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"https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/2256/2256079_3timer_theserpentandthemouse2.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/2256/2256079_3timer_theserpentandthemouse2.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "description": "This is something I conceived of and wrote in an allotted 3 hour window as an exercise, hoping to finish it entirely in that time.\n\nOf course it's not done. Cuz when do I ever finish anything?\n\nI'm gonna give myself an additional 3 hour window to do all the bad stuff. Or good stuff, depending on your point of view.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "This is something I conceived of and wrote in an allotted 3 hour window as an exercise, hoping to finish it entirely in that time.

Of course it's not done.  Cuz when do I ever finish anything?

I'm gonna give myself an additional 3 hour window to do all the bad stuff.  Or good stuff, depending on your point of view.", "writing": "[center]The Serpent and the Mouse[/center]\n\n\n\nA bolt of lightning split open the night sky, followed closely by a thunderous rumble. The rain buffeted the swollen river with a vengeful torrent, and had long since caused it to burst its banks. The water raged and rushed angrily, carrying with it everything in its path. Trees, branches, flotsam, and anything that happened to be unlucky enough to be in it's grasp. Among these things was a small mouse struggling desperately to survive. \n\nShe was swept down the river at a frightful speed and subject to every whim the river might have. One second it slammed her into the depth, clutching at her lugs for the small amount of air they held, the next it tossed her up and into the floating branches to try and dash her to death. The tiny mouse fought with every bit of strength her body could muster, clawing at the wicked power of the river. It was hopeless, the river was relentless. She kicked and clawed and finally managed to get her head above water.\n\n“Mama!” She gasped her tiny voice against the thunder of the storm. “Mama, help!” Once again she was taken down. She scraped against the rocks of the riverbed. The brown mouse tumbled helplessly in the current, her arms and legs flailing. Her lungs were ready to burst when the river finally took enough pity to push her back to the surface.\n\nThis time she couldn't scream. Only draw in a gasp of precious air. If she went down again she would die. She knew that much. The lighting ripped through the sky again. In the light she could see a low hanging branch from a thin tree was about to rush past overhead. \n\nThe mouse reached for it desperately. By some miracle she managed to snag it in her paws, but the river had spent the last of its sympathy for her. It grabbed at her and tried to carry her further down its length. The mouse held fast to the branch, knowing it was hopeless. She could not fight the river, and she was not strong enough to pull herself out. The branch flexed under her weight. It should have easily been able to hold her, but with the river ripping at her body it cracked at the trunk of the sapling it was attached to.\n\nBack down under she went, still gripping the branch with all her remaining might. The river wanted her, and it would have her. The sapling, however, wasn't about to give up on its branch. It hung by the bark and bent with her weight. The force of the river pushed her toward the shore. Just when the mouse was about to give up she felt the sand under her feet at the water's edge. She threw herself away from the river, and only managed to splash down in the shallow water, but the river's strength there was low. She managed to crawl her way to the shore. \n\nShe collapsed down for a moment and gasped for breath in the mud. The rain pounding down on her painfully and insistently. The rain and the river must be allies, as it wanted to force her back into the water. The mouse had no intention of going back, she clawed her way through the mud and toward the higher grass. All the while the large droplets of water trying to beat her into submission. She needed to get out of the rain. She needed to find shelter. \n\nThe mouse had hoped that the grass would offer some protection, but it did little against the storm. She crawled as quickly as her feet would carry her towards the higher ground and the large roots of an ancient tree. Perhaps there would be someplace she could get under and wait out the storm. A rock, an outcropping, a thick branch, anything.\n\nWhen she made it to the tree, the mouse crawled over the thick and slimy roots. It was a gnarled and ugly tree that appeared to be angry with the process of growing, as such it only did so grudgingly and without reason. It's branches were bent and painful looking, and it's trunk a patchwork of swollen burls and festering knots. There was a smell around the tree. A scent that should have frightened her, but her exhausted mind couldn't remember why. When the lightning flashed again she noticed a hollow opening at the base of the tree. The young mouse stumbled into the opening and out of the rain. She staggered and tumbled to the dry, leaf covered floor of the hollow. She rested there as she painfully tried to catch her breath, looking pathetic and ragged. \n\n“Mama.” She whispered quietly. The mouse wanted to go home, she was afraid and not used to being alone. How far had the river taken her? Very far. Farther than she had ever been from her home. Maybe farther than even her mother had been. It could be another world for all she knew. The ground below her moved and the mouse froze. Her whiskers twitched and her mind finally reminded her what that scent was. Something worse than the river and the rain.\n\nIt was death.