Jimmy and the Ancient One

Little Jimmy ran through the downpour back to his mother and thirty-two siblings. He lives underneath an old abandoned canoe near a riverbank on the Native American Reservation. Jimmy had a large pink nose and whiskers that strung out on each side of his face, a long tail, and a thick fur coat. His eyes were yellow and he ran on all fours. Jimmy is a mouse, a field mouse, and he and his family spend every day scrounging for food, and avoiding eagles and other birds that share the territory. Jimmy is 6 months old, middle-aged for his kind. He is the oldest of all his siblings, and his parents are each 12 months, on the doorstep of death. Jimmy only sleeps a few hours each night. The stress of how he is going to feed himself and his siblings always weighs heavy on his shoulders, not to mention the constant fear of being snatched up at any moment by birds. On a cold morning, Jimmy's dad called for him. He coughed and told Jimmy that in order to keep his family alive, he must learn the secrets of the fields.

“How am I to do that?” said Jimmy.

“You must find the Ancient One,” said his father.

“The Ancient One?”

“Yes, he lives in the old barn.”

The old barn was about 3 miles away from the canoe, but the mice were forbidden to go near it. Many large predators lived near, and all of them ate mice. Jimmy wondered who the ancient one could be, perhaps a really old mouse? Maybe a rat? A possum? Even more so he thought about how he could ever possibly approach the barn, avoiding birds, cats, snakes, chickens, and lions.

He asked his father, “How can I get to him?”

“It is with great fear that great bravery is born.”

Those were Jimmy’s father's final words. He and the siblings mourned for days, and their mother sobbed and sobbed, until she couldn’t take it anymore, and wandered out into the fields to be snatched up by some horrible beast.

With the death of both his parents, Jimmy couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed, let alone embark to meet the Ancient One. But Gerald, the youngest of all, only 1 month old, went to him and said:

“Now you listen here, big brother. You have got a family to feed, and if you don’t do something soon, your brothers and your sisters will starve to death. And you’ll be quick to follow them.”

Jimmy said nothing, turning over in his bed to ignore the little child pestering him. Jimmy could not care about his siblings at the moment. He couldn’t even care about himself. He layed in that bed for six days, some of the other siblings went to find food, but none of them came back. Many of the siblings began to die of starvation. Soon, what was once a thirty-three member family, dwindled down to six. Jimmy, Gerald, Janace, Max, Jason, and Grace. Now Jimmy had started to realize that this was all his fault. If he had gone to the Ancient One, he could’ve saved his family, and they’d all still be here. He got out of bed, climbed on top of the canoe, and from his perch he could see the barn off in the distance; he knew that this was the time to go.

He gathered his belongings and set off, slipping away from the rest. However, they were smarter than that. They followed closely behind, only revealing themselves once it was too late to return.

“Go home!” said Jimmy

“No! We won't allow you to do this on your own. You need us, and we need you.” said Janace, the second oldest.

“This is dangerous, you can get hurt!” said Jimmy.

“So could you! Wouldn’t you want someone there to help you in that situation? Someone to help you pitch camp? Someone to help you find your way? To help you fend off predators? To keep you company?” Said Grace, the youngest sister.

Eventually the gang convinced Jimmy, and as reluctant as he was, they weren’t going to leave him. So, the six of them set out. They walked for many hours in the sun, and soon the tall cattails they traveled through turned into grass. As the sun was setting, Jimmy told the crew they should make camp for the night -- everyone agreed. As they pitched their tents and built their nests, they heard a malevolent hissing. They all looked around, but the sound came from beyond their sight. They stayed on alert. As they fell asleep, they took turns on watch. Two per shift. Jimmy and Gerald were up first. They sat for about an hour, Gerald broke the silence

“Jimmy, why did it take you so long to decide to go for the barn?”

“How do you know I am supposed to go to the barn?” Jimmy said, dodging the question.

“I hid and listened to you an’ pa. I wanted to know what he was going to say.”

“It took me a long time because I was sad that our parents died. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to live. But when you came to speak to me I replayed your words over and over. You inspired me.”

Gerald smiled big.

Janace slept next to the others in order of age; Jason, then Grace, then Max.

After an hour went by before they were all woken to screams. When they rushed out to see what happened, a large monster with dark red eyes, black slimy scales, a split tongue, and a black cowboy hat on, had taken Gerald in his gargantuan fangs, piercing through his abdomen and flailed him around, before slamming him into the ground and dragging him off into the grass. A trail of mouse blood followed. Jimmy saw the whole thing. He began to shed tears.

