Treats

Once upon a time, there lived an old mouse named Bessie. Bessie was blind, but she could still do many things we could, like bake! She was a doctor, and loved to pick berries from her tiny berry garden to make them into medicine for her young son, Harold, who was quite ill. He had been ill for a few months now, and she made the berries into all kinds of tasty treats for him: cakes, teas, and even little bits of cheese! 

Because she was blind, she had a routine: in their little house, right next to the garden, she would put on her pink dress and walk through the door on a straight path to the berries. There, all the berries were bunched together, and she would squish each one to see how ripe they were, then pick, pick, and pick the best ones to eat. One day, however, the berries weren’t there.

“That’s strange….”, she tried to feel for them, only managing to grab a few “Well, at least there are some here”, she walked back inside, put down her basket, and slowly stepped into Harold’s room. 

“Harold? Are you awake, sweetie?” 

“cough cough Yes, mommy… whistle.”, he whistled, all wrapped up in his little blue blanket. This was how he let his mother know where he was in the room.

“Hello there, my love”, she followed the sound of his voice, placing her gloved hand on his face as she sat by his bed. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better than yesterday cough but my throat still hurts a little bit….”, he said.

“I see. Did you drink the tea I gave you last night?”, she asked. 

“A little bit… but, um…” 

“What is sweetie?” 

“I’m sorry, mommy. It didn’t taste very good, so I didn’t drink it all. I know you worked hard on it, so I’m sorry if I sound mean sniff  I’m just being honest, like you said”, he started to cry, a little guilty. 

“Oh no no no no”, she hugged him. “You’re alright, my love. If that’s the reason, I’ll try my best to make it taste even better. No need to cry, okay?” 

“Sniff  Okay….” 

“Good. Just make sure you drink at least a little bit, okay? I went to the garden this morning and there weren’t as many berries as yesterday, for some reason. So you may have to settle with some lighter samples for a few days. Is that alright?”, she asked, patting his hair. 

“Yes mommy, that’s alright. cough” 

Bessie smiled, rubbing her nose against his. “That’s my mighty mite!”, she got up and headed to the door. “You get some rest okay? I’ll bring you some cheese in a bit”

Harold perked up! “Yaaaaaaay cheeeeeeese!”, he giggled. 

She giggled as well. “You and your cheese. Get some rest, sweetheart. I love you!~”, she blew a kiss at him. 

“I love you too mommy!”, he said, snuggling into his blanket more as she slowly closed the door. 

He opened one eye to see if she was gone, then looked around the room quickly. 

“Okay…. I think she’s gone. You can come out now”, he whispered to someone hidden in the room. Then, from a small crack in the wall under his bed, a garden snake slowly came out. She was quite small for a garden snake, most of her body a deep black color, which helped her hide in the shade of Harold’s bed. She looked around the room too, a little scared. 

“Are you sure?”, she asked. Her voice was very soft and quiet. 

“Yes cough I think you’re safe, Portia”, he said, opening the drawer next to his bed and pulling out a small cup. “You want some more tea? cough cough”

“No thank you cough”, she was sick too. “I think you need it more than me”, she smiled at him. 

“Are you feeling better now?”, he asked before taking a sip. 

“Yes, much better!”, she smiled again, slithering onto his bed and wrapping herself up in a coil to lay next to him. 

“Why did you have to lie to your Mom though?”, she asked, watching him drink the tea with great pleasure. “You clearly like that tea a lot”. 

“Well, I had to get her to leave somehow. I know you’re afraid of the dark, and I didn’t want you to stay in there all day….”, he said, still clearly a little guilty. 

“Awww, that’s sweet~”, she ruffled his hair a little with her tail. “But you shouldn’t lie! It’s not a very good thing at all!”, she scolded him, acting like a big sister. 

“Okay” , he looked down. 

Her eyes widened as she realized she may have gone a tad overboard. “Oh… I’m sorry. Your mom is just such a nice lady. I don’t really like the idea of you lying to her”. 