\n\n“I taste heat.” A voice in the dark hissed. \n\nThe tiny mouse leapt to her feet and bounded for the exit, but the leaves on the ground moved, tripping her up. She stumbled and clawed her way back to her feet, only to come face to face with the occupant of the dry hollow of the tree. A large viper with golden eyes.\n\n“Hello, mouseling.” The copperhead spoke to her. Its tongue darted out and flickered in her face. “Why have you entered my abode on this miserable and cold night? Were you hoping to catch me slow and dull?” \n\nThe mouse fell back and covered her face with her paws in terror. “I'm so sorry, Mr. Snake, I just wanted to get out of the rain.” She squeaked. “Please don't eat me!” \n\n“Eat you?” The snake scoffed. “You are so small, and I only eat when I'm hungry.” The serpent uncoiled himself from underneath the leaves. There was a bulge in his body. “As you can see, I am already digesting something. A fat bullfrog I caught just the other day.” \n\nThe snake was lethargic and tired. He was moving slow. The mouse thought that if she moved quickly enough, she should be able to get past him. The snake could see her looking toward the opening.\n\n“I won't stop you.” He assured her.\n\nThe mouse crept against the far side of the hollow and toward the opening. She was tense, and ready to jump if the snake decided to spring at her. The snake simply coiled himself up into a ball, lazily resting his head on top. She swallowed hard and made a quick dash for the exit. \n\nTrue to his word, the snake made no attempt at her and the mouse made it to the outside. The rain immediately hammered down onto her. It was even worse now than it was before. It hurt, and she was sore. She was unable to stop herself from returning to hollow of the tree.\n\nThe mouse stood in the sheltered opening, afraid to go back in, afraid to venture into the stinging rain and unfamiliar forest. Lighting flashed and thunder roared. She shivered from both cold and fear. \n\n“There's no place to go.” The snake finally told her. “The river is on all sides of my home. Come back in and get dry.”\n\n“Are you sure you won't eat me?” She asked.\n\n“If I get hungry I will,” he admitted, “but the rain should stop long before that.”\n\nRealizing she really didn't have a choice, the mouse carefully entered the lair of the copperhead. The smell of him was so thick in there! How could she have missed it before? She found a spot furthest from the snake and crouched down. The mouse's fur was wet and dirty. She needed to get dry or she wasn't going to warm up. Keeping a close eye on the snake she started to scrub her head with her paws, shaking her head occasionally to flick away the water. She worked her way down her body, meticulously scrubbing, shaking and sometimes licking to get herself as dry and fluffy as possible. The snake watched her the entire time. At least, she thought he did. His eyes didn't seem to be capable of closing. He hardly moved at all except when his long, forked tongue would flick out. \n\n“You look better now.” The snake noted when she finished.\n\n“Um... thank you?” The mouse replied. She was hoping that didn't mean she looked good enough to eat. They sat across from each other for a while, sharing a long, uncomfortable silence that was only broken by the occasional thunder outside.\n\nThe snake finally spoke. “Since I have been kind enough to share my home,” he stated, “would it be possible for you do do something for me?” \n\n“What could I have that you would want?” She asked.\n\n“You have hot blood and fur.” He said. “I have neither. It's cold, I'm miserable and having a hard time digesting. Could you share your heat with me?”\n\n“I don't know how I would do that.” The mouse said. Wondering how she could remove her fur and blood for him. \n\n“If you could just lay with me and keep me warm.” He suggested. “In return I will give you protection. You will be able to sleep and heal without worry.” She thought about it for a while. If the snake really did want to eat her, he already would have. Her mother had told her once that snakes like to wrap their prey up in their body, squishing them. Maybe that's what he wanted to do.\n\n“You're not gonna squish me, are you?” She asked.\n\n“If I did that than you would get cold.” He reasoned. “Then I would be cold. I promise I won't squish you.” \n\n“Okay.” She said. \n\n“Very good.” The snake said. “Come to me, please. It's difficult for me to move right now.” \n\nThe mouse went to the snake cautiously, her whiskers twitching and feeling at the air around him. The snake's body loosened and he managed to make a small nest out of his coils. She climbed onto him skittishly, every bone in her body telling her this was a bad idea. As frightened as she was of the serpent, she was even more afraid to be alone. She climbed into the nest he made for her and settled in.\n\n“Oh, that's nice.” The snake said, his tongue flicking happily. “You're very warm.” \n\n“Thank you.” She said. The mouse thought he would be slimy, but he was very dry. Very smooth. She could feel his body slowly expand and contract under her. There was something comforting about that. \n\n“What do they call you, little mouseling?” The snake asked.\n\n“My name is Kiki.” She told him.\n\n“I am called Shu.” He said. “I am the top predator of this island.”\n\nKiki smiled. “King Shu.” She said with a giggle.\n\n“Yes, I suppose.” He said with a flick of his tongue. “I don't recognize the smell of your family. You aren't from here. How did you find yourself in my kingdom?”\n\nThe mouse yawned. “I slipped and fell into the river.” She explained. Her eyes were getting heavy. The slow rise and fall of his body was relaxing and she was so very exhausted. Shu tried to ask her something else, but she had fallen asleep.\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
The Serpent and the Mouse