“Jimmy, we need to leave here immediately,” said Janace.

Once the gang set off again, exhausted from barely sleeping, Jimmy could not escape the images he saw of his younger brother being dragged off. What was he to do? If a large snake came upon them now, what would he do to save his family? He knew they shouldn’t have come, but they wouldn’t listen. What's the point of making a trip to the Ancient One to save your family if you had no family? The mice walked through the night.

Once light broke, they could hear small chit-chat coming from just beyond some blades of grass. When they moved to investigate, they were greeted by several pop cans, spoons, 5-gallon buckets, and a couple of old ball caps turned into a small town, in which mice, rats, spiders, raccoons, turtles, and groundhogs lived. One of the strangers invited the group to stop by the Coffee Tin Inn and have a warm drink. They did so.

Coffee Tin Inn was an old coffee tin, originally used to store ground coffee. It was standing upright and had a small doorway that was made by metal termites. Inside were several small tables made from dimes, and a massive chandelier made of twisted grass blades into an elaborate grand art piece. The guest rooms were burrowed under the ground, and the front desk was run by a groundhog.

“Howdy, and welcome in! I’m Groundhog Dan, and this here be my place.”

“We’d like to book a room and have a nice meal.” said Janace.

“Well yeehaw! We love new folks ‘round here. Follow me.”

Dan scurried along the ground and through a hole in the back edge of the Inn, going into an underground tunnel and then into a small room.

“Here ya’ are, come on up for food whenever!”

The group stayed in the room for a few moments, unpacking their belongings, thinking about their family, then eventually left to eat. At their dime table, they were served a platter of bugs and some trash scraps from the nearby humans. Except Jason, who had only lettuce greens (also scraps) since he was vegan. After a rather short meal, they went to their room and took a well-deserved rest. However, since they had slept during the day, they woke up at nightfall. Janace suggested they shouldn’t set out yet, and informed them night is when the predators roam, but Jimmy remembered what his father said about fear. He felt scared traveling at night, so he said that was exactly what they needed to do, and so they set out at dusk. They left the village, and shortly after they did the ground became very wet. They had reached the marshlands, and none of them knew what lay before them. Several times they saw large centipedes crawl from the ground, and then back below. They looked big enough to eat mice. There were tall mushroom trees covered in moss, and dirty algae ponds had small pairs of eyes that peered from the water. They moved slowly and carefully, and after several hours the ground began to harden.

“Well, I'm glad to be out of the marsh and all, but I don’t feel so well,” said Janace.

Jimmy encouraged her to keep moving regardless, and after a few moments the world seemed to change so much. They left the marshlands and had now entered the great safari, where the lions roam. This place was known by the mice from many of their bedtime stories. The lions were always interpreted as kind and giving giants, but Jimmy had now become uneasy, and felt it was best to stay hidden. As hard as they tried to sneak through the grass, they were caught by a lion cub, who had not yet learned the ways of the friendlier elders, and what he saw was an easy way to practice his hunting skills. He prowled in the grass behind the mice and they had no idea what followed. Janace soon began to puke, and had become pale in color. They stopped to assess her and her needs, but only a moment later the lion cub pounced on Max and sank his teeth into his neck, scooped him up then ran off. Jimmy fell, weak to his knees he wasn’t sure what to do. Janace said they needed to keep moving.

After the prairie came the circus. The mice traveled from the grass onto a dirt patch, and on the dirt patch were a crew of circus freaks practicing for their next big show. One of the members, an elephant, saw the gang, and of course went up to them and gave them a big friendly welcome. The mice were suspect, but were invited over for a quick meal. They agreed. They were brought to a grand table, still outside in the open, made from the wheel of a giant’s wagon, and they were served a massive platter of peanuts. The two elephants that dined with them ate their portions rapidly. Soon they began to chit-chat small talk, and even though the mice were reluctant to open up, they eventually did, and Jason had taken quite a liking to the circus crew.

“We need to get going soon,” said Jimmy, noticing that Janace wasn’t looking so good. They said their goodbyes and got up to leave, but to their surprise, Jason called out,

“I want to stay. I want to live here with our circus friends.”

Jimmy was taken back, but he knew that perhaps this would be a safer option, so they left their younger brother behind. They planned on returning to get him on their way back from the Ancient One.

Next was the chicken coop. They could see the barn from here, the only thing that lay between was the chicken coop. Chickens weren’t the brightest tool in the shed, but they were vicious. Jimmy, Janace, and Grace tried to plan what they were going to do, but the only thing that seemed to be an option was to sprint through. But Janace knew she was too weak to run, especially from chickens.

