Day 22
Ugh, I got practically nothing done today.
It was a lot to take in from one single conversation with a complete stranger. Finally, finally, they were allowed free reign outside. Tim left them very reluctantly, only after he had extracted several promises from them.
They would stay hidden in the grass at all time, and keep a safe distance from the humans. They wouldn't venture into the thick of the forest, where there were much more dangerous things than trees or humans, that were just waiting for dinner to come wandering in. They had been given explicit directions so that they could find their way to the safety of Tim's colony. There, they would be able to learn more and have all of their most pressing questions answered. Most important was that they pay attention to the sky.
When the sun was setting, and Tim said they were sure to be able to recognize this, they would have to either return to the castle or find their way to Tim's colony. After dark, the main doors of the castle would be closed, and they would be effectively locked out. While there were ways to get back inside, they were sure to get lost if they didn't have the guidance of someone more experienced. The paths through the walls of the castle were a maze to even the most experienced.
As far as strange guides went, Tim had done rather well. He had told them the most new information, but that was just a consequence of where he lived. He was also aware of the fact that they needed some time alone. He was very kind not to hover behind them like a den mother. He was allowing them to pursue the freedom that they had left their colony to find.
"I don't know what to think," Arthur started, breaking the silence as they approached the fields that were still a vague yellow patch in the distance.
"He called us mice," Rob said, looking off into the distance. "To him, we're mice," he put a particular emphasis on the last word.
"How could we have been part of such a large world and not known it before?" Dan demanded.
"Can we even believe him?" Jackie asked, getting to the root of the problem.
"It's all right in front of us," Dan conceaded. "We can't deny that the things he talked about actually do exist."
"And naming is subjective," Arthur added. "We're not exactly wrong, even if we're not following what is presumably the common pattern of naming."
"It is good to have names for all of these things," Jackie said. "Just so we can identify things without unnecessary description or weird, reaching comparisons."
"They call us mice!" Rob said, turning to his companions with a look of complete confusion on his face.
"They've thrown us into a tiny corner of the world and taken away out identities," Dan summarized.
"We've always just been people," Arthur said. "With all of these other creatures running around, we need to be able distinguish ourselves from each of the other groups."
"All the same, it feels like we've moved down in importance. To be mice instead of people doesn't seem very prestigious," Jackie said.
"This fur, these ears, these tails," Rob said a bit desperately, grabbing Jackie's tail. "That makes us mice?"
She squeaked, and hit away his hand. She had almost lost her balance from the sheer surprise of such an invasion of space. Rob didn't seem effected. He continued walking forward in a trace.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, cocking her head.
The rest of the group paused, suddenly aware of a possible problem.
Rob kept walking forward, apparently unaware of what was going on around him. He walked straight into Arthur who had been walking in the front. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, sounding even more dazed now than he had as he ranted about that silly name.
"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked, putting his hands on Rob's shoulders.
"Oh, I'm great," he answered in a strained voice. He turned around to face the rest of the group, shaking off the hands. "We knew nothing. Nothing at all. And I'm alone. So, completely alone. And I can't even take refuge in the colony. In my home," he said. He laughed weakly, looking more like he was resisting the urge to cry.
Surprisingly, it was Dan that sprung into action. He placed an arm around Rob, and guided him down to a rock that was nearby. They sat, and Rob leaned into the older man, still looking into distance with wide open and crazed eyes.
"All alone," Rob repeated, his voice cracking. He burrowed a little bit into Dan, as if he was hoping to disappear from sight.
Dan said nothing, but rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I think we're going to need a little bit of time," he said quietly to Arthur and Jackie.
Jackie nodded. "We can go on by ourselves. It's not far; we can see the fields clearly from here."
"We won't get out of reach," Arthur confirmed. "I just think that you need a bit of privacy, and neither of you really wanted to go into the fields, anyway."
"Just don't take too long," Dan cautioned.
The group separated, with Arthur and Jackie walking fairly slowly so as to not hurry their return so early on in this part of their journey.
"I hope that he'll be alright," Arthur said quietly to Jackie as they moved forward.
"I don't know what triggered that," Jackie said.
Arthur looked at her a bit sharply.
"I only meant that it seems like there's another reason for his breakdown that we don't know. He's been coping with learning about the world quite well," Jackie defended herself.
"He actually seemed to be enjoying getting to learn all of these new things. It was hearing us talked about as mice that seemed to hurt him," Arthur admitted.
"And that's why I think that there's something that we don't know," Jackie said emphatically.
"Well, let's just take a look at these fields. I want to know what a real farmer does," Arthur, changing the subject.
They didn't get a chance to take a very good look at the fields before they were interrupted yet again. They had only come the edge of one field that was filled with yellow stalks. Next to it, was another field with green leaves sticking out of the ground.
It was from this direction that a new stranger approached. This was definitely not a mouse. It was about ten times their size and hopping in their direction. This creature had pleasant brown fur and very long, floppy ears, but it also had large teeth embedded in something long and orange. It was almost the color of a carrot, Arthur noted carefully.
