The Christmas Rat Read Online Free

about Anje . . . I mean, the guy was really fierce. Sort of angry. When I had told him about the rat he, like, took it personally. As if I insulted God or something. But, as I thought about it, I sort of agreed with him. You had to get rid of rats. You couldn’t have them where people live, right? Besides, I didn’t have anything better to do. In fact, I got to thinking that there was no point in waiting until nighttime to reconnoiter. I liked the word. It sounded strong, full of action. What I needed.
    Making sure I had the apartment key in my pocket, I grabbed the little flashlight Anje gave me, clicking it on to see if it worked. It did, but in an odd sort of way. It wasn’t just the front part that shot a beam and all. The whole thing glowed. Cool.
    I took the elevator down to the basement.
    When I got there the lights were off. I mean, that sucker was dark, totally dark. I did wonder for a second how come the lights had been on before, and were off now. But I didn’t spend a bunch of time thinking about it. Besides, Anje had said it would be better if it was dark. So I just flicked on the flashlight. There was a beam all right, but like I said, the whole thing glowed too.
    I started off down the corridors, past the wall of storage bays, then around what I remembered was the turn the rat had taken. In all that dark, it was really confusing. So I moved slowly, poking the beam of the flashlight into any corner I saw, almost scared about what I might find. The glow of the flashlight case made me feel like I was in some sort of cocoon. Made me feel safer.
    Then, suddenly, I saw the rat on the top of a large canister labeled CLEANING SOLVENT .
    He was up on his hind legs like a dog begging, those tiny, pink-clawed paws of his waving in the air. All the while he was squeaking, opening and closing his mouth wide so that I could see his chisel-like, yellow front teeth. It was like he was making a speech. Not that I understood anything.
    I stared at him, fascinated and, you know, scared. From my light I guess he knew I was there because he seemed to be looking right back at me with those bright black eyes. At the same time he kept clawing the air as if he was pulling in invisible threads. Or climbing a net.
    The next second the rat leaped off the canister, landing close to where I stood. I jumped back.
    He stood up on his hind legs, then dropped to all fours and began to scurry along the floor at the base of the wall. After a brief moment of being shocked, I ran after him.
    Let me tell you something. That rat was fast, a lot faster than me. But my flashlight gave me enough light—and the corridor was long enough—so that I could follow him, catching glimpses of that long naked tail of his as he zipped around corners.
    All of a sudden I was facing a dead end. The rat was at the far end, sniffing frantically along the walls. He was squeaking too, like he was searching for an escape route or something. I mean, real panicky. He even began scratching at the floor. At one of those dirt spots. Suddenly he stopped, looked up, fixed his beady eyes on me and just stood there, absolutely still, except for his quivering nose. Once, twice, he let out sharp squeaks.
    The thing is, I had trapped him. He must have realized it, too. But I didn’t know what to do about it.
    All of a sudden, he dove at me. Like he was attacking me. Freaked, I leaped back and pressed myself against the wall.
    The next instant he was on me. I mean, I could feel his small feet galloping over my sneakers. Then he was off in a shot, and, as my flashlight beam played about, I watched him dash along the corridor and vanish into the dark.
    I didn’t follow. I couldn’t. My heart was pounding too fast. I was finding it hard to breathe. I had to lean against the cement wall for a minute. As I did I had this feeling come over me, like I had failed at something because, I have to admit, I was really glad he was gone.
    After I calmed