A Mouse in a Bottle

Madame Wustock's Cat

        The bottle had a large, round belly but a thin neck. There were air holes along the top of the neck, and a thick cork stuffed into it. It stood near the top of a shelf, surrounded by several bottles of a similar kind. This bottle was Periwinkle's prison. He had woken up about an hour ago, laying on the clear, smooth surface, the fur on his back in shreds, groaning in agony. The pain had lessened now, but every movement still send waves of fire down his back, so he tried to move as little as possible. He sat with his back against one of the walls, the cool glass walls soothing the cuts, and pondered about his situation. How had he gotten here? Who had caught him? And, why was he still alive? His guess, from what he remembered from last night, was that some sort of large predator, like a fox or a cat had hunted hime down, yet the flaw in this theory was that it didn't make sense for them to keep him alive. Especially because he had made out that the objects in the jars around him appeared to be hundreds of small, white, bones. Mouse bones.
      He shifted uncomfortably, and yelped when it caused a bolt of pain to run down his back. He remembered from his childhood, when he hadn't had any powers yet, how his sister Honeyash had gone missing while searching for berries, and never returned. They hadn't even been able to find her body, and he wondered if perhaps her bones were being kept in the jars surrounding him, and whether he would join them in a while. He shuddered at the thought. That was no way to think while he was still alive.
     To distract him from his morbid mind, he surveyed the room below him. The shelving unit where his bottle stood filled the entire back wall of the room. A fireplace occupied the centre of the wall to his right,with a large cauldron sitting in it, which made him think of the joking way Salavin had said 'oh and avoid any interactions with the witch, she would probably boil you into mouse stew. Casting a nervous glance at the mouse bones beside him, he wondered how far off Salavin had been with her joke. He rubbed his paws together and began to hum a tuneless melody to shake off a slight sense of unease. Then he turned his attention back to the room.
   The front door was half blocked from Periwinkle's view by the fireplace, as it was on the right of the far wall. The rest of the room was covered with bookshelves, and out of the several small windows Periwinkle glimpsed sunshine and parts of the herb garden. Beside the fireplace a door led to another room, probably a bedroom of some sort, but he couldn't be sure. The entire lot was vacant of other living beings, which didn't exactly bother Periwinkle because he was trapped in a Witch's house, and he figured when the witch came back, he wouldn't be able to enjoy his life much longer. Unless he escaped.
     Ignoring the pains in his back, Periwinkle crawled around his bottle and tapped the walls, trying to guess how thick they were. They made dull plinking sounds, from which he gathered that while throwing the bottle on the ground would likely break it, he wouldn't be able to do any damage manually, although he had been expecting that. He looked up to see whether he could punch the cork back out and some how crawl out through the neck, but that was hopeless. He couldn't even reach the part of the bottle where it tightened into the neck, much less the cork, which looked like it was wedged in pretty tightly anyway. He glanced out of his bottle and tried to look at the floor from his position. If it were to fall down from the shelf, he figured it would probably break. He didn't know whether he would survive the fall, but it would be a better death than being turned into mouse stew. Probably.
He headed over to the part of the bottle closest to the edge. As he started to push against it to make it tip, his paws began to shake, and in the reflection of the glass, he could see that his face had turned an ashen colour. Just do it, he told himself, and pressed even harder to stop his paws from shaking. The bottle began to inch closer to the edge. His breaths came in large gulps, and his legs were quivering like hummingbirds. Come on, mouse brew. Almost there. He licked his lips as his head began to fell dizzy, and he could see the full drop to the floor. It looked much further than he had anticipated. He thought of a young bird he had once treated from a coma after it fell out of its nest, and wondered what would happen if he fell into a coma here. He'd probably never wake up. He inched even closer to the edge, and a quarter of the bottle now hung over it. Involuntarily, Periwinkle rushed to the other side to keep the bottle from tipping.
He shivered, as slowly and quite reluctantly, he began to make his way back to the edge. If he stepped onto the overhanging part, he'd probably fall. He steadied himself against the wall with one clammy hand, and, after a deep breath, he put one paw on the overhanging part of the bottle. The bottle's weight shifted, but it stayed where it was.
One step, and it will be done. Either you wont wake up, or you will escape. Simple. He breathed. Just one step, he told himself. One step.
"Woah there, you don't want to be doing that. You might die!" The voice ripped Periwinkle from his doings, and he scurried towards the back of the bottle, which rightened itself.
" Thats better, there are easier ways to get out. For example, with my help." The voice seemed nice enough to Periwinkle. It was kind of soothing, and it's husky undertone made it charming. Hesitantly, he peeked over the edge to see who was talking to him. His eyes bulged, and he retreated in a heartbeat.
