The Adventures of Freddy The Flea Pt 7

Previously on Freddy The Flea:

Freddy and Fria came across a Flea party atop the mouse's head. These Spanish-speaking Fleas quickly made them feel welcome and they partied late into the night. The next morning, Fria showed Freddy an uninterrupted, breathtaking view of blue skies, tall trees and green grass which took his breath away.

Part 7:

"Ola!"

Pablo startled Freddy a little as he was still completely engrossed by the surrounding scenery. He then spoke to Fria in Spanish. As Freddy watched the two, he could see Fria become a little concerned.

"Freddy, I need to tell you something," she said, as she made her way towards him.

"Okay."

"Pablo said they've been monitoring the mouse's movements and lately, it’s been heading ever closer to a place that’s called The Gauntlet."

"I don't quite understand."

"The Gauntlet is a place some mice get attracted to because of large bins with food inside. It’s like food heaven! Endless mounds of tasty, delicious, scrumptious, colorful, varied mouthfuls of morsels,” Fria seemed to get a bit lost in thought there, “but it's littered with Alley Cats!” she said, getting back to the point.

“I’ve heard about this place before and it’s not the kind of place we want to end up in, Freddy."

Fria looked at him with her eyes the size of saucers, but Freddy’s response was not what she expected, "What food?"

"Freddy, you're missing the point! Alley Cats! Do you know how dangerous Alley Cats are?" Fria said, also realizing that she’d put far too much emphasis on the food.

Freddy had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He vaguely remembered something about cats somewhere during his earlier studies, however, he was far more interested in, well, nothing much back then really.

Fria went on to explain that they were ferocious creatures with nails that could destroy a Flea with a single scratch. Their tongues were like sandpaper, and they’d often end up licking each other, so there was nowhere to hide. If that coarse tongue got a hold of you, chances are you would end up vanishing into their mouths, never to see the light of day again. That wasn’t the worst though. The types of Fleas you would find living there were nothing short of brutish roughnecks, seemingly choosing to live under extreme conditions. They were like society's outcasts, living their days out in what seemed like a nightmare to most.

By the time Fria was done explaining their potential situation, Freddy was back to his anxious self. It wasn’t Fria’s intention however, he had to understand what might be lying ahead for them.

“Deadly nails and coarse tongues everywhere,” Freddy said as he paced up and down.

“Do you see anything, Pablo?” he asked, as he quickly made his way to him, spinning on his heels before Pablo could even respond.

“We’re dead, we’re dead.”

Eventually, Fria grabbed him by the shoulders, looked him straight into the eyes, and said, “Freddy Flea. Look at me!” as his eyes kept darting around and the mumbling continued.

“Freddy!” she said with a stern voice.

Freddy’s eyes stopped darting around and he looked at Fria. His eyes had a bit of a wild look to them, but she could see he was paying attention.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, do you hear me?” before Freddy could respond Fria continued.

“I know it’s a scary thought, but we’ve come this far already. You’ve seen more than most Fleas could ever dream of there on Hair & Honey, and I’ll be damned if I don’t see you through this too. We’ve got this, Freddy.”

With that, Freddy remembered how Fria told him to breath earlier when they were making their way up the mouse’s head, and how it helped him relax. He drew some slow, deep breathes and gently let them out. This put a smile on Fria’s face, and she believed this Flea had more to him than meets the eye.

“Zona roja! Zona roja!” Pablo yelled, as Fleas everywhere started scurrying about.

“What’s going on?” Freddy asked Fria, but he knew it couldn’t be good news.

“We’re entering the red zone, Freddy. We’re heading towards The Gauntlet.”

Although Fria put on a brave face, Freddy could see the concern in her eyes. He looked about and noticed how many Fleas were grouping together, seemingly providing each other with comfort and support.

There wasn’t much else the Fleas could do now but wait.

Freddy and Fria held onto each other and as the sunlight disappeared behind gigantic buildings, it was like a veil of darkness had been cast over the mouse. All the Fleas went quiet as the mouse headed into the alley, hoping and praying that they would make it out of there alive.