If I forced myself to be still any harder, my body would turn into stone. Yes, that would’ve been nice. It would’ve saved me from the mouse.

As it was, I waited with bated breath as the sound of its claws hitting wood grew closer and closer. A glowing red silhouette closed the entrance to my hollow, and I bated my breath as it tried to reach inside with one of its long, sharp claws. It touched the wood just centimetres away from me, but couldn’t get in farther and, after several seconds of probing, retracted. Then the light hit the entrance to the hollow again. ​​

My body sagged in relief. I was safe. Safe. Not doomed to fail for one last time because of some stupid bad luck. Next time I will be extremely careful with any weird animals I might find—

Sound of chipping wood put me on alert again. I lifted my gaze to see the mouse chewing through the sides of my hollow with its incisors like it was barely harder than one of its favourite grains. It was only a matter of time until it will widen the hollow enough to get to me, and I couldn’t do anything. I was trapped.

Only two choices lay in front of me. To wait in despair for my imminent death—search in defiance for an opportunity to escape again. And for me, despair was never an option.

For a moment, I watched as the mouse’s pink, animated nose poked into the hollow as it continued to chew through it. I only had so much time before it will widen the entrance enough to reach for me with its claw, and this… this looked like my best opportunity.

Instead of staying away from the mouse, I crawled towards it. Closer and closer I approached, my stinger ready, as the mouse kept chewing. Too busy to notice me, or too busy to react. Its mistake.

I raised my stinger and buried it to the very base into the mouse’s vulnerable nose, pumping it full of my poison. I had no illusion that this will be even close enough to kill it, so I immediately pulled the stinger out.

The mouse recoiled with a furious squeak, momentarily opening the way out of the hollow—and I immediately flew out. I dashed like an arrow, and then dropped to the ground like a stone when the mouse jumped after me.

It missed just narrowly, but then fell right into brambles again with another loud squeak. As I held no illusions by now that this will stop it, I used the time I got to put some distance between us. The chase continued.

There was just nothing else left for me but to fly, fly, fly away. The noise and the magic emanating from the mouse scared away anything else that might’ve wanted to eat me, but it was a small consolidation.

I grew tired. My wings felt leaden. My tiny beetle body wasn’t built for flying on hours on end. I knew that if I won’t rest soon, I will start burn through my free EXP to not drop with exhaustion.

A sharp smell of meat hit my antennas, and I made a ninety degrees turn towards its source before I even realised what I was doing. Since the direction of flight made little difference to me, as long as it was away from the creature on my tail, I kept on.

My antennas brought me to a small meadow, where lay a huge carcass of some animal. A few birds already were picking at it with enthusiasm, but there was still enough left to sate my present hunger. To give me enough EXP to transform into a bird… If not into a horned mouse, just like the one that chased me.

The creature barrelled to the meadow a couple second later, scaring the birds—and me—away. Tears would’ve sprung to my eyes if I had tear ducts. All that free EXP, just lying there, and I couldn’t stop to get and eat it!..

‘Why are you so unfair to me, world? Why?’ I screamed inwardly, cursing the existence and the mouse intent on killing me. It was a mistake.

A drop of water fell next to me, almost brushing my wings, but I was too busy flying to think twice about. Then another passed dangerously close to my flying path. Then another hit me straight on my head, sending me plummeting for half a second before I straightened my flight.

I felt with my antennas as the amount of moisture in the air increased. I heard with my ears as the insects quietened, each finding some nook or cranny to hide in. Even the birds quietened their songs and calls.

In minutes, the rain began to fall in earnest, merciless droplets threatening to bring me down, to smash me into the ground, to leave me on the mercy of my pursuer. I knew from my previous experiences during the days, weeks, spent as an insect, that I couldn’t fly during rain. But I had to.

I stuck closer to the trees, hiding shelter in their canopy, and for a short while, I had it—but it was an unreliable one. In growing panic, I thought about what else I could do. I knew I won’t run away from the mouse on my legs, but maybe, maybe there was something else to do—

A flash of blue between the trees was my answer. I strained my wings against air and water and flew there, towards the lake I saw. My new hope, as mice couldn’t breathe underwater.

The problem was, neither could I.