      Down there, in broad daylight, maybe ten paces below him sat mice's worst enemy. A cat. And it wasn't a tabby cat, all nice and spotted or something, oh no, this was a cat. The kind that still had the same genes with the tigers and the lions. It had a glossy coat, black like the shadows, and brilliant, rippling green eyes. There was a beauty to it, but Periwinkle didn't see it. There were spots in his vision, and his breathing had turned heavy. He pictured its claws, all gleaming and sharp, slicing open mice as they struggled, while its merciless paws held them down. He pictured the cats teeth, digging into the corpses, ripping them apart. He thought of Honeyash, his sister. Had this been her fate, and if yes, why was he still here? Tremors jerked through his body, and his nostrils flared. The spots began to dance in front of his eyes. Oh god, please don't pass out again, he thought. His skin began to get clammy, and the pains in his back were forgotten. He squeezed himself into the very back of his prison, trying to get as far away from the cat as he could. But it was no use, he couldn't get out.
    And then it appeared, the cat, it's face stretched by the glass. Like a monster it looked at him through the glass, studying its helpless prey. He didn't even have time to wonder how the cat had even gotten up here, or about the horrid things it would do to him, because the cats tail appeared, wrapped around the neck of the bottle and lifted him down. Periwinkle squealed in shock as he was standing on solid air, and when he looked down, all he could see was the ground, far,far below. His breath quickened, and he shut his eyes, hugging his knees to his chest. The cat will smash the bottle, take me out, and then this will all be over. The forest will need a new doctor, but Salavin can help. It will all be fine. Except for Flora. Flora will die, because fate was unfair, but so be it. I did everything I could.
    But Periwinkle knew he was lying to himself, that he had to try to survive, because he had to save Flora. He didn't have a choice, he had to save her.
    The cat set him down on a table in the corner of the room, one that Periwinkle hadn't been able to see when he had inspected the room. The cat climbed down from the back rest of the rocking chair it had been perched on, pushed it back to the table, jumped onto it and studied Periwinkle.  Periwinkle looked back with a watery smile staying completely silent. Maybe he could negotiate with him for his life, maybe even trick him. He tried to stay calm, not let his fear show.
      "So. I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Soot, and I'm the witches cat.",he said cheerily.  Frowning at Periwinkles fake smile and his trembling, he added,"I'm also not going to hurt you. I just figured it might calm you down if you knew what was coming for you."
    Periwinkle almost laughed out loud when the cat, sorry, Soot, said he was trying to calm him down. This was about as calming as riding a rollercoaster while watching a horror movie. But he tried to show his foe that,sure, why not, he could be calm.
    "Hello Soot!",he tried to match the cats cheery tone, but it sounded half-hearted and fake, like a school play put on by students who were being forced into the whole thing."I'm Periwinkle, and I'm...just a mouse." He trailed off, wincing at the sound of his own voice.
   "Well Periwinkle-just-a-mouse, here is your situation. You are currently imprisoned by Madam Wustock, a witch, necromancer and poison master. She has been kidnapping creatures like you for years for her experiments, which include trying to re-awaken the dead, testing mixed poisons, perfecting mouse stew and a couple more. You have no chance of escape, despite,"he winked at Periwinkle here,"your previous attempts, because I, her trusted cat will be keeping watch over you until her return." He smiled, satisfied. "Any questions?"
    Periwinkle gulped.
   "You could let me go...for a price."He felt like he was bargaining with the devil. After all, the stakes were his life. Soot purred.
   "Ah, but what could a mouse like you have to offer, that an old hunter like me couldn't just take?" Periwinkle grinned. An idea had sprung into his mind, and idea for escape, and a trick.
  "You don't know what you are saying old cat. I am not just any old mouse. I have magic you know." Periwinkle said soothingly. To demonstrate, he held his hands above his head and summoned a small ball of light. He let it swirl around in his bottle for a bit, then sent it through the air holes and let it land on Soots nose. When he swatted at it, he let it disappear in a small firework of sparks.
   "That was only a small display of my power, I could do anything you want.",he continued. Soot had regained his composure after the surprise with the small swirly lamp, and now studied Periwinkle intently, and with high interest. Periwinkle tried to look back evenly. What he had said about being able to create whatever he wanted hadn't been completely true, but Soot didn't need to know that. If all went according to his plan, he'd never even find out Periwinkle had lied.
   "You are an interesting catch indeed. A wizard in a bottle! Who would have thought. I do have one wish, one I doubt you would be able to fulfill.  But be as it might, I will give you a chance. Fulfill my wish, and you will be free. " Soot decided after some consideration. Periwinkle tilted his head to the side.  
   "So state your wish."
   "I want to be young  again. Young and powerful." He said, watching Periwinkle's reaction, who didn't even allow himself to flinch. He had expected the cat to state something as impossible as this and was not surprised. He replied evenly,
   "You know little of this art, it is not impossible. In fact, you barely need a spell at all, merely a special flower, and the proper preparations.", he lied. Soot growled.
    "Where is the flower?",he hissed.
    "In you herb garden. But the secret to unlocking its power lies in the way you harvest it. Don't worry, I'll show you."
Periwinkle smiled. This was going pretty well. Soot smiled, showing his pointy, razor sharp teeth. Periwinkle's back throbbed at their memory.
   "Its for your sake that I hope you aren't lying,"he stated. Periwinkle nodded. But then, instead of taking him out of the bottle, like Periwinkle had expected, he just picked up the entire thing with his tail, and walked out back into the garden.