     There was utter chaos everywhere. The clang of keys had tipped off the captors far earlier than 
Lila would have liked, they had not prepared for this. The brown furred mouse had gathered what 
few brave enough fellow mice she could, and lead them in sneaking into the back store room where 
dozens more of their kind were being held captive. Their goal was to free as many as possible. They 
had entered the facility just fine, waited patiently while Lila stole a spare key by sneaking in through 
a hole in the storage locker, and made their way to the cages. 
     And then, on the third door, Jake had fumbled and dropped the key. The already panicking former 
captives had lost all self-control and started to run in all directions. Lila had tried to keep a sense of 
calm, but she knew it would be no good. Already the door into the storage room had opened and 
two silhouetted figures were moving in. She spied Jake, already bolting towards the hole they had 
come in from, a cluster of mice following now that they knew the way out. 
     Lila tried to get over there, tried to usher as many of the others in that direction as she could. But 
her attempts to get the others' attention were being drowned out by the frantic cries of those 
around her and the angry hissing of the two feline keepers that were even now rounding up as many 
as they could. Mice were re-captured by the handful and tossed back into their cages, too 
immobilized by fear to attempt to flee again. The doors had a rubber seal and there was nothing else 
in this room, so the mice had nowhere to run but the one tiny hole in the wall.
     Lila cursed and started running for it. Most of the mice still hadn't seen it and what few had were 
now being cut off. One of the guards had seen the escape and thrown one of his gloves at it, creating 
a blockade. Two mice were attempting to push the glove aside and escape, but those moments had 
been enough and now the guard was upon them. He scooped them up, tossing them to his partner 
before cramming his glove into a tightly wedged ball into the hole, sealing off their escape. 
     Lila froze. The rescue raid had failed, and now she was trapped. She looked frantically around for 
somewhere to hide, somewhere to run before a tight grip enveloped her frail body for a few 
moments until she was hurled into one of the cages. The impact knocked her out cold... 

     ** ** **

     'Unngh...' Lila groaned as she slowly woke up. Her head was pounding and her left shoulder felt 
like she had been kicked by a rabbit. She tried to focus her vision, to see where she was but her 
throbbing head and shoulder just wouldn't allow it. Her vision filled with stars and she fell back.
     'Easy.' A pair of arms caught her, and the voice was one she recognized. It was Aron, one of the 
ones who had come with her. He carefully dragged her to a wall and propped her against it, sitting 
down beside her and holding her up. 'You took quite a hit. I was scared you wouldn't wake up.' 
     'Where are we now...?' She asked. 
     'In one of the cages.' Aron answered with a sigh. 
     'How many got out?' Her voice was trembling, filled with fear but at the same time Lila was 
hoping something good might have come of this.
     'I counted roughly a dozen before that cat blocked the escape off.' Aron replied. 'Jake made it 
out, and I haven't seen Elia so I guess she did too. But...' He trailed off, looking at the cage they were 
in and the many other cages around them. A few were empty, but most were not. 'We didn't get as 
many out as we'd hoped.' 
     'Well four of us came in...' She said weakly. 'I guess if a dozen or so got out that's... that's 
something at least isn't it?' She didn't hear Aron's reply, instead falling back to sleep. 

** ** **

     When she awoke again, she was lying on her side on a soft bed of straw. The pain in her head and 
her shoulder had faded, and she was now able to open her eyes without a struggle. The sight of the 
straw beneath her gave her a brief glimmer of hope before she noticed the plastic beneath it. 
Looking up, it became apparent that she was no longer in the cage, but instead a plastic tank. The lid 
was also plastic, sealed around the edges with a small lid in the middle. It would be impossible to 
climb, and impossible to open from the inside. 
     There were other mice in the box with her. An ambient noise, like a crowd of people could be 
heard but the transparent sides of the box were covered by something, like a cloth that had been 
put over top. She wondered if Aron had figured out what was going on. 
     Aron? Her attention snapped back to the other mice sitting around the tank. She counted 
nineteen others, making twenty of them but not one of them was her friend. 
     'Aron?' She called out, already knowing and fearing the worst. 'Oh no...' 
     'Your friend is probably in a different box.' One of the others said impassively. 'They didn't care 
who was friends with who, and why should it matter? We're all just gonna get sold off and eaten by 
some cat or another as snacks.' 
     Lila sank to her knees and slouched against the wall. Even as she gave a slow sad not of thanks to 
her fellow captive, she had come to realize her situation. Twenty mice for sale in some feline 
marketplace. She took another look around her plastic prison, confirming that there really was no 
escape and sighed in defeat. She had tried to stop exactly this from happening to others. And now it 
was her fate as well. 
     