A bolt of lightning split open the night sky, followed closely by a thunderous rumble.  The rain buffeted the swollen river with a vengeful torrent, and had long since caused it to burst its banks.  The water raged and rushed angrily, carrying with it everything in its path.  Trees, branches, flotsam, and anything that happened to be unlucky enough to be in it's grasp.  Among these things was a small mouse struggling desperately to survive.  

She was swept down the river at a frightful speed and subject to every whim the river might have.  One second it slammed her into the depth, clutching at her lugs for the small amount of air they held, the next it tossed her up and into the floating branches to try and dash her to death.  The tiny mouse fought with every bit of strength her body could muster, clawing at the wicked power of the river.  It was hopeless, the river was relentless.  She kicked and clawed and finally managed to get her head above water.

“Mama!”  She gasped her tiny voice against the thunder of the storm.  “Mama, help!”  Once again she was taken down.  She scraped against the rocks of the riverbed.  The brown mouse tumbled helplessly in the current, her arms and legs flailing.  Her lungs were ready to burst when the river finally took enough pity to push her back to the surface.

This time she couldn't scream.  Only draw in a gasp of precious air.  If she went down again she would die.  She knew that much.  The lighting ripped through the sky again.  In the light she could see a low hanging branch from a thin tree was about to rush past overhead.  

The mouse reached for it desperately.  By some miracle she managed to snag it in her paws, but the river had spent the last of its sympathy for her.  It grabbed at her and tried to carry her further down its length.  The mouse held fast to the branch, knowing it was hopeless.  She could not fight the river, and she was not strong enough to pull herself out.  The branch flexed under her weight.  It should have easily been able to hold her, but with the river ripping at her body it cracked at the trunk of the sapling it was attached to.

Back down under she went, still gripping the branch with all her remaining might.  The river wanted her, and it would have her.  The sapling, however, wasn't about to give up on its branch.  It hung by the bark and bent with her weight.  The force of the river pushed her toward the shore.  Just when the mouse was about to give up she felt the sand under her feet at the water's edge.  She threw herself away from the river, and only managed to splash down in the shallow water, but the river's strength there was low.  She managed to crawl her way to the shore.  

She collapsed down for a moment and gasped for breath in the mud.  The rain pounding down on her painfully and insistently.  The rain and the river must be allies, as it wanted to force her back into the water.  The mouse had no intention of going back, she clawed her way through the mud and toward the higher grass.  All the while the large droplets of water trying to beat her into submission.  She needed to get out of the rain.  She needed to find shelter.  

The mouse had hoped that the grass would offer some protection, but it did little against the storm.  She crawled as quickly as her feet would carry her towards the higher ground and the large roots of an ancient tree.  Perhaps there would be someplace she could get under and wait out the storm.  A rock, an outcropping, a thick branch, anything.

When she made it to the tree, the mouse crawled over the thick and slimy roots.  It was a gnarled and ugly tree that appeared to be angry with the process of growing, as such it only did so grudgingly and without reason.  It's branches were bent and painful looking, and it's trunk a patchwork of swollen burls and festering knots.  There was a smell around the tree.  A scent that should have frightened her, but her exhausted mind couldn't remember why.  When the lightning flashed again she noticed a hollow opening at the base of the tree.  The young mouse stumbled into the opening and out of the rain.  She staggered and tumbled to the dry, leaf covered floor of the hollow.  She rested there as she painfully tried to catch her breath, looking pathetic and ragged.  

“Mama.”  She whispered quietly.  The mouse wanted to go home, she was afraid and not used to being alone.  How far had the river taken her?  Very far.  Farther than she had ever been from her home.  Maybe farther than even her mother had been.  It could be another world for all she knew.  The ground below her moved and the mouse froze.  Her whiskers twitched and her mind finally reminded her what that scent was.  Something worse than the river and the rain.

It was death.

“I taste heat.”  A voice in the dark hissed.  

The tiny mouse leapt to her feet and bounded for the exit, but the leaves on the ground moved, tripping her up.  She stumbled and clawed her way back to her feet, only to come face to face with the occupant of the dry hollow of the tree.  A large viper with golden eyes.

“Hello, mouseling.”  The copperhead spoke to her.  Its tongue darted out and flickered in her face.  “Why have you entered my abode on this miserable and cold night?  Were you hoping to catch me slow and dull?”

