Rat

The rat was old. She was old and fat. But what the most important was - she was smart. She (Yes, we say "she because it was a female one) lived in a dry and warm nest which she'd built under squeaky floor of a small apartment on the second floor of an old brick building in downtown.

The people who lived there didn't notice her existence because the rat (as already mentioned above) was very intelligent. She followed one simple rule: never steal anything from those who lives above your head. It might be dangerous. So she would plunder other apartments in the building which to her luck were many. The trophies would go to her hospitable hide-out.

Years were passing and eventually the rat got old. One day, she heard a horrible racket. It seemed that the entire building became alive. The rat got scared and didn't dare to go out. She just curled up in her nest and waited till everything got silent again.

When silence came, she got scared even more. The silence this time was different from any she had happened to hear. It was practically complete and lasted forever. No voices, no children's cries, no sounds of steps were audible. There was only the monotone wail of wind and muffled murmur of doves on the windowsills. The rat was startled and puzzled at the same time.

Eventually, she had to venture outside. The hunger had become intolerable and it won over the old rat's fear. She sneaked from her nest and searched all apartments one after another, a floor after floor and found nothing. People were gone and so was food. The rat would cry if she only could.

At length, when hunger became as dreadful as it only could be and no food had been found despite the most thorough inspection, she went down stairs and came out from the building.

The rat had been in the street before and she was perfectly aware of its perils (such as cats and traffic). To make sure that there were no cats nearby, the rat spent some time studying the street. Not having detected any immediate threat, she rushed to the road. : In the building across from where she lived people sold vegetables.

Even from where she was she could smell the proximity of desired food. The old rat sniffed the air and the alluring fragrance of fresh carrots, cabbage, and red beats hit her nostrils and made her shiver. Nothing now could stop her. Nothing but the traffic. Cars and trucks were dashing back and forth in front of her. The rat got worried. She raised her tiny grey head with black, moist beads of eyes and looked at the street light.

For she was an educated animal, she knew that the traffic would stop when the red light was on. To her astonishment, the old rat discovered that she could not distinguish colors - all were the same. A bit darker or a bit brighter but all the same gray. She panicked and poked in her tiny head recollecting in which order the lights were set.

She remembered that the red was the lowest one and began to wait when it was going to get bright. The lower light came on and the old rat rushed across the street.

This story has no happy end because suddenly, the merciless wheel of a truck appeared from somewhere above the poor animal and¦ And the next second the old rat was dead.

P.S. One of my friends always asks me why there are stories that have no moral or message. In his opinion, every story should have a clear and easy moral. To satisfy his eager curiosity, I'll tell that the massage of this one is: "If you are colorblind, don't trust your memory.
Thank you.