** ** ** 

     Twenty minutes or so passed before something bumped the tank, and the cloth was lifted on one 
side letting more light in. It was immediately blocked by a large pair of feline eyes peering in, 
scanning the contents before withdrawing and dropping the shade once more. For a few tense 
moments it seemed as though nothing further would happen. Then the whole place suddenly 
lurched to the side, throwing most of the mice to the floor and causing them all to squeak in surprise 
and terror. 
     There was a brief clanging of coins somewhere outside and a voice said thank you. After this the 
tank rocked steadily, and it was clear that they were moving. Someone had... bought them, and was 
no doubt taking them home where one by one they'd become mere food for a careless carnivore. 
     'I've never seen this sort of thing happen before.' One of the others said, the grey fur of her 
cheeks matted where she'd been crying. 'I mean I always knew, but seeing it and being here... It just 
makes it so much more real... So terrifying.' 
     'I've seen one of their markets before.' Another spoke up. He had the look of age and wisdom, 
though at a second glance Lila could see that it was not age, but harsh experience that had 
weathered him. 'Horrible places. Filled with captive prey creatures to be sold off. The cats that hunt 
profit off the ones that have more important things to do. Just like foragers and diggers back in the 
colonies at home...' 
     The mention of home brought on a grim silence. Pleasant memories, not so pleasant memories. 
All of them about to be ended by their new owner, a cat who wouldn't think twice of making any of 
them into a snack at whim. 

     They were moving for about ten minutes, the cat evidently living within walking distance of the 
markets. The sound of a door opening and closing after a few more steps signalled that they had 
reached the place where their lives would end. The container was deposited heavily onto a surface 
somewhere and the shade cover was suddenly torn away. The light was intense for a few moments, 
causing Lila to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted and she saw the cat who for all intents 
now owned her very life. 
     He was dark furred, a deep grey with white spots on his shoulders and elbows. His hands and 
wrists were the same white fur, almost looking like gloves. He wore a green singlet and similarly 
coloured pants. So far he hadn't looked at the mice since he had dropped the container on his 
kitchen bench, and a cursory glance revealed that the shade had fallen off with his rough handling 
rather than being pulled off as she had thought. 
     Lila looked at the other mice, most of them were huddled together in small groups of three or 
four. The wizened male who had spoken earlier was the only one apart from her to be on his own, 
but even he had fear in his eyes and shuffled to the edge of the tank when the feline finally turned 
his attention to his purchase. 
     'Hm. Nice batch.' He mumbled to himself as he leaned in close. His amber coloured eyes scanned 
across them, sparing nobody a second glance until he reached Lila. A small smile spread across his 
lips as his hand reached for the lid and lifted it open with a soft click. Lila's heart raced as she 
prepared for the merciless grip she was sure was coming. 
     A scream came from behind her, causing her to tear her gaze from the cat's own. He had plucked 
one of the other mice, the same who had spoken to her earlier. The two she had been huddled with 
had scattered, too afraid to try and help, or perhaps realizing just how futile such an act would be. 
Lila stayed frozen in place, but slowly turned back to look at the cat outside. He was still staring back 
at her, even as the lid snapped shut and he brought the terrified mouse to his lips. 
     Lila pressed her hands to the plastic and shook her head, unable to form words. It was only now 
that the cat broke his eyes from her horrified expression to stand up and flick his chosen prey 
between his lips. The mice below watched in terror as she was unceremoniously splayed across his 
tongue to be stolen from their sight moments later when his lips closed around her. 
     'No...' Lila fell back and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch anymore. It was of little comfort, 
the audible wet slurps and smacks of the feline enjoying his snack too close and too loud to drown 
out with her thoughts. His prey's cries for mercy could also be heard, but clearly they were 
unheeded. After a few more agonizing moments, the loud wet gulp she had dreaded rang out, and 
Lila at last dared to open her eyes again. 
     And immediately wished she hadn't. If only she'd waited a second longer she wouldn't have seen 
the bulge sliding down the grey furred neck to vanish into his chest. Their captor licked his chops and 
yawned, giving them all a terrifying view of their soon to be last sight while showing beyond all 
doubt that their former fellow mouse was now gone. With this, he flicked a light switch and left the 
room in darkness before heading out through a doorway. 
     So it was night, and the first victim had simply been a bedtime snack. Lila rolled over in the soft 
straw. Curled up on her own and making sure nobody could see her face, she finally allowed the 
tears to start falling. She wanted to believe there could be a way out of this. But right now she just 
couldn't. 
