Suricatas Cuento (Meerkat's Tale)

They always walk by the window, but no one seems to care.
They pass on by the window even though I glare.
I strike and scream, my little hands against the glass sadly though it bares.

I look around at the others about.
Mellow that they are there is no doubt.
I used to stand for my clan and rally them to action.
But now I stand just to be a man, to right a unjust action.

My ears grow heavy and my eyes lined with tears.
There is little I can do all I have is fears.

To return home I would if I could back to the plains I came from.
Where my family waits, oh they must quake in fear of what had befallen me.

A Meerkat I am one of a bunch, a sentry I once stood.
But here I brood in a bad mood, failing to escape the crude.

         "Your poetry sucks". The break in silence was not exactly a welcome one and only succeeded in driving the nail deeper into his mood. The small gray tan paws padding across the pet shop floor towards the voice. It was a parakeet one of many in the small shop that had become to home to many odd creatures in the last few weeks. Its black pebble like eyes staring as if blind at nothing. "Well your feather crest is stupid" was all the small Meerkat could manage to counter the earlier comment with.

         "Oh your a bundle of sharp sticks you are, coming at me with such a weak come back." He chirped taking flight and going along a short flight path to the display stand that his victim stood. "Look at you, nothing but a little rat stuck in a city of giants!". "I am not a rat! I am a Meerkat and I am proud of what I am." The moment for him was a proud one, one that made him feel like he had before the kidnapping.

         "Sure you are, you are nothing special, simply a long bodied rat". The flurry of wings made him a little envious to think how easy it would be to escape if only he could fly like this rainbow colored chicken. Shaking his head he quickly headed across the display window's counter. He would escape this city of giants, he would be free, he would be reunited with his family.

         The night was a cold one, and one that surely wasn't quiet like the plains were. The noises that ruined his sleep were alien to him, the cries of those odd metal horses, the occasional scream of their legs on the hard ground. He curled up tightly to let his large tail wrap around him, it was only a little comforting and to him that was enough for him at the moment. Slowly he uncurled to peek down at the cobblestone roads below the store window.

         He was a little surprised to see a pair of eyes staring back up at him, black and cold in the night shadow. As he leaned closer it was a Rat staring him down "Go away Rat, I am not one of your kind nor do I have any food for you." This made his ears fall as he had singled himself out again "Yes yes I know you are one of the Meerkats, we have come to tell you we have found another of your kind here." His ears shot up at this statement.

         He looked around he had to escape, had to find a way to get to the Rat.

         "Please sir if you will cease your rude words for simply a time, I beseech you for your assistance". The Meerkat begged, head held high in hopes of even a small bit of help. The bird was quiet watching him with one of its black eyes its beak nibbling along its toe. "Very well Meerkat if it will get you silent for once.".

         It took flight around the room spying its surroundings with more attention then it ever had before. "You wish to escape yes? Very well I can assist you in that, through this passage you must go." It replied only to fly down and signal towards a vent on the west wall. "But I can not reach it, I can not climb like some creatures." he protested.

         "Quiet, and hold still so that my claws do not miss their mark". With surprising speed the parakeet had grabbed him, oh dear! The height was unsettling being carried by his shoulders was also not his favorite form of being carried. "This is certainly unsettling! Please do be careful!".

         The parakeet seemed to enjoy this little game as it slowly, with evident strain flew towards the vent to drop the meerkat near the vent. "Be quick, the quicker you are gone the better I say" and with that he was gone. Now seemingly alone he went about squeezing into the vent, the place was dusty and the smell a bit too moist for his taste.

         "I do hope I have not been tricked, but I suppose this is where the rats have been finding their way in".

(To be continued)