Illustration by Betty J. Carson

Rudy Gets the Sniffles

Ms. Prudence opened the door to the white wire cage that sat by the fireplace in her cozy little cottage.   The small brown rat poked his pointy nose out of the warm paper shreds that served as bedding in his cage.  “Time to wake up Sleepy Fellow”, chided Miss Prudence with a smile.  As Rudy perched on the wire doorway of his cage, he yawned a big yawn, showing his little pink tongue.  “My goodness Rudyard,” said Miss Prudence, using his Christian name as she often did when she spoke in her concerned voice to the furry creature.  “You look positively exhausted!  Whatever is the matter?”
“Kerchew”, responded Rudy, remembering his dream adventure through the city streets with the garbage man.  Rudy’s petite brown ears were lying down flat against his head, giving him a somewhat sheepish appearance.  “Kerchew”, he responded one more time.
“Why, heaven bless you my hairy little fellow,” stated Ms. Prudence. Her pudgy  countenance was squinted up as she gently lifted the rat to her face and held him close to her spectacles for a better look.  Rudy and Ms. Prudence were nose to nose when another sneeze came from the tiny creature.  “Why Rudyard,” said Ms. Prudence, somewhat alarmed, using his Christian name one more time.  “You’ve sprayed my spectacles.  You most definitely have the beginning of the sniffles.  We mustn’t allow it.  We must take measures to nip this thing in the bud at once.”
Rudy looked helpless.  He adored Ms. Prudence.  She had been very kind to him since he’d come to live with her, but sometimes she was too doting.  Rudy could tell she was in one of her doting moods.  He began to wiggle, trying to release himself from the pudgy grasp.
“Oh no you don’t, young man,” said Miss Prudence.  She placed Rudy in the large pocket of her full figured bibbed apron.  “Now you settle in and be still and keep warm while I put on my tea water and make a fire in the fireplace to get the chill out of your cage.”  Rudy would have protested further, but was delighted to discover,  inside the pocket, a piece of paper his mistress had written a recipe on .  “Perhaps this won’t be so awful after all,” thought the young rat as he held the paper in his little paws and gnawed away at it.
“That’s my good little rat boy,” said Ms Prudence, gently patting her pocket.  For a brief moment, Rudy ceased to gnaw and didn’t breathe.  Gnawing was something he preferred to do in secret as it often bought him stern looks from Ms. Prudence.
Outside the cozy little cottage rain began to drizzle on the windows.  Ms. Prudence looked through the windowglass and sighed, “Definitely umbrella weather.  I suspect the children at school will be coming down with the sniffles too.  I do hope their mommies dress them warmly.”  Having heard this Rudy counted himself lucky to be a rat born with his own fur coat.  His mistress would have him weighed down with cold weather clothing for sure had he been a human boy.
As Ms. Prudence toddled back toward the steamy kitchen Rudy swung back and forth in her pocket with the rhythm of a porch swing.  Before he realized what was happening Ms. Prudence was lifting him out of the apron pocket.  Caught off guard, the half eaten recipe card dropped to the floor from Rudy’s grasp.  “What’s this, Rudyard!  You’ve eaten my banana cream pie recipe”, exclaimed Ms. Prudence.  “Naughty, naughty boy!”.  Rudy looked remorseful in the grasp of the fat fingers.  He knew the pie would have tasted much better.  Ms. Prudence always shared her sweets with him.  “Squeek!”, he protested.  “Squeek squeek squeek!”
“Oh well…nevermind the recipe.”  Ms. Prudence conceded.  She opened a cupboard door in the nook of the kitchen and took out a terrycloth towel.  Ever so carefully, she wrapped Rudy in it with only his little ears and nose exposed to the air. She walked toward the stove and spoke gently to the little rat saying,“Now hold very still and breathe deep!”  Ms Prudence held Rudy over the steaming kettle of water.  Rudy’s eyes bulged…his tail began to spin in a circle like the propeller of a plane from the bottom of the terrycloth towel.  He pulled and wiggled.  He pushed and twisted.  He began to squeek loudly.  “No no  Rudy.  That won’t do”, stated Ms. Prudence in her schoolteacher’s voice.  “You’re not being abused.  Don’t carry on like I’m the neighbor’s cat about to eat you up.  Now settle down!”
Rudy’s whiskers were back flat against his face.  His little nose wiggled in four directions.  “Kerchew” he sneezed.
“Yes yes”, said Miss Prudence.  “We don’t want this to go into a chest cold”.
Finally the treatment was over and Ms. Prudence put Rudy back into his cage, which was quite toasty by this time with the cheery  fire crackling  close by.  She put the towel in the cage with the young rat so he could snuggle into it.  When Ms. Prudence turned to walk away, Rudy put his pointy little nose through the bars of the cage door, got a grip on it with his teeth, and closed it as best he could.   Because his nose was clearer, Rudy took a sweeping whiff of the air.  Ms. Prudence was making homemade stew with dumplings.  “Yummy yum yummy!” Rudy sighed to himself.  He knew that before the evening was over, Ms. Prudence would bring him a couple vegetables and some broth in the little crystal salter that served as his soup bowel.  If he was lucky, he might get a pinch of sourdough bread too with sweet dairy cream butter.  Ms Prudence used only real butter, much to Rudy’s liking.  Tomorrow was another day, and Rudy would feel good as new when it arrived.  The little brown rat snuggled into his terrycloth towel and watched, from his cozy wire haven, as Ms. Prudence put an extra clove of garlic, for good health, into the pot of steaming vegetables on the stove and smiled his way.  Once more Rudy yawned, then tucked his little head under his chest. The best was yet to be.

By Jenny Grant