She dreamed of a city upon a shore

And eyes that spoke of great sin.

They belonged to a sleezy rat

Who gave her a sinister grin...*

Lawhiney woke suddenly; a scream died in her throat. "It was a dream--just a dream!" she told herself as she looked around and remebered that she was not in her hut. She had been shunned by her tribe; treated as if she were a ghost--or, perhaps, an evil spirit. However, before she had left, she made one final protest by burning her hut. "...we will have new queen,--or extra hut." Haba Haba’s voice proclaimed in her head as she watched the flames. "And now,--you have neither!" she had hissed before tossing the torch up on the roof. She had burned all of her bridges (pun intended), had broken all the ties she had to the Hawaiian mouse village -- well, all except one. Shake’a Bake’a had insisted on accompanying her, even thought it meant giving up his simple life on the island. At the moment, he was asleep in a make-shift hammock Lawhiney had thrown together with some string and rags.

"He is a fool to give up so much for me." she mumbled to herself. "I’m glad he did, though."

Lawhiney climbed a stack of crates and looked through a porthole. The cargo ship they had stowed away in had finally docked after several days at sea. She climbed down and approached her boyfriend. "Wake up, honey. We’re at the next port." The large, brown mouse stirred but did not awaken. "Shake’a Bake’a! Wake up!" she yelled as she rocked the hammock. Still no response. Lawhiney grabbed the edge of the hammock and flipped it up in such a way that dumped Shake’a Bake’a onto the floor.

"Huh? Wha?" he half said and half yawned.

"We’re at the next port, honey." she informed him as she helped him stand.

"Oh." was his ‘brilliant’ reply.

They climbed to the porthole, which Shake’a Bake’a opened, and used the anchor chain to reach the dock. The sight of delapidated warehouses, cracked pavement, rotten nets, and filthy crates greeted them. The air smelled of salt, water, smog, and old fish.

"Uh, maybe we shoulda stayed in the human place." commented the big surfer.

"No way. It’s too close to the village. Here we can have a new life, away from any reminder of the past." [That’s what -she- thinks... :D ]

"Uh, okay. Where is ‘here’, anyhow?"

"I dunno. We’ll find out soon enough. C’mon; maybe this city gets better away from where the boats land." Lawhiney replied as she put an arm around his waist.

* My apologies to farcing Jane Jensen’s poetry. It was done in fun. :)