With a bit of a sigh, Jackie stepped in front of Arthur, prepared to fight, but hoping that they would be able to just talk with even this stranger, who had just hopped to a stop in front of them. It sat up and took the orange object from its mouth, holding it in one of its hands.
"You're odd-looking mice, aren't you?" the creature said curiously.
"Why is that then?" Jackie asked, half expecting that to turn into an insult or a threat.
"Your eyes are either very large or being covered by something black," the creature said nonchalantly. He took a loud crunchy bite out of the orange object.
"They're being covered," Jackie answered, happy that she could use the other creature's words instead of having to come up with an explanation on her own. "We can't handle the light very well, you see."
"That's odd," he said, his nose twitching at he brought his face further down to examine them. Large cheeks were bulging towards them, and very long whiskers twitched in their direction.
"We come from inside the castle," Arthur added, wondering what sort of reaction that would get him.
"Oh," he said, crunching on the orange object. "I suppose that you do legitimately look lost. I'm Roger," he added.
"I'm Arthur and this is Jackie." Arthur paused. "If you don't mind us asking--"
"It's just that we really don't know anything about the outside, we've been sheltered so much," Jackie interrupted quickly.
"What kind of creature are you?" Arthur asked.
The creature sat up with interest. "You really are confused," he confirmed. "I'm a rabbit, and I've just been hunting through the fields for something to eat."
"A rabbit," Jackie repeated. "Wow."
The rabbit laughed, never having been this important before. "Yes, Roger the Rabbit is eating a carrot by the fields."
"That's a carrot?" Arthur asked in disbelief. "Well, I did think that the color was right, but it's enormous!"
The rabbit inclined his head a little, causing one of his ears to flop over his mouth. "How do you eat? Or what do you eat, maybe I should be asking?"
"Inside the castle, there are these nooks where we can get our hands on scraps of food." He opened up his hands to indicate the size of the average morsel. "There are bigger and more elaborate things on the tables, but we can never get those things."
The rabbit crunched on the carrot thoughtfully, sweeping his ear out of the way first. "Then you don't know where the food comes from. The farmers," he pointed to some of the humans in the distance, "they plant seeds that makes the food grow out of the ground. And it's always about this size," he added, brandishing the carrot a bit.
"Then it all gets brought inside, cut up and prepared for meals. All these fruits and vegetables out here become side dishes for the meat that they've slaughtered." When there was no reaction to that comment, he clarified, "The meat comes from certain animals that they hunt down and kill in the forest." Now Arthur and Jackie gasped in disbelief appropriately.
"So what is this?" Arthur asked, pointing to the field in front of them with the yellow stalks.
"That's wheat," the rabbit answered. "They eventually turn that into bread."
It was a lot to take in from one single conversation with a complete stranger. Finally, finally, they were allowed free reign outside. Tim left them very reluctantly, only after he had extracted several promises from them.
They would stay hidden in the grass at all time, and keep a safe distance from the humans. They wouldn't venture into the thick of the forest, where there were much more dangerous things than trees or humans, that were just waiting for dinner to come wandering in. They had been given explicit directions so that they could find their way to the safety of Tim's colony. There, they would be able to learn more and have all of their most pressing questions answered. Most important was that they pay attention to the sky.
When the sun was setting, and Tim said they were sure to be able to recognize this, they would have to either return to the castle or find their way to Tim's colony. After dark, the main doors of the castle would be closed, and they would be effectively locked out. While there were ways to get back inside, they were sure to get lost if they didn't have the guidance of someone more experienced. The paths through the walls of the castle were a maze to even the most experienced.
As far as strange guides went, Tim had done rather well. He had told them the most new information, but that was just a consequence of where he lived. He was also aware of the fact that they needed some time alone. He was very kind not to hover behind them like a den mother. He was allowing them to pursue the freedom that they had left their colony to find.
"I don't know what to think," Arthur started, breaking the silence as they approached the fields that were still a vague yellow patch in the distance.
"He called us mice," Rob said, looking off into the distance. "To him, we're mice," he put a particular emphasis on the last word.
"How could we have been part of such a large world and not known it before?" Dan demanded.
"Can we even believe him?" Jackie asked, getting to the root of the problem.
"It's all right in front of us," Dan conceaded. "We can't deny that the things he talked about actually do exist."
"And naming is subjective," Arthur added. "We're not exactly wrong, even if we're not following what is presumably the common pattern of naming."
"It is good to have names for all of these things," Jackie said. "Just so we can identify things without unnecessary description or weird, reaching comparisons."
"They call us mice!" Rob said, turning to his companions with a look of complete confusion on his face.
"They've thrown us into a tiny corner of the world and taken away out identities," Dan summarized.
"We've always just been people," Arthur said. "With all of these other creatures running around, we need to be able distinguish ourselves from each of the other groups."
"All the same, it feels like we've moved down in importance. To be mice instead of people doesn't seem very prestigious," Jackie said.
"This fur, these ears, these tails," Rob said a bit desperately, grabbing Jackie's tail. "That makes us mice?"
She squeaked, and hit away his hand. She had almost lost her balance from the sheer surprise of such an invasion of space. Rob didn't seem effected. He continued walking forward in a trace.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, cocking her head.
