CHAPTER ONE First Foray

The small twigs and shells of unknown types of nuts crunched beneath John’s heavy cleated shoes as he pushed his way through the once wide pathway. Birds quickly left their perches, startled by the rare human visitor invading their small woods.
The woods were so small that the boy could see sunlight streaming through the trees at the far edge of the vine covered hill.
“Leaves of three…let it be.” John reminded himself about Poison Ivy and whatever other dangerous naturally growing vegetation that had lived undisturbed in the “copse”, as his Dad had termed it.
Then he saw it: A thick gray snake that wound its way under and through the Ivy. It wasn’t moving, but it also had no end that he could see.
John wasn’t sure why the snake wasn’t running in the direct opposite way, but his adventurous nature that had brought him into the wood in the first place egged him on. As he parted the vines hiding the rest of the snake, John spied the biggest surprise of his nine and one half years!
It was NOT a snake but a rat’s tail. Which still would have been OK for an exploring male youth if the rat had NOT been six feet tall and turning and showing its sharply pointed teeth at him!
John’s body froze in what could only be termed a “state of extreme fright” although his pride would later deny that.
The humongous rat’s lips curled as that huge pointy and whiskered nose leaned closer for a sniff at John.
“SNIFF…SNIFF…ah when was the last time that you took a shower?”
John could not speak, could not move, but was doing a great job of trembling, when the rat laughed a big throaty guffaw and held out a paw to shake hands…”Hi…gotcha, didn’t I? Name’s Ralph but you can call me Roger. I like Roger lots better, always disliked the name Ralph for some reason or other.”
John’s voice had taken off for the sunny exit of the copse but his body was still plastered to the ground where he had stood and not moved for at least three long minutes!
“I….I’m…ah….John.”
“Well Hi, Ah John!”
Ralph, I mean Roger was chuckling as he shook John’s hand with a firm grip.
“Gotta grip more firmly boy if you want to be respected by all those whose hand’s you shake. Let’s try that again. Hi, Ah John.”
The boy gripped harder and shook with rhythm and conviction and Roger said “That’s it kid…Glad to meet you!”
Slowly, very slowly actually, John was regaining his formerly calm state B.R. (before Roger) when the rat asked…”Would you like a snack?”
When a rat askes you if you would like a snack you should always say “No…thank you Mr. Rat.” but John mistakenly answered “SURE!”
Rats are omniverous which means that they will eat almost anything. John was lucky this time however, because Roger offered him a bunch of sweet purple grapes. But as Roger was handing the bunch to John he spotted a caterpillar crawling on the green stem and the rat popped the crawly creature into his mouth.
“MMMMM…LOVE those little green guys. You like caterpillars too Ah John?”
“No…I do like grapes though!” John answered wisely showing a diplomacy way beyond his years.
John was starting to become more relaxed around Roger which caused him to think that maybe Roger was just getting to be a pal so that at some point the huge rat’s omniverous nature would like find out exactly how a boy might taste.
John decided that one way to avoid the “Boy For Dinner” scenerio was to be more aggressive and positive in his dealings with Roger.
“By the way my name is John…not AH JOHN…OK?” John said with conviction.
“OK…OK…I was just joshing you kid!” the rat said.
John wasn’t certain what “joshing” meant but he rightly surmised that it meant kidding. But then why didn’t Roger just say “Kidding”?
John was learning that a broader vocabulary allowed you to have conversations that don’t sound exactly the same every time and also that you could be more expressive with some words that you choose, than with others.
John ate the grapes but mentioned that he preferred the ones that were seedless instead of the ones that Roger gave to him.
Roger just stared at John after that sentence and the boy knew exactly that he should have been appreciative of the gift of “edible to humans”, fruit instead of complaining.
“Sorry.” John said.
“OK.” Roger said.
And they both understood exactly what was meant by both of them with just the one word discussion.
Friendship had begun!

CHAPTER TWO Getting To Know Not Quite All About You

John wondered how and why a rat was six feet tall and, by the way, could talk. A huge rodent in a small forest didn’t make sense. Did anyone else know Roger? Did Roger know any other unusual animals such as he? Should John tell another person, kid or adult about Roger? The answer to that last one was a definite “NO!”
John had read stories about talking animals before but they were in children’s books. Well, this was definitely not a children’s book that he was in was it?

(Author’s note: ” No…it’s a children’s short story…keep
reading.)

