Creatures Going Crazy During a Pandemic

Photo by David Hablützel from Pexels

Eddie, the rat, noticed lately that humans stay in their houses everyday. He went home to his lair to report that to his wife. 

Upon reaching his lair, his wife Minnie was cooking lunch while he entered the kitchen. 

"Hey you're home early? You look pensive. Is something bothering you?" Minnie asked.

"Oh no it's nothing. It's just that I noticed lately that humans don't leave their houses at all. It's weird. They normally leave their houses in the morning and come back at night. Now, they're always inside their houses except for one who goes out weekly to buy groceries." Eddie said.

"Is that right? You know I heard from our neighbors that there's a human pandemic raging right now. They overheard it from the human radio that a virus is causing widespread sickness. It's making a lot of humans sick and a lot of them are dying," Minnie paused and added, "Could that be the reason?" 

"Really?" Eddie's face looked somber and added, "With the humans staying at home 24/7, it will make my food rummaging harder. But luckily it's not the bubonic plaque that our ancestors carried that killed a lot of people a long time ago. That's going to make humans crazy and they're going to blame us and hunt us all down."

"Our neighbors heard from the human radio that the sickness came from bats," Minnie said.

Eddie gave out a big sigh of relief. "Really? That's good, at least we're safe for now."

Several days later, one of the rats in the neighborhood died mysteriously. The news about the mysterious death spread quickly among the rats and everyone was scared. Eddie and Minnie heard the news and were talking about it.

"Hey Minnie. I heard that Old Tommy died mysteriously. The humans saw his dead body and they cremated it on the vacant lot."

"Poor old Tommy! what could have caused his death?" asked Minnie.

"It's strange because one of Tommy's buddies noticed that he just dropped dead.  He didn't die from the mouse traps set by humans," Eddie answered.

The following day, the Mayor Rat called for a meeting about old Tommy's mysterious death. Everyone gathered inside the Mayor Rat's office and they silently waited for him.

Then the Mayor rat walked into the room and made his announcement in a booming loud voice, "Everyone listen! We suspect that old Tommy's death may been caused by the sickness affecting humans. I received reports from my Rat Police Chief that his police squad overheard from the humans that the sickness is transmitted through talking."

Initially, everyone was silent. But when the announcement kicked in, everyone began talking loudly and aimlessly. It was noisy inside the chief rat's office.

"Silence! shouted the Mayor rat. 

The noise inside the room died down until there was total silence. Then the Mayor rat announced that starting tomorrow evening, there will be a total lockdown. Every rat is required to stay at home to prevent the spread of the sickness. 

He further announced that he will be implementing curfew. He emphasized that any rat can be allowed to go out of their lair for essential activities like rummaging food at a certain time only. He also said that all rats should maintain social distancing. He will punish those who violated his decree.

When the Mayor Rat finished announcing his decree, everyone started talking.  The noise inside the Mayor rat's office grew louder and louder again. Eddie, standing at the back, began to worry and his survival instincts kicked in. He rushed out of the meeting with a serious look on his face.

For several hours, Minnie waited anxiously for Eddie. Suddenly, a loud knock came upon the door that startled Minnie. She peered outside while slowly opening the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Eddie carrying a lot of things that almost covered his face which made him barely unrecognizable.

"Eddie is that you? What are all those stuff you're carrying?" Minnie asked further, "What happened at the meeting?" 

Eddie carried all the stuff  inside their lair and was trying to catch his breath. 

"Relax Minnie! "The Mayor rat declared that we're going on lockdown. The sickness affecting humans might have caused old Tommy's mysterious death and it will most likely infect us all. The Mayor rat also declared a curfew and that we should all practice social distancing."

"It's that bad huh! Wait what are all these stuff you brought inside the house?" Minnie looked puzzled.

"I went to all the three houses that I usually go to and scrounged up all food scraps that I can get my hands on. It's six months worth of food supply." Eddie replied with a proud grin.

"Don't you think that's too much for us?" Minnie paused and added, "If you got all the food scraps from those houses, there won't be any food left for our neighbors, especially for John and Mary because right now they have a dozen pinky mouths to feed." 

Eddie snapped at Minnie. "Look Minnie! Right now is not the time to be righteous. We're in a crisis and during these times it's every rat for himself," he added, "Oh by the way, I plan to barricade the passageway leading to those houses. It's too close to our lair and a lot of foot traffic might bring in the sickness to us."

Minnie protested, "Don't you think you're going a bit too far?  You're getting a bit paranoid. Where will our neighbors pass? They'll be forced to go outside just to go inside human houses to rummage for food and expose themselves which is risky, right Eddie?" 

"It's not being paranoid Minnie. It's about survival!"

After a month in lockdown, Eddie went out of the lair to meet his friend Arnie and ask about what's happening.

"Eddie it's good to see you! I haven't seen you for awhile."

"Well Arnie, we've been holed up in our lair for a month. So we're kinda out of the loop. You know?"

"Is that so? Anyways, here's one juicy story. Last week our chief of rat police threw a party at his lair. The worse part is they didn't maintain social distancing. They violated the Mayor Rat's decree. Everyone is furious. They just got a slap in the wrist. They've arrested a lot of rats who violated lockdown decrees. But they're the violators themselves!" Arnie was all flustered.

Eddie, with a cynical tone, said, "You know Arnie there's no use getting riled up at them. They can get away with anything because their in charge."

"You're right Eddie but I think it's not fair," Arnie added, "I guess that's how it is." 

After Eddie's conversation with Arnie, he went home. When he opened the door he saw Minnie, worrying. Minnie told Eddie that their next door neighbor's kid has some kind of fever. 

Eddie's eyes widened in horror. He exclaimed, "They might have the sickness with them! Minnie stay away from them! Don't let them inside our house! Don't even look at them! Let's just say they don't exist and we don't want anything to do with them ever!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting? What if they are already well? How do we treat them then?" Minnie asked.

"We don't know if the sickness remains dormant with them. It's better to be safe than sorry," Eddie added, "Here's what we're going to do. If we see them approaching from afar, we'll close the door silently and if they knock we'll pretend that we're asleep."

After several months, Eddie resumed rummaging for more food in human houses. He overheard the humans that they are taking medicine that protects them from the "sickness." When Eddie heard this, he waited until the humans are gone. 

When they were all in their rooms, Eddie went looking for the so-called medicine. The humans left packs of the medicine on the dining table. Eddie crept silently, took a pack of the medicine and scrambled away.

Eddie ran furiously towards his lair. Upon reaching it, he knocked loudly on the door. Minnie, looking irritated, opened the door. Eddie rushed in with his loot. 

"What the hell is that Eddie?"

"Minnie, I heard the humans talking that they are taking medicines that will protect them from the mysterious illness. I grabbed a pack of the medicine for us. Let's try it so that we're protected from the sickness," Eddie said.

"Are you going crazy Eddie! Those medicines are for humans and not for rats like us. Have you considered that what could be medicine for them might be poison for us." Minnie protested.

Eddie was stunned by Minnie's statement. He sat down on their sofa with drooping shoulders. 

"I guess you're probably right Minnie's. I might be going crazy because of this pandemic," Eddie said sadly and sat silently. 

In minutes, he snapped out if it and roared, "I think I'll make a big bubble to cover our lair, then I'd feel really safe."

"You know what Eddie you're impossible!" Minnie sighed.