Heartwarming family story: The Rat Father and His Shoe Cart
“Boom,” a house collapsed over here. “Boom,” another house collapsed over there. In just a few days, the entire southeastern part of the city was leveled to the ground.
The demolition had a severe impact on a rat family’s life.
When the first house came crashing down, a brick fell and crushed the back legs of a small rat, rendering it unable to do anything except make pitiful noises. Moving house was out of the question for it.
Yes, moving was necessary. The main point of contention in the rat family was whether to take the injured child with them. The rat father insisted on taking it, while the rat mother argued that it had to be abandoned during such a special time. The other six children agreed with their mother.
The result of the argument was that the rat mother took the other six children and moved away first, carrying a foam mattress, an old towel, and some food. That was all they had at home anyway.
Left behind were the rat father and the injured child. They looked at each other, wondering what to do.
That night, the sky was very blue. The rat father gazed at the twinkling stars and repeatedly encouraged himself: “I’m a father, fathers must be strong, fathers can come up with solutions.”
He hid the child inside a hollow concrete slab and, under the cover of darkness, wandered through the ruins, trying to think of a solution.
Aha, he got lucky! The rat father spotted a big, brown leather shoe!
The rat father was overjoyed and dragged the big, clumsy shoe back. He picked up the little rat and placed it inside the shoe, then slung the shoelaces over his shoulders. Now they could hit the road.
The little rat lay in the shoe, warm and comfortable, temporarily forgetting its pain and giggling continuously. The rat father felt a great sense of accomplishment.
As he walked, he sang, “The rat father has a way, the rat father is great!”
By the time dawn was breaking, they had settled down in a flower bed in a park. The flower bed was densely planted with small yellow flowers, and hiding there seemed like a good idea.
As they were catching their breath, water suddenly poured down from above. It turned out someone was watering the flowers with a hose. The rat father quickly took the little rat out, flipped the shoe over, and hid inside together. Haha, they couldn’t get wet now. They danced with excitement and planned to stay there for a while since finding a place to stay in the city was really difficult.
But things didn’t go as planned.
As they were sleeping soundly in their shoe nest, they were awakened by voices.
“These plants are infested with bugs. It looks like we’ll have to spray them.”
“Yes, spray them! First thing in the morning!”
Spraying pesticides? That’s deadly! If they didn’t leave quickly, they’d be poisoned for sure.
Late at night, when everything was quiet, the rat father prepared to move again. Honestly, he felt a bit discouraged. But he tried to maintain a graceful demeanor in front of his child: “Ah, this place wasn’t suitable anyway. It’s not good enough for your great father and his adorable child. By dawn, we’ll definitely find a perfect home. No doubt about it!”
“No doubt about it!” the little rat repeated, lying in the shoe, feeling somewhat optimistic.
That shoe was incredibly heavy, and the shoelaces almost cut into the rat father’s skin, causing him to cry out in pain several times.
“Papa, papa, are you very tired?”
“Not tired, not tired, your papa is very strong!”
On the silent street, the rat father huffed and puffed as he dragged the big leather shoe, his steps growing slower. The little rat had fallen asleep.
Just as the rat father was exhausted, a drunk man stumbled toward them, swaying and mumbling incoherently. Such a person usually posed no threat, but the drunk man had lost one of his shoes somewhere. So, when he saw the shoe on the ground, his eyes lit up, and he shouted, “Haha, my shoe, my walking shoe, come, let me wear it.”
He indeed lifted his foot to put it in the shoe. The rat father couldn’t pull the shoe away in time, so he turned and pounced on the man’s foot, biting down hard on his heel. The drunk man yelped in surprise and fell flat on his back, struggling to get up.
The rat father took the opportunity to drag the shoe away quickly.
What a close call!
The streetlights cast long shadows of the rat father. The little rat, still asleep in the shoe, was dreaming of a safe and comfortable home and giggling in his sleep.
At this moment, the rat father, frightened and exhausted, was almost collapsing.
“The rat father is strong, he will find a new home for his son. The rat father has a way, he fears no difficulties!” The rat father sang to encourage himself.
Dawn broke again.
They had to rest beside a garbage bin by the roadside. Fortunately, no cleaners came to empty the bin that day, nor did any scavengers show up. Even more fortunately, the rat father found four broken toy car wheels in the bin. He attached the wheels to the shoe.
As the world was enveloped in darkness again, the rat father appeared on the street, pulling his shoe cart. His son sat proudly in the cart, shouting, “Beep beep—choo choo—clack clack—” The rat father felt much more relaxed now. The shoe cart rolled quickly, and they sang loudly, “Papa is great, son is great, the shoe cart is great…”
That night, they finally found an ideal place—a crack in the abutment of a stone arch bridge, just the right size. The rat father carried the little rat inside.
What a coincidence! The rat mother and the other children were also living there. The family was reunited.
The rat mother’s face turned red as she apologized, “I’m really sorry, really.”
The rat father smiled magnanimously, “It’s nothing! By the way, there’s a shoe cart at the entrance. You’ll love it…” Before he finished speaking, the rat mother and children had already rushed out.
“Wow!” Their ecstatic shouts were heard.
The rat father and the little rat exchanged a smile, shrugged, and lay down on the foam mattress, covered with the old towel, feeling very comfortable.
Ah, one sweet dream after another!
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
