The next day was a happy day. Eory could feel it as he woke up, because he felt excited and energized. He wondered what he should do first on this very special, happy day. Because it was a day where he was alone and Kori would not be visiting, he could do anything he wanted. He threw his blankets off with an almost manic grin. First, he decided he should wash up. While he slept, the guards had hauled in a bathtub--briefly dispelling Kori’s door, hidden by magic to do so-- filled it with boiling water, and then left. Since he had woken, the water had cooled enough that he could now submerge himself in it. He let out a contented sigh as he submerged himself in it, closing his eyes. Because he was the only person he had ever seen naked, he had a briefly curious thought, wondering if everyone else looked the same way he did when he was naked. After that curious thought passed, he began humming a song under his breath. Although he would never tell anyone--or more specifically, Kori, since she was the only one he knew--that he liked singing, he engaged in it often when he was alone, to spare himself embarrassment. 

Something about opening up his vocal cords and letting his voice soar, inhibited, was freeing.

He ducked under the water, enjoying the feel of it on his skin, and once he was satisfied that he was clean, he grabbed the rag set out for him from the guards by the tub and scrubbed himself down, climbing out of the tub afterward. He looked around his tiny room, beaming, wondering what he should do next.

Read a book? Do some drawing? Make some clothes? Eory decided on the latter; it had been awhile since he had done some sewing. 

He dashed over to his dresser, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out several yards of fabric. Lately, Kori had been teaching him how to make a basic tunic and breeches, and he thought he would try his hand at making a good pair of breeches again. He took out brown, cotton fabric, and then a pair of breeches from his second drawer to use as a reference. Whistling cheerfully, he lay his pair of breeches out on his desk, and then he lay the brown cotton fabric over it. After that, he began cutting and hand sewing, doing his best to make the pants as even as possible. 

An hour passed, and then two, and he wiped his sweaty forehead, deciding he had better take a break. He took a moment to sit down, his feet tapping excitedly. 

Suddenly, he heard something squeak. What’s that noise?

He shot to his feet--his large, sensitive ears picking up the noise clearly--giving him an approximation of where it was coming from. His imagination was sparked by what could possibly be making such noise. It seemed to be coming from under his sofa. He peeked under his bed. His eyes lit up. 

It was a rat. 

“He’s so cute…” Eory whispered to himself. 

The rat cleaned its face with little paws, squeaking again. When it saw Eory, it cocked its head to the side, its whiskered nose twitching. Eory reached under the sofa, his hand trembling a little. He had read about rats, and so he knew exactly what it was. 

He let the rat sniff him, hoping it wouldn’t bite him. When it didn’t, he petted it gently, and then the rat crawled into his palm. With his eyes lighting up, his arm receded with the rat upon it. He rose to a sitting position, continuing to pet the rat. I wonder if Kori would let me keep him? Eory thought to himself. 

Eory grinned, and then said aloud, “For now, I’ll name you Ratington.”

Eory stood up, putting the rat on the sofa. It squeaked. Eory climbed up on the sofa, looking both ways--for some reason paranoid that someone might be watching him--and then started bouncing up and down on the couch like he did when he was a child.

The rat skittered up his arm and over the back of his neck, making him laugh. It then climbed to his head making small squeaks. He reached up and cupped it in his hands, careful to make sure it hadn’t gotten its paws wrapped in his hair.

Once Eory had had his fill of jumping on the sofa, he hopped down, taking the rat from his head and holding it in his hands. “What should we do now, Rattington?”

The rat squeaked in response. 

“I agree, let’s stare at the ceiling until we see stars.” Eory hung himself--upside down--from the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. 

Eventually, Eory saw past the ceiling with his imagination, and saw stars instead. “They’re sooo bright, Ratington.”

The sky he saw was a black sea, paved with diamond stars--stars that, when connected, formed a ship, sailing freely through the air. Eory was absorbed by the scene, and imagined other stars, too. He imagined one in the shape of a rat, scampering through the sky, and another in the shape of a fairy. Eory lifted himself upright, feeling a sliver of sadness slithering into his happy day, but he didn’t let it get the better of him, despite knowing that he may never see a starry sky again in his life. 

Rather than dwelling, he decided to occupy his mind with the contents of a book from his shelf. Ratigan took a nap on his lap while he read, which was comforting to Eory. After becoming absorbed in the events of a book for half-an-hour, Eory decided to take a break and catch up on the assignments Kori had given him. With a sigh, he got to work. He pursed his lips. staring out by writing the familiar mantra, 

You are not your family, Eory.

Your family was evil at its root and you are good.

You know that you are good, but now you must prove it if you wish to be free.

Once he got that annoyance out of the way, Eory began solving the mathematical equations Kori had written for him, and worked on identifying grammatical errors in seemingly perfect sentences. Another hour passed, and 

Eory decided to take another break. 

He looked at his rat friend, deciding that the rat was quite a beautiful, artistic subject. 

I like how his tail contrasts with his soft fur… Eory thought to himself almost dreamily. There’s something beautiful about it.

Eory swept the rat up in his hands, asking, “Well Ratington? Do you want to be my live model?”

The rat cocked its head to the side, squeaking curiously. Eory grinned. “Sounds like you do, to me!”

He placed the rat on his desk and began drawing. It wasn’t life-like like his other drawings. In this drawing, he decided to exaggerate the rat’s big ears and its plump, soft body. He also decided to make its eyes bigger and its tail longer. When he finished the drawing, he showed it to the rat. 

The rat’s nose twitched--it placed a paw on the picture, squeaking approvingly. 

Eory chuckled. “I thought you would like it!”

After that, the guards dispelled the fiery magic hiding Eory’s door, bringing in a salad and a slab of meat. They paused when they saw the rat.

“Should we kill it?” The guards asked Eory. 

It was the first thing they had ever asked him. Usually, they would bring his food silently and leave just as silently. Eory, not used to speaking to anyone but Kori, answered, “N-n-no. You can leave him. Please d-don’t hurt him.”

The guards looked at each other, and then back at Eory. 

“Very well.” One of them said, and then they got ready to come back through the door. 

Eory looked at the rat, and thought to himself how cruel it would be to keep the poor thing locked up with him. He sniffled, making a difficult decision. “Wait! Can you… set him free when you come back later to fill my bathtub?”

The guards paused again, wondering why the young man was getting teary-eyed over a rat. Finally, they said, 

“Sure.”

They left after that, and Eory ate his food while looking at his rat friend, still teary-eyed. “Well… I guess I should enjoy your company while I can.”

And Eory did enjoy his new friend’s company. He spoke to it like it could understand him, and realized just how enjoyable it was to have someone to talk to. The rat watched him eat, draw, read, write, sew, and clean. When it was time for bed, Eory thought he would say his goodbye. With tears flooding his eyes, and his voice trembling, he held the rat in his palms and said, “Thank you for keeping me company. I don’t have many friends, so it was nice of you to visit… I wish we could stay friends, but it would be mean to keep you here forever, so I guess… this is goodbye. You’ll be gone in the morning.”

The rat merely squeaked in response, but Eory liked to think the rat would miss him, too. Eory turned out the candles and went to bed. To his surprise, the rat slept next to him. 

Even though parting with his new friend was painful, Eory was glad to have met him, anyway, and went to bed with a joyous heart. 

Late in the night, the guards came in, filled Eory’s tub, and took the rat. Before leaving the room, they curiously looked at the picture Eory had drawn of his friend, and then left.