“It’s okay, Portia”, he said. “I understand”, he hugged her. 

She wrapped her tail around his back to hug him too. 

“Hmmmmm….  Thanks, Harold”, she said. 

“You’re welcome!”, he pulled away and grabbed something else from the drawer: two small dollops of berry-cheese! 

“Where did you get those?”, Portia asked. 

“I saved them from last night too! One for you, one for me”, he fed her one. 

“Thank you”, she said, munching it right up. “Mmmmmm~ Deeeeelicious!” 

An hour had gone by since Portia entered the room. The day was still young, sunshine glowing through an open red glass window to envelop the space in a warm overcast. Portia was lying on the ground, coiled in the center of the room. 

“Aaaaaah”, she sighed, in the perfect spot to absorb the sun’s heat. “This is so nice. I wish I could live here forever…” 

“Me too”, said Harold, lying on his bed still. “But what would my mommy think?”, he shifted over to his side to look at her. 

“I think she’d hate me”, Portia said, looking down. 

“Why?”, asked Harold. 

“Isn’t she scared of snakes? I think she’d try to get rid of me….” 

“But you’re so ni - cough cough”, he started coughing again, much more violently than before. 

“Harold?”, she asked, her expression filled with worry and fear. “Are you okay?”

“cough cough”, he was breathing heavily. “cough cough cough” 

“Oh no no no!”, she panicked. “Um, maybe there’s some mo - Huh?”, she heard footsteps. 

“Harold!”, it was Bessie. “I’m coming my love!” 

“Ah!”, Portia screamed before hiding back under the bed. 

The door flung open as Bessie bolted into the room, carrying a small syringe filled with red liquid. 

“cough cough M-mommy…. cough cough cough”, his voice was breaking. 

“Sweetie?”, she followed the sound of his coughing, placing her hand on his forehead. “Harold!? Just hold on a second sweetie…”, she prepared the syringe. “I know you don’t like needles, but I need you to stay as still as possible for me, okay?” 

Portia was still under the bed, shivering. 

‘Why is this happening? Harold…’, she thought, tears streaming down her face. ‘Please… Please don’t die Harold….’

“cough cough cough”, he breathing grew more labored as Bessie gently grabbed his arm and slowly moved the syringe. 

“Harold!”, Portia cried out before immediately covering her mouth. 

‘Oh no! No no no no no no no no no no no no….’, she kept thinking as she slowly slithered back. 

“AH!”, Bessie shouted as she dropped the syringe. “Oh, no. Where did it go?”, she bent down to look for, gently feeling around while being extremely careful.

Portia gasped as the syringe rolled in front of her, the needle thankfully not touching the ground. But Bessie, too, was right in front of her, the old mouse’s gloved hand only barely missing the syringe. Portia gulped. 

As Bessie’s hand began to move away, she slowly grabbed the syringe, pushing it to her fingertips. 

“Huh?”, Bessie said, her hand grabbing hold of the syringe. The tips of her fingers also grazed Portia’s scales, making her gasp. Portia was completely frozen the entire time, afraid she had just made a big mistake.  

But nothing scary happened at all. Bessie got up, grabbed hold of Harold’s arm again, and gently injected the needle into it. 

Harold only reacted for a second before his cough slowly faded and his breathing became less labored and more natural.

“That’s it, my love”, she said as she pulled the needle out. “Deeeeeeep breaths. In… and out. In…. and out….”

He followed her directions as she slowly drifted to sleep, Bessie stroking his hair and smiling as tears formed in her eyes.  

“That’s my mighty mite.....” 

Portia gave a deep sigh of relief as she wiped away her own tears, her fear now slightly alleviated by the recovery of her friend.  

Bessie sat down on the side of the bed next to Harold, placing the syringe on the drawer. 

“You can come out now, sweetie” 

Portia’s body froze again, a wave of fear conquering her previous feelings. She began to slowly slither back again, hoping Bessie would leave her be. 

