This is the second tale in a series.  To read the first story about our hero, please go to A Rat's Tale.


Willoughby lay on his back near his cage, surveying his new home.  It was much larger than the lab, and it was bright and sunny.  Sunshine had not reached him in the lab often, the only window close to the cages being a northern one, there was nothing like this light that streamed in upon him now, making him feel warm and lazy.

When he first arrived here, he had known immediately it was her habitat, her scent was strong everywhere.  He realized he didn't detect any other human scents. How strange these humans are, he thought, this vast space occupied by just one human.  Certainly though, it must be much more comfortable than the overcrowded box he of which he was an inhabitant in the lab.  Still, he thought, there are times when it must be cold without another body to share its warmth with you.

Gloria was quite proud of herself for having spirited the rat from the lab.  Porter was too involved in his own agenda to question the disappearance of one rat.  He had never listened to her or believed her when she tried to explain how special this one rat was.  He had no vision or imagination and she was grateful for it in this one instance.  She was surprised at how quickly the rat adjusted to life in her apartment and now she never closed his cage door.  He had the run of the place but when she was home, he generally stayed quite close to her  His capacity to bond with her surprised her.  

When she had breakfast he would sit happily on the table just watching her and wait for whatever crumbs she tossed him.  When she curled up on the couch to watch television, he lay at her feet and she thought it looked as though he were watching too. He was her constant companion and she wondered if he missed having so many of his own kind around him, she wondered if he felt his isolation as much as she felt hers.  

Willougby realized that by listening to Gloria talk to him and on the telephone that he was beginning to understand a lot more human language.  It was odd to be sure, but it had a certain rhythm and the speaker changed tones depending on intent.  Very simple creatures really, he thought.  They seemed to be mostly concerned with what they will eat and how to best clean their cages.  The television showed dozens of products to eat or clean with daily.
 
Willoughby heard the sound of keys in the door, Gloria was home and for some reason this filled him with joy.  It was a rather lonely life for a rat after all, as used as he was to many companions even if the overcrowding was uncomfortable. He only waited for the opportunity to communicate with her, and that barrier he had not found a way to overcome since his victory in the lab.  

"How are you today Einstein"? Gloria called out.  She had taken to calling him by this new name instead of 4251.  He wasn't sure why she did that but felt instinctively that it was a gesture of friendliness and so he accepted this new name gladly.  He had no way of telling her what his real name was, at least not yet. He watched helplessly as she checked the phone messages.  He wanted to tell her that the deep voice she was listening for had not called;  the voice that sometimes made her smile and sometimes made her cry.  Instead he could only watch the look of disappointment on her face and it pained him.  She held a handful of mail, and sorted it as she looked over the many envelopes, finally depositing it all on the table by the door.

"I don't even know why I look at it, I have no intention of reading any of it", she laughed as she collapsed onto the couch, dispensing with her shoes as soon as she hit the cushions and pulling her feet up onto the couch after her.

"That Porter is such a dolt, Einstein", she said, addressing the rat. "I think that you are smarter than he is."  The rat came up to the couch and she scooped him up with one hand, placing him on the cushion to sit with her.  "You are a much better friend, too.  At least you always listen."

Porter had been disputing her findings with yet another experiment.  And again, she found there was one rat who behaved in odd and inexplicable ways.  Porter again put it all down to the rat having some behavioural disorder and would not listen to her as she tried to recount the actions that seemed deliberate, if odd. She was careful this time not to press the issue with him, she couldn't keep spiriting rats out of the lab to save them from Porter's shortsightedness.  The whole process of dealing with him was exhausting.  If he wasn't being obtuse about her findings he was being flirtatious and ignoring her obvious disinterest.  

"I am too tired tonight to play mazes with you Einstein, how about we just watch some TV?".  Normally she ran experiments with him on her own time, and was impressed daily with his apparent independent decision-making ability.  She wished she were clever enough to understand, as she now believed wholeheartedly that he attempted to communicate.  As there were geniuses in the human species, she began to believe there must also be outstanding individuals in every species, and she believed Einstein was one such individual.  That she was beginning to suspect the same of another rat in the lab made her head spin with possibilities she had never entertained before. Her desire to see them interact was growing but she pushed it aside for now.  Surely Porter would be suspicious if another such rat disappeared and she couldn't very well turn her apartment into a boarding house for intelligent rodents.

"I think that would definitely assure my perpetual dateless existence", she thought aloud. Still, it was tempting.  "What would you think of another roommate, Einstein?"