The rest of the group paused, suddenly aware of a possible problem.
Rob kept walking forward, apparently unaware of what was going on around him. He walked straight into Arthur who had been walking in the front. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, sounding even more dazed now than he had as he ranted about that silly name.
"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked, putting his hands on Rob's shoulders.
"Oh, I'm great," he answered in a strained voice. He turned around to face the rest of the group, shaking off the hands. "We knew nothing. Nothing at all. And I'm alone. So, completely alone. And I can't even take refuge in the colony. In my home," he said. He laughed weakly, looking more like he was resisting the urge to cry.
Surprisingly, it was Dan that sprung into action. He placed an arm around Rob, and guided him down to a rock that was nearby. They sat, and Rob leaned into the older man, still looking into distance with wide open and crazed eyes.
"All alone," Rob repeated, his voice cracking. He burrowed a little bit into Dan, as if he was hoping to disappear from sight.
Dan said nothing, but rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I think we're going to need a little bit of time," he said quietly to Arthur and Jackie.
Jackie nodded. "We can go on by ourselves. It's not far; we can see the fields clearly from here."
"We won't get out of reach," Arthur confirmed. "I just think that you need a bit of privacy, and neither of you really wanted to go into the fields, anyway."
"Just don't take too long," Dan cautioned.
The group separated, with Arthur and Jackie walking fairly slowly so as to not hurry their return so early on in this part of their journey.
"I hope that he'll be alright," Arthur said quietly to Jackie as they moved forward.
"I don't know what triggered that," Jackie said.
Arthur looked at her a bit sharply.
"I only meant that it seems like there's another reason for his breakdown that we don't know. He's been coping with learning about the world quite well," Jackie defended herself.
"He actually seemed to be enjoying getting to learn all of these new things. It was hearing us talked about as mice that seemed to hurt him," Arthur admitted.
"And that's why I think that there's something that we don't know," Jackie said emphatically.
"Well, let's just take a look at these fields. I want to know what a real farmer does," Arthur, changing the subject.
They didn't get a chance to take a very good look at the fields before they were interrupted yet again. They had only come the edge of one field that was filled with yellow stalks. Next to it, was another field with green leaves sticking out of the ground.
It was from this direction that a new stranger approached. This was definitely not a mouse. It was about ten times their size and hopping in their direction. This creature had pleasant brown fur and very long, floppy ears, but it also had large teeth embedded in something long and orange. It was almost the color of a carrot, Arthur noted carefully.
With a bit of a sigh, Jackie stepped in front of Arthur, prepared to fight, but hoping that they would be able to just talk with even this stranger, who had just hopped to a stop in front of them. It sat up and took the orange object from its mouth, holding it in one of its hands.
"You're odd-looking mice, aren't you?" the creature said curiously.
"Why is that then?" Jackie asked, half expecting that to turn into an insult or a threat.
"Your eyes are either very large or being covered by something black," the creature said nonchalantly. He took a loud crunchy bite out of the orange object.
"They're being covered," Jackie answered, happy that she could use the other creature's words instead of having to come up with an explanation on her own. "We can't handle the light very well, you see."
"That's odd," he said, his nose twitching at he brought his face further down to examine them. Large cheeks were bulging towards them, and very long whiskers twitched in their direction.
"We come from inside the castle," Arthur added, wondering what sort of reaction that would get him.
"Oh," he said, crunching on the orange object. "I suppose that you do legitimately look lost. I'm Roger," he added.
"I'm Arthur and this is Jackie." Arthur paused. "If you don't mind us asking--"
"It's just that we really don't know anything about the outside, we've been sheltered so much," Jackie interrupted quickly.
"What kind of creature are you?" Arthur asked.
The creature sat up with interest. "You really are confused," he confirmed. "I'm a rabbit, and I've just been hunting through the fields for something to eat."
"A rabbit," Jackie repeated. "Wow."
The rabbit laughed, never having been this important before. "Yes, Roger the Rabbit is eating a carrot by the fields."
"That's a carrot?" Arthur asked in disbelief. "Well, I did think that the color was right, but it's enormous!"
The rabbit inclined his head a little, causing one of his ears to flop over his mouth. "How do you eat? Or what do you eat, maybe I should be asking?"
"Inside the castle, there are these nooks where we can get our hands on scraps of food." He opened up his hands to indicate the size of the average morsel. "There are bigger and more elaborate things on the tables, but we can never get those things."
The rabbit crunched on the carrot thoughtfully, sweeping his ear out of the way first. "Then you don't know where the food comes from. The farmers," he pointed to some of the humans in the distance, "they plant seeds that makes the food grow out of the ground. And it's always about this size," he added, brandishing the carrot a bit.
"Then it all gets brought inside, cut up and prepared for meals. All these fruits and vegetables out here become side dishes for the meat that they've slaughtered." When there was no reaction to that comment, he clarified, "The meat comes from certain animals that they hunt down and kill in the forest." Now Arthur and Jackie gasped in disbelief appropriately.
"So what is this?" Arthur asked, pointing to the field in front of them with the yellow stalks.
"That's wheat," the rabbit answered. "They eventually turn that into bread."