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you”, she patted a spot next to her on the bed. “Come. Sit next to me”. Despite everything that had happened, her voice was calm and gentle. 

Portia hesitated at first, but after a few seconds, she gradually worked her way out from the bed, her scaly body lightly grazing Bessie’s ankle as she came out. Bessie froze up a little at first, making her stop. But she took a deep breath, patted the spot again, and asked Portia to come once more. 

Eventually, Portia made it onto the bed, her head right on the spot Bessie had patted. 

“Um… I;m hare, ma’am”, she said. She felt like crying again from how scared she was. 

Bessie didn’t say anything. She simply took off her gloves and felt next to her to find Portia. When her fingers came in touch with her scales, she pulled them back a little, but slowly put them back a few seconds later. Portia couldn’t move at all as the mouse’s hands moved all across her scaly smooth body. 

“You’re…. So you are a snake”, she said. 

Portia gulped. “Y-yes ma’am” 

A few seconds felt like an eternity as Bessie didn’t respond again. Portia looked up at her, studying her body language to figure out what was wrong. She seemed to be preparing herself for something. 

Then, without warning, Bessie wrapped her arms tightly around the snake, giving her a big, loving hug as tears began to stream down her face like a river. 

“I don’t know who you are, but because you sniff my son is alive”, she held Portia closer. “And I can never, ever thank you enough”, she started to sob, as did Portia as she fully embraced the mouse in her tail. This was a reality she had only dreamed was possible, where Bessie would embrace her with love and kindness rather than react to her with fear and disgust. 

“sniff M-my name is P-Portia…. sniff”, she said as she cried. “Your so i-is sniff he’s my best friend…”, she pulled away. “He h-helped me get better”. 

“Oh my… Were you sick too, sweetie?”, asked Bessie. 

“Yes ma’am”, she said. “I was in your garden a few weeks ago sniff because I had heard your berries could help me”, Bessie felt her face and wiped her tears away. “A-and Harold, he helped me b-because he knew I was just like him”. 

“Oh you poor thing…”, Bessie patted her head. “There is no need to cry, darling. He saved your life, and you saved his, and I am eternally grateful for that”. 

“But it’s my fault ma’am!”, she said. “H-he started not taking the treats you made him sniff because he thought I needed them instead! And then he got worse and worse and not matter how many times I tried to tell him he just wouldn’t listen and-” 

“Shhhhh”, Bessie gently placed her finger over Portia’s lips. “It’s alright dear. It’s not your fault at all”. 

“B-but”

“I completely understand”, said Bessie. “Harold has always been a nice boy. The purest soul to ever bless the world. You are incredibly lucky to have met him. To have had him take care of you.  And I assure you, if he came to me saying you needed help, I would have done the same”. 

“But… I-I’m a snake”, Portia said, a slight tone of guilt in her voice. 

Bessie was silent for a few seconds before responding. 

“Yes. You are”, she placed her hand on Portia’s face. “But that does not matter to me anymore. What happens is that my son is alive because of you. You must have been so scared of me, yes?”

Portia looked away in shame. Bessie could not see it, but somehow, she still knew. 

“I can’t blame you for that. But you put aside your fear to help your friend, and that my dear, makes you a brave, brave girl”, Bessie smiled. 

Portia smiled back, tears still rolling down her face. Bessie’s hands were on her face the whole time, so they were quite wet. 

“And quite the crybaby too, it seems. Teehee~”, she teased Portia a little, making the snake giggle. 

Bessie gave her one last hug. 

“Oh!”, she said, pulling. 

She went to pick up the bag she had brought in, opening it up and feeling inside. 

“Y-es ma’am?”, Portia asked. “What is it?”

“I wanted to thank you properly for saving my son”, she pulled out something wrapped up in a small, brown cloth. “Even if you’re feeling better, I had a feeling you might be a little hungry. So I wanted to ask you…..”

She opened up the cloth. “Would you like some treats?”