“I won’t make it.”

Jimmy refused, he offered to carry her, but she declined and went to sit by a tree.

“I’ll be here waiting.”

Jimmy and Grace took off in a scurry, once one rooster saw them, he crowed and the rest took aim. They were like racehorses out of a gate, and shot straight toward them. Jimmy made it swiftly to the fence on the other side, feeling good he went to high-five his litter sister, but when he turned around he saw all eight chickens standing in a circle pecking at something.

He dare not think; he pushed forward.

He now sat at the foot of the grand barn door. Once he entered, he met a heifer.

“Are you the Ancient One?”

“No, he lives up.”

Jimmy used his claws and climbed up the side of the barn to the second level. He came upon a spider.

“Are you the Ancient One?”

“No, he lives up.”

Jimmy climbed into the rafters and found a possum.

“Are you the Ancient One?”

“No, he lives up.”

Jimmy climbed out of a window and onto the roof, where he found a crow.

“Are you the ancient one?”

“No, but he will be back soon.”

Jimmy waited, the crow left, and no one else came. From the top of the barn he could see the chicken coop, the tree Janace waited at, the lions, the circus, the marsh, the town, the canoe, and the river on the other side. He sighed, and soon fell asleep. When he woke, he was still alone. He waited and no one came. He waited and waited and waited three days. Eventually the ancient one appeared, he came from above, had white feathers, a magnificent wingspan, glowing talons, had similar yellow eyes to Jimmy, and wore a spartan helmet. He perched next to the mouse. He was a Barn Owl.

“Hello, Jimmy.”

“How do you know my name?” said Jimmy, worried for his life.

“Your father and I have been friends for a long time. I mourn for him. He told me you were coming, and I have watched you the entire time.” said the ancient one.

“Wait, the two of you were friends? And you watched all of his children die? Why didn’t you do anything?” Asked Jimmy.

“It was not my place to do so.” said the ancient one.

A silence fell over the two of them, and the sun began to set.

“Jimmy, I know what kind of pain you’ve been through. When I was a younger owl, almost 100 years ago, I was with my family. My father grew old and told me I must learn the ways of the sky, so I had to travel to a faraway mountain and speak with the Owl Elders. On my way I made many friends who helped me, and all of them paid for it. Somehow, everyone I came to love died during my trek. But looking back I now realize that part of the wisdom I was to learn was loss.”

“Are you saying that I came all this way just to learn that my family needed to die?” Said Jimmy, and began to shed tears.

“Not quite young mouse. Times are changing; the barn too. All the creatures and beasts of the fields follow my advice, and although there is much bloodshed, all live in harmony together.”

“And what are the secrets of the fields, that I am here to learn?” asked Jimmy.

“Come with me.” The ancient one bent down as an invitation. Jimmy climbed onto his back and they took off. They circled the entire reach of the barn's fields. They flew over many animals and plants, over the canoe, over the places Jimmy lost his siblings, and over the tree where Janace waited – and died.

“Jimmy, you're destined to become the next ancient one. You see, Barn Owls only live 30 years. I was blessed with the field's secrets, and that is why I am 100. Losing my family was part of the cost, and sleeping each night is hard because I worry for all that live here. But when I fly out above the grounds I do not always see suffering and despair.”

“What do you see?” Said Jimmy.

“I see many families going to live with their loved ones. I see all celebrating their lives together. And although I wish that for myself, I cannot. Because I must protect these lands from the outside.”

“The outside?” Said Jimmy

“Yes, the outside is the area beyond the fields. Out there, demons and monsters more cruel than what you’ve witnessed roam, and they want to infiltrate the inner barnyard and steal the magic within.”

“Why?” said Jimmy.

“I’m not sure, but it can’t be good.”

They flew back into the barn, traveled into a hole in the ground, and went deep into the earth. Inside, the ancient one shared the field secrets with Jimmy. But once he did so, the ancient one passed on. When Jimmy came out of the hole, the barn was his, and all the animals that lived on its fields. He was tasked to protect all from the outside and the evil spawns that dared an attempt on the barn. Jimmy was going to live to be 100. He now walked on his two hind legs, wore a red dazzling cape, and carried a sword. The previous ancient one was enchanted with magical talons to fend off the outside, and Jimmy was given this sword.

Jimmy returned to the canoe with his circus brother Jason, and they buried their 5 siblings. They paid respects to all family members. Max went back to the circus, and Jimmy returned to the barn for a nap, dreaming of his new families.