Early Morning Fantasies

I make my home in the most unsuspecting part of the building. The building with so many stairs so I know that my brothers and sisters would never dare venture up. I have been here for years, in the gap beneath the fire place from a time when I wasn't afraid to go because the humans seemed to be blind to our presence. All until one day, one of us didn't cover our tracks and they discovered our being inside their nest. The first I heard of the whole business I fled. I knew they they would be unsuspecting on the upper floors and proceeded to climb for what seemed to be many days. I was separated from everyone I knew: I had chosen exile for the hope of life and I didn't even stop think about the implications of my decision. When I arrived, I spent some time collecting my breath in a room which reminded me of my days outdoors, living in fields and making honest work. Not the criminal act that my family still perform: no wonder we're hated and feared by a large part of the human race. I was sitting there on the ground which bought back memories of when I was young, when one of them came in. It just looked at me, eyes wide with terror and I knew that I was powerless. She ran. Ran away from me whom would never hurt her. I knew that my only chance of the upper floor now was to go into hiding which is when I found the whole under the fireplace. I crawled into the cozy space and waited for my unspoken sentence.
They shut me into the home I made for myself and for a long while, all I had to eat were the occasional dog biscuit dropped into my chimney and the cardboard box which kept me captive but it was to no avail. All there was to do was wait.
I waited a long time but eventually, she found it fit to remove the box which imprisoned me making me free. I had to squint at the light and ran about freely for the rest of the day to celebrate my escape after so long. After everything was silent, I made the return journey down the stairs, and then down again into the basement where the nest was. I smelt only fresh food. No scent of my kind. I scampered around all of the old haunts but found nothing.
I had succeeded. I had kept my own life while all of my family was killed for their crimes. I saw myself for what I was: a coward who would live out the rest of their life alone: without their martyred family because now, I know that if I were to relive my time, I would have stayed and lived out my life as a free mouse.