The mouse fell back and covered her face with her paws in terror.  “I'm so sorry, Mr. Snake, I just wanted to get out of the rain.”  She squeaked.  “Please don't eat me!”

“Eat you?”  The snake scoffed.  “You are so small, and I only eat when I'm hungry.”  The serpent uncoiled himself from underneath the leaves.  There was a bulge in his body.  “As you can see, I am already digesting something.  A fat bullfrog I caught just the other day.”  

The snake was lethargic and tired.  He was moving slow.  The mouse thought that if she moved quickly enough, she should be able to get past him.  The snake could see her looking toward the opening.

“I won't stop you.”  He assured her.

The mouse crept against the far side of the hollow and toward the opening.  She was tense, and ready to jump if the snake decided to spring at her.  The snake simply coiled himself up into a ball, lazily resting his head on top.  She swallowed hard and made a quick dash for the exit.  

True to his word, the snake made no attempt at her and the mouse made it to the outside.  The rain immediately hammered down onto her.  It was even worse now than it was before.  It hurt, and she was sore.  She was unable to stop herself from returning to hollow of the tree.

The mouse stood in the sheltered opening, afraid to go back in, afraid to venture into the stinging rain and unfamiliar forest.  Lighting flashed and thunder roared.  She shivered from both cold and fear.  

“There's no place to go.”  The snake finally told her.  “The river is on all sides of my home.  Come back in and get dry.”

“Are you sure you won't eat me?”  She asked.

“If I get hungry I will,” he admitted, “but the rain should stop long before that.”

Realizing she really didn't have a choice, the mouse carefully entered the lair of the copperhead.  The smell of him was so thick in there!  How could she have missed it before?  She found a spot furthest from the snake and crouched down.  The mouse's fur was wet and dirty.  She needed to get dry or she wasn't going to warm up.  Keeping a close eye on the snake she started to scrub her head with her paws, shaking her head occasionally to flick away the water.  She worked her way down her body, meticulously scrubbing, shaking and sometimes licking to get herself as dry and fluffy as possible.  The snake watched her the entire time.  At least, she thought he did.  His eyes didn't seem to be capable of closing.  He hardly moved at all except when his long, forked tongue would flick out.    

“You look better now.”  The snake noted when she finished.

“Um... thank you?”  The mouse replied.  She was hoping that didn't mean she looked good enough to eat.  They sat across from each other for a while, sharing a long, uncomfortable silence that was only broken by the occasional thunder outside.

The snake finally spoke.  “Since I have been kind enough to share my home,” he stated, “would it be possible for you do do something for me?”  

“What could I have that you would want?”  She asked.

“You have hot blood and fur.”  He said.  “I have neither.  It's cold, I'm miserable and having a hard time digesting.  Could you share your heat with me?”

“I don't know how I would do that.”  The mouse said.  Wondering how she could remove her fur and blood for him.  

“If you could just lay with me and keep me warm.”  He suggested.  “In return I will give you protection.  You will be able to sleep and heal without worry.”  She thought about it for a while.  If the snake really did want to eat her, he already would have.  Her mother had told her once that snakes like to wrap their prey up in their body, squishing them.  Maybe that's what he wanted to do.

“You're not gonna squish me, are you?”  She asked.

“If I did that than you would get cold.”  He reasoned.  “Then I would be cold.  I promise I won't squish you.”  

“Okay.”  She said.

“Very good.”  The snake said.  “Come to me, please.  It's difficult for me to move right now.”  

The mouse went to the snake cautiously, her whiskers twitching and feeling at the air around him.  The snake's body loosened and he managed to make a small nest out of his coils.  She climbed onto him skittishly, every bone in her body telling her this was a bad idea.  As frightened as she was of the serpent, she was even more afraid to be alone.   She climbed into the nest he made for her and settled in.

“Oh, that's nice.”  The snake said, his tongue flicking happily.  “You're very warm.”  

“Thank you.”  She said.  The mouse thought he would be slimy, but he was very dry.  Very smooth.  She could feel his body slowly expand and contract under her.  There was something comforting about that.  

“What do they call you, little mouseling?”  The snake asked.

“My name is Kiki.”  She told him.

“I am called Shu.”  He said.  “I am the top predator of this island.”

Kiki smiled.  “King Shu.”  She said with a giggle.

“Yes, I suppose.”  He said with a flick of his tongue.  “I don't recognize the smell of your family.  You aren't from here.  How did you find yourself in my kingdom?”

The mouse yawned.  “I slipped and fell into the river.”  She explained.  Her eyes were getting heavy.  The slow rise and fall of his body was relaxing and she was so very exhausted.  Shu tried to ask her something else, but she had fallen asleep.
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