The Adventures of Freddy The Flea Pt 9

Previously on Freddy The Flea:

The mouse they were traveling on got caught by an alley cat while nibbling on some cheese. Freddy and Fria got separated from the rest of the party, as a piece of cheese knocked them off course. They had to opt to jump onto another alley cat, or risk being stuck on the cold, wet cement.

Part 9:

Freddy and Fria decided to slowly make their way up the cat’s tail. Weary and exhausted, they figured their best option would be to get up higher so they could see what was happening in the world around them.

“We should be close now, Freddy.”

“I hope so. It feels like we’ve been walking for days.”

Occasionally, they’d stop for a quick nibble, remaining aware of their surroundings. The duo wasn’t comfortable at all; therefore, any stops were just quick enough for them to recharge.

As they finally reached the top of the cat’s tail, a slight sense of relief overcame them.

“This should be high enough. I’m going to climb up here to have a look.”

“Just be careful, Fria,” Freddy whispered.

Fria gave him a reassuring smile and started making her way up a hair.

The conditions were quite different on this cat as opposed to the mouse and Freddy’s home, Hair and Honey.

The mouse had short, relatively soft hair, which made it easy to see where you were walking. On Hair and Honey, it was long, firm hair. Although it obstructed your view of the rest of the world, it was easy to move about. Here on this cat though, the hair was extra-long, dense, knotty and very soft. The darkness about didn’t help much either. As the cat’s hair moved and waved, it created long, dark shadows, which occasionally caused him to squint as he attempted to pierce the darkness.

Freddy watched as Fria climbed up, the hair bending and waving about as she disappeared and re- disappeared amongst the other hair.

The two attempted to speak to each other in hushed tones.

“Freddy, I can see what looks like-“

Freddy was anxiously waiting, “What? What is it?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but it actually looks like nothing.”

“What do you mean?”

Fria tried getting up a bit higher, so she could get a complete view. She saw another hair that appeared to be longer than the rest and decided to make a jump for it.

“Hold on, Freddy,” she said, jumping to the longer hair.

Fria looked around. Now she could see past the cat’s tail and partially past its head at the front. As Fria scanned their surroundings, she realized the entrance to the alley had vanished from sight.

‘No wonder I can’t see anything,’ she thought.

“We’re further down the alley now!” she yelled.

Fria looked towards the front of the cat again. She was able to make out a faint glow past its head. A few moments later, she realized where they were headed. Things just couldn’t get any worse!

As the faint glow started becoming clearer, Fria saw a fire. From the stories she’d heard, it meant doom was inevitable. No other Flea, but one, had ever made it out of The Ring of Fire alive. This place was infested with Ticks, Roughneck Fleas and Cockroaches. This is where they brought Fleas like them as sacrifices. They believed the only way to maintain the heat of their hosts, was to feed The Ring of Fire with sacrificial Fleas.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Fria kept saying to herself as she scurried back down the hair.

“Freddy!” she called out in a hushed voice just before landing on the cat again.

“Freddy!”

Fria looked around. The shadows falling about appeared longer and darker than before. Fria thought that perhaps she’d slightly miscalculated her landing as she started canvassing the area, occasionally calling out to her friend.

As Fria got past one small, knotty patch of hair, she froze. The stories she’d heard of were true.

There, straight ahead of her, she saw Freddy. He was surrounded by Ticks and Roughneck Fleas. His mouth was covered up and his arms were tied behind his back.

Just then she heard someone approaching nearby. Fria scurried up a hair. Seconds later, two more Ticks and a Roughneck walked past right below her.

“There’s no one else here,” said the one Tick.

“Yeah, I guess this Flea was telling the truth. He must be alone,” said the Roughneck.

“Okay, come on guys!” shouted a big, burly-looking Flea holding Freddy by the scruff of his neck.

“We have enough for one night.”

Then he looked straight at Freddy, “You ready to have some fun, little Flea.”

He gave him a slap on the back, sending Freddy tumbling forward. They all burst out into laughter.

“Let’s go!” he shouted.

The group started walking away, with Freddy bound up and stuck in the middle.