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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 12, 2011 23:13:15 GMT -5
Mrs. Brisby was further away from home than she had ever been before, and quite honestly had absolutely no idea how she had gotten there. It had all started earlier that morning when Hope had left home in order to fetch water from the nearby stream. As she’d leant down to dip her pail into the water she’d lost her footing and tumbled head first into the water. She cried out in alarm, however before she could scramble back out again a sudden, impenetrable mist had surrounded her and everything had gone black. When she awoke, she’d found herself lying on the shore of a lake in a completely different place.
“Oh my,” exclaimed Mrs. Brisby fearfully, rapidly picking herself up off the floor and looking around, “what’s going on? Where am I!?” Towering above the trees around her were immensely tall buildings, far taller than any Hope had ever seen before. This confirmed that she couldn’t be anywhere near her home on the farm, for anything as tall as they seemed to be would be visible for miles around. To make matters worse, although she’d left her house early in the morning the sun seemed to be setting in this place, which meant that her children must have been left alone all day.
“I hope they’re okay,” muttered Mrs. Brisby frantically, “I’ve got to get back to them... somehow.” Choosing a direction almost a random, she took off, desperately trying to find anyone who could help her.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 12, 2011 23:24:30 GMT -5
Bertie was moving through the area of the city known as Central Park, fascinated by the fact that there was such a large park in a city like New York. Certainly, there was Hyde Park in London, but New York was so different from London. New York was a little more...well, vibrant than the London she was used to.
Smiling a little to herself as she looked around at the trees surrounding her, Bertie's expression changed to a frown when she thought that she heard a small, squeaking voice. Looking around to see if she could find the source of the strange voice that she had thought she heard. Frowning even more when she couldn't immediately spot the source of the sound, Bertie turned to walk off, but she stopped when she almost stepped on a mouse.
"Oh! Oh, my," she murmured to herself. "I'm sorry, little one," she added, not expecting an answer.
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 12, 2011 23:33:21 GMT -5
So distracted was Mrs. Brisby by the predicament that she found herself in, and by her desperate attempts to locate somebody who could help her, that she didn’t notice that a human was approaching her until it was almost too late. The first sign of danger that she noticed was the shadow of a large foot being cast across her, and with horror in her eyes Hope looked up to see a woman seconds away from stepping on her.
“Oh my!” screeched Mrs. Brisby in a terrified tone as she dived for safety, and thankfully the human’s shoe missed her (although only by a distance the width of her tail). She was about to scurry off into the bushes in search of safety when she heard the human speak, and much to her surprise realised that she was being directly addressed.
“You almost killed me,” admonished the mouse, who was so taken aback at a human speaking to her that she momentarily forgot herself, “though if you’re sorry then that’s... okay then I suppose.” Her instincts kicked in at that moment however and she turned to flee, eyes wide in alarm.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 12, 2011 23:40:11 GMT -5
Bertie's eyes were also wide in shock. Had that mouse just...spoken? For a moment or two, all that Bertie could do was stare down at the mouse with her mouth working silently. "I...truly am...sorry?" she murmured quietly. "I'm sorry...did I just hear you speak?"
Perhaps not the most polite of inquiries, but Bertie was very shocked at this point in time. After all, she had just heard a mouse speak. That was simply impossible, to say the least. Yes, Bertie had started to study magic, but...talking animals? That was simply...Words couldn't describe how impossible this was!
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 12, 2011 23:49:08 GMT -5
Once again, Mrs. Brisby’s surprise at being addressed directly by a human momentarily overrode her usual caution around them, however this time she at least took the precaution of scurrying into the bush and only responding once there was a barrier of leaves between them.
“Yes,” replied the mouse nervously, rather unsure whether it was wise to be revealing herself to a human like this, “I suppose you did. You are talking back after all.” She didn’t mean this unkindly, and hoped that the human wouldn’t think she was mocking her; it wasn’t a good idea to annoy things that were so much larger than you, after all. Besides, now that she stopped and thought about it, it was possible that this human had something to do with her sudden appearance in this place, which meant it was probably worth talking to her.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 12, 2011 23:53:03 GMT -5
"Oh...I see," she murmured quietly, nodding slowly. "If you'll excuse me, I think I need to take a seat for a moment or two."
Sitting down at one of the many benches in the park, Bertie lowered her head until the way her head was spinning stopped. A talking mouse...A talking mouse...This was not happening.
"Oh, I've finally gone insane," she murmured to herself. "All those days in the hot sun on the island have started to catch up with me. I am hearing animals talking to me."
This just could not...and yet, it seemed as though it was really happening.
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 13, 2011 0:00:25 GMT -5
Peering around the edge of her shield of leaves, Hope noticed that the human seemed to be distinctly distressed by the revelation that a mouse could talk. Although she wasn’t particularly fond of humans (especially since that time she’d been locked in a cage), she didn’t like to cause anyone distress if she could avoid it, and so slowly crept back up to the woman in the hopes of cheering her up somehow.
