The Death of a Sheep

Chapter 1

ExplodingTNT entered the house, unsure of why he had been invited over. As he came into the kitchen, he was surprised to find Crystal Sheep sitting at the table and not Pink Sheep. Tears were running down her face. "Crystal Sheep?" ExplodingTNT whispered. "What's wrong?" Crystal Sheep looked up and wiped away a tear.

"It's Pink Sheep," she said quietly. "He's getting worse." ExplodingTNT gave her a confused look. "I thought he just had a stomach bug or a cold," he said. Crystal Sheep shook her head. "That's what we both thought," she sobbed. "But now it might be death." TNT paused for a moment as her words sank in. He kept hearing the final word of her sentence: "Death. Death." Over and over. But surely it wasn't that bad...

"Can I talk to him?" the mouse asked. Crystal Sheep nodded. "Don't expect him to make sense," she warned him. "Whatever he has is making him lose it." But TNT shrugged it off and went upstairs anyway. He knocked, and was shocked as the answer came. "Come in," a croaky voice said.

"Pink Sheep?" ExplodingTNT squeaked. Pink Sheep looked over from the bed. He was just lying on it, barely moving. He looked extremely pale. And his voice had sounded so weak...normally Pink Sheep liked to be heard, and made it so. But this time...he had sounded like it was the first time he'd spoken in years.

"What happened to you...?" ExplodingTNT asked, going to stand by his side. Pink Sheep stared at the ceiling with glazed eyes. "I'm not sure anymore, TNT," he whispered. Tears formed in his eyes; he seemed to be in a great deal of pain. "It's just a cold...isn't it?" TNT said quietly. Not that he handled colds much better...usually he felt like ending it the whole time he was sick. But he wasn't as tough as Pink Sheep was, and for the mouse to see his bubblegum-coloured friend so weak, so vulnerable...it was just horrible.

"I don't think so, TNT," Pink Sheep whispered. "Not this time."