“Do you live nearby John?” Roger asked.
“Sure!” John turned to face the West and pointed. “Over there about a block outside of the copse.”
“Are you planning another visit to see me?”
“Ah…yeah…I guess.” replied John.
“Well, I would be ever so grateful if you would bring a large chunk of cheese on your next visit.”
“What kind? The kind on pizza or the kind in macaroni and cheese, or the one with the holes all over, yellow or white or slices or shredded or powdered or….”
“WAIT! Cheese! Any and all cheeses that you can get your ten fingers onto” said the frustrated giant rat!
“Actually I have eight fingers and two thumbs. We learned that in school.”
“Well, I have eighteen toes but they all have claws!” Roger grunted.
“OK OK…I’ll bring you cheese! You don’t have to get nasty.” John surprised himself by being stern with Roger.
Roger instantly started to jump up and down on his back feet and clapping his front paws in glee. That rodent REALLY looked big when he stood, or jumped actually, on his hind legs!
“Oh thank you, thank you Dear boy. I haven’t had any cheese on my tongue in so long that I can hardly remember that old cheese sandwich that I found near the edge of the copse that was wrapped in wax paper. It even had a bunch of ants crawling on it…YUM!!!”
“I’ll bring the cheese, no ants.”
“Well, OK.”
John wanted to ask how could Roger hide his huge self in the small woods and not be discovered, but that and other inquiry would have to wait until next time because the sun was beginning to set and John had to get home.
By the way, John’s Mom made a cheese souffle that night as part of dinner.
As luck would have it, there was plenty of extra cheddar cheese in the fridge because of the souffle. John wrapped a chunk in wax paper and hid it in his room until the next visit.
When John entered the copse, Roger jumped out from behind an old Oak tree and the boy was startled so badly that he dropped the cheese on the ground. But as John went to pick it up Roger said…”Let it stay for a minute or two and let me admire it and also maybe a few ants will climb on board for the ride down my throat, just like old times!”
“Yuck!” said John.
But Roger really couldn’t wait and grabbed the cheese and ate it so fast that John was amazed. Roger even licked the wax paper and then folded it neatly and said “I’ll save that to sniff at bedtime and hopefully dream of cheese all night!”
“Where DO you sleep by the way Roger?”
“Hmmm…I’ll take you there. You’ll never find it by yourself.”
Sure enough, Roger’s “home” was a hidden cave that was covered in vines, thankfully not Poison Ivy, and inside were a surprising number of objects that seemed to come from human houses.
“I collected my furnishings from the trash that I found on street curbs along the edge of the copse.”
There was a small step stool and a bench and there was a broken framed photo of a garden and even two combs and a tooth brush!
Roger had a large broken piece of a mirror that he used to check to see if he still had any cheese bits on his whiskers.
“Roger…how come you are so big? Most other…ah rodents, are rather small.”
“Yes, well…wish I knew Lad. It’s a huge problem being this big I must say!”
“I didn’t see any other animals in the copse either. Are there others that live here too?” questioned John.
“Nope! Just me! Scared them all away…LONG ago.”
“Well, you ARE scary Roger!”
“Not to you anymore I hope.” Roger put his paw around John’s shoulder.
John was very uncomfortable wearing a rat paw as a muffler but managed not to let on to Roger.
“Someone is bound to find you just like I did.” John said.
“Not if I don’t want to be found.” Roger had an answer for everything except why he was huge!
“Well, I’ve got to go. My parents will wonder where I am if I don’t get home soon.”
“Sure. Ah, next visit could you bring more cheese? Not the white kind with the holes. You can’t eat holes!”
“OK.” Roger had a point about Swiss cheese and the holes.

CHAPTER THREE “FOR SALE”

Just as John was heading into the copse pathway, pockets full of cheese, not Swiss, he almost struck his head on a large white sign with red letters that said “FOR SALE” meaning the (JOHN’S) copse!
“Oh MY!” thought John who immediately thought of the endangered future of Ralph, alias Roger.
When John found Roger near the cave, and while the friendly rodent gobbled yellow cheese, John told him of the Real Estate sign.
“Well, looks like my copse days and nights are nearly done!”
“You’ve gotten cheese all over your whiskers Ralph.” said John pointing at the crumbs dangling from the rat’s snout hairs.
“Oh thanks.” Ralph’s large long tongue took care of all clinging uneaten cheese.
“So what will you do?” asked John.
“Oh I’ll move on in the manner that I arrived. Through the city sewer system. But this time I’ll find a larger woods in which to hide. This little copse I fear was a big mistake.”
“I’ll…miss you Ralph…I mean Roger.” John sighed.
“Yeah well, I’ll send you word on where I wind up and maybe you can visit.”
“DEAL!” John said sadly.
John helped Roger get all of his personal items wrapped up in a sack.
“I’ll wait for nightfall to make my move. Take care John.”
As John was leaving the copse two people that had white folders in their hands were entering the path.
“I’ve got the survey and zoning plan with me. We should check out the access for all of the equipment” John overheard them say as he left by another tiny escape route.
It didn’t take long to sell the copse and begin to clear the land. John was sad but was encouraged by a news story that he read in the local paper.
“HUGE RAT REPORTED BY MAN WHO WAS ADMITTED TO MENTAL WARD FOR OBSERVATION”
“Roger got away!” John said a bit too loudly.
His Mom asked…”What Dear?”
“Oh nothing Mom…just talking to myself.”