The Rockin' Rodents

Tina Turtle, Drummer of the Gods.

"I thought you said this guy was in the band with us, that's why I came," Ronny said.

"What did I tell you Jerry, the truth always comes out? I'm sorry, I ain't in the band, and you've just got a place to practice if you want. If you can get Tina out of there, you've got yourselves a pretty good drummer too." Jimmy started to walk away.

"But you love to play! We love to play! What's the problem?" pleaded Jerry.

"You don't want to just play kid, do you? You want to be a star. Sure, it looks great from down here, being up on that stage, but one day the fat cats will come to collect. They'll wave a load of shiny things and great cheese around, but then you'll lose your music and you'll never get it back. You guys can practice here, I'll help you with your music even, but count me out of the rat race," that he walked away.

"Well, if Jimmy isn't playing, neither am I," Ronny said, going to back up his stuff. Now that the music had died, the other rats had scattered, going back to their scavenging.

Now the absence of music that they played before had become melancholic, like something of spectacular beauty, was gone, and lost forever. Jerry had a horrible feeling in his gut. Jimmy had been right, the truth had come out and now all he was left with was a tangled wreck of lies. There was no band.

"Hey, wait a second. Are you just going leave me in here?" said Tina.

That stopped Ronny in his tracks. Jerry thought he saw an opportunity.

"Yeah, we can't just leave her in there."

Ronny was a punk, spiky on the outside, soft-hearted on the inside, he would never leave someone trapped in an aquarium

"What do we do?" asked Ronny.

"Well, Opera singers can break glass with their voices; I've seen it on the TV, I think a bunch of rockers can smash an aquarium. My amp is so loud it goes up to eleven!" suggested Jerry

"Eh, that's not how amps work, but OK, it's worth a try!" said Tina, and started pounding out a rhythm on her shell. Ronny turned his amp up and played a riff in time with Tina. Jerry turned his amp up to eleven and started playing along. The sound waves vibrated through the dump, the water in the tank rippled as if invisible rain was having a downpour in the tank only. Pieces of scrap and rubbish started to fall, threatening a thrash avalanche. When the band realized the sound was having no effect they stopped, although Jerry noticed that some of the magic from before, was still there when they played together.

"Well that didn't work," said Ronny "We still ain't loud enough,"

Jerry had an idea. "Ronny, come with me, I know how we can get louder."

Ronny followed Jerry and he was relieved to find that the mouse in black hadn't come back for his equipment yet. With Ronny's help, they moved the wall of speakers and effects as close to Tina's tank as they could and plugged it in.

"OK let's try again," Said Jerry.

"Wait!" said Ronny producing some (non-stinky) cheese from his pocket. He broke it into four pieces and stuffed two into his ears. Jerry his ears ringing slightly from before, did the same with the two pieces Ronny passed him. They raised their hands in the coolest rock pose they could manage and brought their hands down to make the loudest chord ever, the kind of sound that might have started the universe with a big bang.

"Kraannng!"

Immediately, cracks appeared in the glass and began to spread out across the clear surface like a frosted dewy spider's web on a winter's morning. Jerry nodded to Johnny and they played the chord again. This time the cracks multiplied, as the glass fractured more. On the third chord, the tank gave way splintering into a million pieces. The water washed the three of them away and unfortunately, at that exact moment, the mounds of garbage also gave way and fell on the three hapless musicians.

Again, silence settled, but with our rockers buried beneath all that thrash, it took on a tragic tone (that is if silence can have a tone).

An inkless pen began to rattle a crisp bag. The posts and pans rattled from before, the earth heaved with the force of something trying to emerge from beneath, and somewhere a guitar string snapped with a comical "Boing!" Ronny Burst free first, pulling Jerry and Tina with him as they coughed and spluttered the dirt and dust out of their throats and lungs.

When they had gathered themselves and dusted themselves off Ronny cried out "Rock and Roll! Whooooo!" and then took out a piece of cheese from his ear and despite the ear wax stuffed it in his mouth to celebrate.

Tina and Jerry began laughing, as much out of relief as at Ronny's cry. Jerry looked at them and said

"So, are we a band, or are we a band?"

Tina and Johnny looked at each other for a moment, then at Jerry. They raised their hands and shouted "Rock n'Roll!" and that was it. Jerry had gotten the band together.

Jimmy watched them from the window of his shack, which the thrash avalanche had narrowly missed. In the distance, in the shadows, he thought he saw a pair of cat eyes, one green, one yellow watching them with a great deal of interest before slinking away. He thought he ought to keep an eye on his young new friends.