela was holding the remote, flicking from one channel
to the next as she looked for something on the television worth watching.
'Free to air TV sure went to hell fast.' Clive sighed. 'As soon as I can replace this thing with a smart
TV, I'll hook up a streaming service. That's where all the good stuff is now.'
Mikaela settled on a game show with a disappointed sigh. Two leopards and a lioness were
competing in some sort of puzzle game that looked like it was pulled from a grade school textbook.
She looked over at Ben and her eyes lit up as she remembered. 'Hey Ben, you mentioned a dessert,
right?'
'Dessert?' Therese lit up, all the more amusing since she had looked asleep the moment before.
'Yes.' Ben replied, carefully shifting his way out from under Therese and standing up. 'I mean, I
have eight mice in a container. But if we're gonna give this equality thing a chance, maybe we
should-'
'Screw that!' Therese shook her head. 'I'll eat the whole eight if nobody else is going to!'
'I believe you.' Ben laughed. 'Fair enough, I'll go get them and you can all think about what you
wanna do.'
Therese was resolute and eager as Ben returned to the kitchen, but Mikaela had begun to sway
from side to side in doubt. 'I don't understand what I'm supposed to feel right now.' She sighed.
'Don't let them sucker you in.' Therese called. 'This is all just a publicity thing, they'll never make
it stick. They're just mice!'
'Easy for you to think.' Mikaela replied. 'I've talked to mice in my house sometimes. I mean,
they're not great at conversations really, but they can still...'
'Be delicious?' Therese retorted.
'Look, I'm not saying I could really care about them.' Mikaela shrugged. 'But it's not like they don't
have potential. I'm sure a mouse with the right education could just as easily run a company as any
cat. You wouldn't know, you never even try to talk to them.'
'That's not true.' Therese replied. 'I made friends with a mouse once. Her name was Jemma. We
watched movies together. And then I ate her.'
'I believe you.' Clive rolled his eyes. 'There was also that one we played chess with. I mean, just
judging by her I could tell you some mice are pretty smart. She was a pretty good player.'
'Yea, not so smart when you remember how she ended up.' Therese smirked.
'Lemme guess...' Mikaela said dryly. Therese nodded and tapped her belly in response.
Ben stepped back into the room carrying a clear plastic container with eight mice visibly trembling
inside. 'Okay, who's doing this and who's backing out?' He carefully clipped off the lid and put it
aside, resting his hand on top of the container to prevent any attempt at escape from the trapped
rodents.
'Did you buy those?' Mikaela asked.
'No.' Clive answered. 'I gave him the container from the time I bought some. All those little runts
he caught at his sushi bar today.'
'I am in!' Therese called. Ben grinned and carefully fished two of the squeaking and crying rodents
out of the tank. He passed them quickly to Therese, who didn't hesitate to lift one to her lips before
slurping the unfortunate into her mouth. The other was trapped between her clasped hands as she
watched and waited to see the decisions the others would make.
'Screw it.' Clive said after a few more moments. 'Hit me.'
'Righty o.' Ben nodded, passing two more to his host. 'Mikaela?'
'I...' The orange cat hesitated. 'I don't know yet.' She looked into the four remaining pairs of
terrified eyes and felt her heart race slightly. She certainly knew what she wanted to do, but the
issue dominating the country's politics had set her mind aflood with doubts. She had spoken to mice
in the past, was well aware they had their own lives, hopes and fears. She had even let some of the
ones she caught go, but plenty more she had sent to their deaths in the acid pit that was her
stomach.
'Tell you what.' Ben said. 'I'll follow whatever you decide. Take these two for now, and if you
don't want to go through with it, we'll let the four of them go somewhere safe tomorrow.'
'Okay.' Mikaela nodded, holding out her hands and taking the two mice Ben offered her into her
grip. Ben replaced the lid of the container and set it down on the coffee table. He lifted a pillow
cover from the spare armchair and placed it over top, concealing the last two mice from their sight
and returned to sit with Therese.
Mikaela looked at the others. The mice Clive had taken were already gone, and Therese
swallowed her first before lifting the second to her mouth as Ben squeezed himself back in beside
her. Then she looked down at her... prey.
Both of the mice she had been given were female. One was almost naked but for a string of fabric
around her midsection and waist, and the other was only slightly better dressed and visibly younger.
The older was almost pure white furred with a silver messy crop of hair, and her younger companion
was a light shade of brown with a similar hair colour to Mikaela's own.
The two of them almost looked like tiny mouse copies of Therese and Mikaela themselves. Had
Ben done that on purpose? No, surely not. The two rodents looked back up into Mikaela's golden
eyes with fear and pleading. They'd heard everything. They knew they had a chance.
Mikaela waited for one of them to beg. But nothing. Nothing. She loved it when they begged. It
made her feel so powerful, so unlike what she was when she walked outside into a world dominated
by lions, leopards, lynxes... A myriad of other cats all larger than she was. Even for her own kind she
was slightly shorter than average. But to mice? She had real power.
But now it felt different. She could still eat these two rodents. It would be easy. She could swallow
them whole and alive, relish their tiny cries and struggles as they slipped down her throat and into
her belly. She had done it hundreds of times before. Thousands. But tonight... She didn't want to
harm these two.
'You're not gonna do it are you?' Clive asked from beside her.
'I...' She looked at him, then back down at the two forms in her hand. Still they were silent,
huddled together in her palm. They could have been family, mother and daughter. Sisters? Aunt and
niece? Or just two random mice women in the wrong place at the wrong time. In that moment she
realized she didn't care who they were. This wasn't really about them.
'Mikaela?' Clive asked again.
Mikaela narrowed her gaze. She could do this. She could spare them. Not because she cared. But
because the day may come where she would have to. She wanted to prove that she could now,
before it became a necessity of life. 'No. She said. 'I'll let them go. Sorry Ben.'
