Mouse

         "C'mon, Benni, it's okay to break the rules every now and then."

         Benni wasn't so sure she agreed.  The world was a dangerous place for a mouse... or at least, that's what the older mice had always told her.  There were lots of dangers out there - poisons, traps, pitfalls.  If a mouse were very unlucky, they might even run into the cat!

         That was why the younger mice, like Benni and her friends, were counseled to never leave the nest without an older mouse accompanying them.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen too often.  Some of the younger mice became quite antsy with their protected lifestyle, and while Benni was never in that category, her friend Luci was.

         "Benni, nothing'll happen.  You'll just go out the hole, check out the glass box, and come back!  Nothing to it!"

         Benni bit her lip.  They were standing near the hole already - just a few steps and Benni would be out.  Out in the open, out of the safety of the nest.  "If you're so interested in the glass box, why don't YOU go check it out, Luci?"

         "Because we both know that you're the fastest!  I don't believe what the older mice said... that the humans got a magic glass box that shows a window into another world!  It's ridiculous!  If one of us goes out to check it out, we'll know for sure that they're all full of it!"

         Benni was still hesitant.  "But... but it's a rule!"

         Luci just rolled her eyes.  "There are exceptions for everything, you know.  Nothing will happen.  You're the fastest, and the smartest.  You know how to avoid the traps.  I'm sure the rule was made for other mice!"

         Benni swelled a bit with pride at the compliment.  She did pride herself on being the fastest.  She looked back at the hole, her resolve wavering.

         "Alright, I'll do it.  But you owe me, Luci!"

         Luci squealed with glee.  "Thank you so much, Benni!  Now c'mon! I'll keep watch while you slip out!"

         Benni nodded, walking towards the hole as Luci turned to keep an eye for any older mice coming down the tunnel.

         "The coast is clear, Benni. Now's your chance!"

         Nervously, Benni poked her head out of the hole, looking around.  The living room looked empty.  The humans were gone; that she had already known.  The entire nest knew that the humans had been out of the house for several hours.  The living room was sparse.  There were only a few pieces of furniture: a large couch, a stand-up lamp, and, the most recent addition, the glass box.  Less furniture meant more open space, but it also meant fewer places for something unseen to be hiding.

         The glass box, which she was here to investigate, was on the other side of the couch.  Benni wouldn't be able to get a good look at it unless she went around the couch.  That was the plan: get around the couch, see the glass box, then head back.  Nothing would go wrong.

         Yet her heart fluttered as she walked out from the hole, into open space.  She knew she wasn't supposed to be here.  She was putting herself in unnecessary danger.  But she couldn't back down now!  Luci would never let her live it down.

         With irrational (at least, she told herself it was irrational) fear driving her, she scurried across the living room floor to the back of the couch.  The couch was set low to the floor, with no space underneath for even a mouse to scurry under.  At least it could afford her a certain measure of cover, and she moved quickly, hugging the side of the couch.  As she rounded the corner of the large piece of furniture, she saw it: the glass box.

         It lived up to its description.  A large box, looking to be mostly made of wood, but with a curved glass face on one side.  The living room could be seen reflected in the polished surface.  That was all.  No window.  No other world.

         So Luci had been right all along.  The glass box was just a box.  The older mouse who had reported it must have been trying to make himself seem more important.

         Suddenly, there was a muffled thud from behind her, and her heart skipped a beat.  Fear coursing through her veins, Benni turned around and saw a sight that made her blood go cold.

         The cat!

         The massive calico licked its chops as it glared down at her.  It must have been on the couch the entire time!  Now it was between her and safety.  She stared at the hole, which seemed impossibly far away now.  She could see Luci watching her in wide-eyed fear.

         Benni had just one chance.  She ran for it.

         She knew that if she tried to run away from the cat, it would be upon her in a heartbeat.  She only saw one alternative: she ran straight towards the cat, which stared at her in surprise.  To her own amazement, her plan seemed to be working; the cat was so startled that it let Benni run right past it!

         That didn't last long, though.  She soon heard the footfalls of the cat as it bounded after her.  She ran with all her strength towards the hole.  She was the fastest.  She would make it.  She would...

         Her legs seemed to give out under her as she felt some thing large and heavy come down on her tail.  She tried to keep running, but the cat's paw was just too heavy.  She watched in horror as Luci sped off down the tunnel, terrified.

         Benni's heart was beating faster and faster as she realized that it was over.  Then it seemed to stop in its tracks when she heard a loud, booming voice from behind her.

         "Hmm, I don't usually catch mice this small.  What made you come out on your own, little mouse?"

         The cat? The cat was talking?

         Benni wasn't sure if she should answer, but she figured that it probably couldn't make her situation any worse.  "I... I wanted to see the glass box."

         The cat laughed.  "That silly thing?  I don't understand what the humans like about it.  It seems so boring to me.  Well, it is warming to lie on top of it."

         Benni finally found the courage to look up at the cat.  She hadn't known that it was this big.  "Are... are you going to...?"

         "Eat you?  Of course.  What were you expecting?  That's the way things work.  That's my job; the humans let me stay here, and live with them, if I catch mice for them."

         Benni shuddered at how non-chalant the cat was about this.  "But... maybe you could let me go?  There are exceptions for everything!"

         The cat smiled.  "Is that what you think?  That there are no absolutes?  Well, let me tell you something that I've always found to be absolute, little mouse.  Anything you do, any rule you break, will always have consequences.  And you can't always choose what those will be."

         Benni squeaked, her heart racing even faster as the cat lifted her into the air by her tail.  She probably should have been wondering why she had decided to ever break the rules.  She probably should have been wishing, regretfully, that she had followed her own instincts instead of listening to her friend.

         But all she could do was stare at the cat as it gazed hungrily up at her.

         "There are exceptions for everything, little mouse... except this."

         Benni screamed as the cat retracted its claws, sending her tumbling through the air and into its open mouth.