“You’re not insane,” insisted Mrs. Brisby, peering up at the bench from down in the bushes, “at least, if you are than I must be too, and I don’t think I am.” She wasn’t sure that this logic made as much sense as she was hoping; however it was the best that she could come up with in the circumstances. After all, it wasn’t like she tried to reassure humans every day.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 13, 2011 0:06:50 GMT -5
And now the mouse was trying to comfort her. Oh, God...this had to be real. Sighing heavily as she straightened up, Bertie ran a hand through her remarkably short hair. It didn't do much to make her feel better, but it was a soothing motion. Looking down at where the mouse was hiding away, Bertie smiled weakly.
"Oh...Thank you," she said quietly. "Er...I'm Bertie. And you are...?"
Did mice even have names, she thought to herself.
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 13, 2011 0:22:21 GMT -5
“Brisby,” replied the mouse as Bertie inquired as to her name, “that is, Mrs. Brisby.” She rarely went by her first name in public as a sign of respect for her deceased husband, and certainly wasn’t in the habit of introducing herself to strangers this way.
“It’s nice to... to meet you Miss. Bertie,” she faltered slightly as she said this, for although she meant the words, it felt very strange to be saying them to somebody so large. Unfortunately, the girl’s confusion at seeing a talking mouse did seem to indicate that she hadn’t had a hand in her being brought to this place, however Brisby still held that hope that she might be able to help her get back.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 13, 2011 0:27:57 GMT -5
"It's...it's nice to meet you as well...Mrs. Brisby," Bertie said slowly, holding out a hand out of habit and then realizing that the mouse couldn't hold her hand to shake it. Clearing her throat a little, she pulled her hand back with a sheepish smile. "Sorry...uh...old havit," she explained. "How did you manage to...learn to talk?"
And could all animals talk? The inner scholar that was within Bertie was now in full control. How did this work? Was it like a baby learning to talk? What animals were capable of human speech? So many questions and she had no idea how to answer them all.
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 13, 2011 0:37:15 GMT -5
Mrs. Brisby tilted her head slightly in curiosity as Bertie extended one hand towards her, unsure of what exactly the human wanted. Fortunately it was withdrawn again quickly, the girl apparently acknowledging that apparently she’d made a mistake (not that Hope would have worked this out on her own).
“I don’t really know,” replied the mouse as she was asked how she’d learnt to talk, “I was very young at the time. I never thought of it as something unusual.” Now that she thought about it, she supposed it was possible that only the animals who lived around the farm were able to speak. This would explain why Bertie had been so surprised, however to a mouse like Mrs. Brisby who had spent her whole life around talking animals it was a very strange thought indeed.
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 13, 2011 0:40:51 GMT -5
"I see..." Bertie said thoughtfully, still mulling over all of this. Hmmm...so it was not clear whether or not other animals could speak. But this was indeed a fascinating turn of events, to say the least. Smiling a little more sincerely at the mouse, Bertie held her hand down again, indicating that Mrs. Brisby should climb on.
"You know...I have never seen an animal talk before," she confided. "But I must say, I find it very intriguing. If all animals can talk, then this opens up numerous possibilities."
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 13, 2011 0:46:01 GMT -5
Mrs. Brisby blinked in surprise as the human once again extended a hand towards her, this time held close to the ground as if she wanted the mouse to step onto it. She had some degree of trepidation about doing so, however concluded that if Bertie had wanted to hurt her she had already had ample opportunity to do so and thus nervously clambered on (although she remained tensed, and ready to spring away at a moment's notice should the need arise).
“What sort of possibilities?” she asked uncertainly, suddenly afraid that this human might be from NIMH, or some similar group who wished to harm animals, “we really just like to be left alone.”
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Post by Bertie Moreland on Feb 13, 2011 0:55:05 GMT -5
Bertie was sure to be slow and gentle as she lifted Mrs. Brisby to where she could look the mouse in the eye and smiled slightly. "Oh, nothing too bad, I assure you," she said when Mrs. Brisby sounded nervous about her comment. "Just...it would make things easier to be able to communicate with animals. There wouldn't be as much confusion about certain things, like what exactly a dog means when its barking."
Bertie would have loved to have been able to speak with the various exotic pets that the Robinson's kept on their island. Perhaps if they had been able to speak with the tiger in particular, they could have reached an understanding and not have had to trap the animal to get its help in fighting the pirates. What a splendid idea...though it was far too late to act upon it.
"I'm simply curious is all, I assure you."
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Post by Mrs. Brisby on Feb 13, 2011 1:19:43 GMT -5
She kept perfectly still as the human lifted her into the air, obviously not wanting to accidentally tumble off the edge of the hand and injure herself. As she reached eye level she was relieved to see that this human had a friendly face (at least she hoped it was a friendly face, she was hardly an expert), and slowly began to relax slightly.
“I don’t think many animals actually try to talk to humans,” explained Mrs. Brisby, “after all, you’re quite intimidating to someone as small as I am.” Then again, given how Bertie had believed herself to be insane at first, she supposed it was possible that quite a few animals had attempted to converse with humans in the past, and the humans had just dismissed it as a product of their imagination.
“Maybe it’s the humans who aren’t listening,” suggested the mouse cautiously, “that is, maybe there’s something unusual about you that allowed you to hear me.”
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