This is Cheese. Cheese is very old and very ill. He's grumpy and going bald and his legs don't work very well. He's only ever found in two places these days: in the box next to my mom's desk at floor level, and in the space under the stairs on the same floor. Today, I went to give him his breakfast, and couldn't find him anywhere.
Together with my dad, I searched everywhere on that floor - in bins, under beds, in cupboards - until we finally accepted that he wasn't on this floor. We searched the attic, tearing everything out to look for this little rat, and then went downstairs, knowing full well that he is not well enough to climb, or to go down, stairs. I looked under tables and in the bathroom, until finally, my dad called out that he'd found him. There he was, sitting on top of a pair of slippers, looking quite comfortable.
And that's the story of Cheese the Rat.
