I crawled out through the mouse hole and shuffled through the dust gathering on the ancient wooden floor. I was looking for food. The colony had run out of supply. Pinky my coworker scurried nearby. As we continued their journey to search for food, I spotted the dirty stone tiles of the Foodlands. I quickly scurried over and started looking. “Look!” Pinky suddenly exclaimed, “A bag of sunflower seeds!”
I ran over to investigate, and Pinky was slightly in front of me. When Pinky reached the bag I said, “Wait here, let me check it out”.
I crawled in and it was empty. As I suspected, no mouse would leave this bag full of food while the colony starved. I realized this bag may have been raided long ago. Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room. A small glass vase suddenly fell onto the floor and exploded. Pinky, terrified, took off running and dove back into the entrance of the colony. I was too far to run and quickly dove under a chair. Our home was being destroyed! The sky above collapsed and revealed blue everywhere. I heard a deep rumble as the yellow mountain moved across the Foodlands. I needed to get back to the colony. I sprinted and dove between falling glass and metal. I dove one last time just as a concrete slab fell behind me and sealed the colony from the outside.
For days, we starved in the long halls of the colony, sealed from the outside. Everyday, I studied the concrete that locked us in. The soil around it was too hard to dig through and the old hole was the only entrance. But suddenly, the concrete moved. When the dust cleared, five mice stood outside. I was suspicious that the mice were spies from rival groups, but if they were they would have let us rot, stuck in our home and haven. “Who are you?” I asked. They explained that nearby colonies were also suffering from destruction from the yellow mountain. They were all starving but had discovered a way to never run out of food.
They told me that a single seed of sunflower can produce a tower of food in a few months. Then they handed me a seed. After I buried the seed, I resisted the urge to dig it back up and eat it. “Are you sure this will work?”
Potato the newcomer, assured me that the seed would grow into a store of seeds after a few moon cycles. Brownie, the other newcomer nearby, tossed seeds to the starving mice of the colony.
Just a few months later, all the citizens bit and scratched the root of the flower. As the entire flower collapsed, hundreds of seeds fell out. Hundreds of civilians cheered, and the process repeated many times the same sun cycle. The civilians no longer had to survive on the seeds that the newcomers donated. Soon the colony started to grow in numbers because of the huge food surplus. Our colony became one of the richest and most powerful colonies in the neighborhood.
I ran over to investigate, and Pinky was slightly in front of me. When Pinky reached the bag I said, “Wait here, let me check it out”.
I crawled in and it was empty. As I suspected, no mouse would leave this bag full of food while the colony starved. I realized this bag may have been raided long ago. Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room. A small glass vase suddenly fell onto the floor and exploded. Pinky, terrified, took off running and dove back into the entrance of the colony. I was too far to run and quickly dove under a chair. Our home was being destroyed! The sky above collapsed and revealed blue everywhere. I heard a deep rumble as the yellow mountain moved across the Foodlands. I needed to get back to the colony. I sprinted and dove between falling glass and metal. I dove one last time just as a concrete slab fell behind me and sealed the colony from the outside.
For days, we starved in the long halls of the colony, sealed from the outside. Everyday, I studied the concrete that locked us in. The soil around it was too hard to dig through and the old hole was the only entrance. But suddenly, the concrete moved. When the dust cleared, five mice stood outside. I was suspicious that the mice were spies from rival groups, but if they were they would have let us rot, stuck in our home and haven. “Who are you?” I asked. They explained that nearby colonies were also suffering from destruction from the yellow mountain. They were all starving but had discovered a way to never run out of food.
They told me that a single seed of sunflower can produce a tower of food in a few months. Then they handed me a seed. After I buried the seed, I resisted the urge to dig it back up and eat it. “Are you sure this will work?”
Potato the newcomer, assured me that the seed would grow into a store of seeds after a few moon cycles. Brownie, the other newcomer nearby, tossed seeds to the starving mice of the colony.
Just a few months later, all the citizens bit and scratched the root of the flower. As the entire flower collapsed, hundreds of seeds fell out. Hundreds of civilians cheered, and the process repeated many times the same sun cycle. The civilians no longer had to survive on the seeds that the newcomers donated. Soon the colony started to grow in numbers because of the huge food surplus. Our colony became one of the richest and most powerful colonies in the neighborhood.
