A long time ago, there was a little gray squirrel living with his parents, grandparents and many brothers and sisters.

They live in a family's utility room. Mom and dad go out to find food every day. The little gray mouse basks bask in the sun and play with their brothers and sisters every day. Sometimes they go out for a walk and chat with the cats and dogs next door, and have a happy life.

When the owner of the utility room saw the little gray squirrel and his family, he would give them some food to eat. The little gray squirrel grew up slowly and felt that life was beautiful...

stop.

The little gray stumbled into the entrance of the cave, looked at the bright sunshine outside and sighed softly. It was too bright during the day and could not go out to play, so he could only lie here quietly and imagine in his mind that it wanted to live.

My mother always reminds it not to daydream. That kind of life does not belong to the gray mouse. The gray mouse belongs to the dark and sneaky. The little episode in life is that another gray mouse was eaten by a cat, and another one was beaten to death.

They don’t eat much, but apart from daily rations, they have to save some for the winter. Food is difficult to find, and they can’t find too much if they go over and over. Those humans will have it at home, but they may be generous to other small animals, but they will never be with gray mice. So they have to go quietly and bring a little out every time.

If you are accidentally discovered, you will die if you cannot escape.

On the evening of that day, my father and mother went out to find food separately, but only my father came back, but my mother did not come back, and she did not come back for a long time. The little gray mouse knew that it would never have a mother again in the future.

It hopes that it can grow up and go out to find food with its parents and brothers and sisters. It likes to eat peanuts, but can only think about it, because the food brought back by the big mice is not fixed, and it is enough to eat it.

When it can go out to find food, it will look for peanuts.

The little gray mouse is very beautiful. After his father and several older brothers and sisters disappeared, he grew up to be as big as he can live independently. He is not too sad about losing his relatives. He knows that this belongs to their destiny. He says goodbye before going out, and maybe he will never see you again.

It sneaked out of the hiding hole in the darkness and walked along the corners of the wall. It was already used to the darkness, although it wanted to bask in the sun. It was actually good to bask in the moon. It licked its paws and found that it was going to find peanuts.

It can smell it, not far from a certain family's kitchen. There are freshly cooked salted peanuts, just a few, eat one, and don't think of a way to bring it back into the hole.

When he was lying into the window of the house, it saw a small pot on the stove, filled with peanuts. It squeaked and was very happy and found it!

But it had to be careful. After lying on the windowsill for a long time, it was sure that no one was walking around the house and there was no smell of cats. It ran to the peanuts, stood up and reached the pot to pick up a peanut.

It tastes so delicious! It feels so happy to eat peanuts, let’s have another one!

It jumped gently to the edge of the basin, picked up a peanut and smelled it, it smelled very fragrant.

When it ate three peanuts and was about to take a few more, the kitchen door was pushed open suddenly. It was startled and was so happy that it didn't notice the footsteps, and a scream came: "Oh my God! Mouse!"

The little gray squirrel quickly jumped to the stove. It was still holding a peanut in its mouth. It felt that if it could run away, it could take it back.

The man came in and picked up a broom from the wall and called it. It jumped off the stove and wanted to find a place to hide it first, but the man kept waving the broom while shouting, and it felt that there were brooms everywhere.

It was too small and had not enough adaptability to such a surround. It ran around the wall in panic and was hit by a broom several times. It didn't hurt, but it made it panic.

Finally it was forced to the corner of the wall, holding the peanut. It looked at the person with a look of anger and a broom in her hand. It felt desperate and no one could help it.

When the man turned the broom on his hand and stabbed it hard with the broom handle, it closed his eyes.

A heart-wrenching pain came from its hind leg, and tears oozed out of its eyes, but it was not stunned. It opened its eyes very much and poked it crookedly. It did not die, and it still had a chance!

The pain in the hind leg made it shudder and rush forward for a short while. The man hesitated for a moment. She must have felt very disgusting, but this was an opportunity. It changed direction and rushed towards the man's feet. It was the only way to escape.

The man screamed and jumped back.

It dragged its injured hind legs and climbed up to the windowsill, jumped out, ran for a long time in the dark night, and then got into someone's utility room.

It likes the utility room, and it grows up in the utility room, which makes him feel at ease and at ease, although this may not be true.

The peanuts were gone, and they were lost when they ran away with the peanut in their mouths. It was very sad and was a little confused when sitting in the corner of the wall.

The hind legs were bleeding. It looked at it, lowered its head and licked it, but there was no other way.

Injury is a terrible thing. It will not be able to find food because of its injured leg, it will be easily caught by cats because of its injured leg, and it will even be defeated by its injured leg when competing with its peers for territory and food.

If you are injured, you will die, you will be captured, beaten and starved to death.

It felt very uncomfortable when it looked at its bleeding legs. Why was it a mouse? Why was it not a cat, a dog, or...a person?

The utility room door opened and someone walked in, but it shrank and did not move. It had no strength, it was not full, and was frightened, and it was dragged down a broken hind leg.

The person who came in was holding an oil lamp, and it was a young man. He walked around the house, as if he was looking for something, but he couldn't find it. When he turned around and was about to go out, he stopped.

The little gray squirrel was found tight.

The man seemed a little surprised when he saw it, but he did not move further, but just raised the oil lamp to it and illuminated it around.

It dared not move and quietly lay on the ground.

The man frowned, touched his body with one hand, took out a paper bag, took a piece of something from it, and threw it in front of it.

It was so scared that it shrank back suddenly, and then it saw clearly that there was a small piece of beef in front of it! It shrugged its nose, it smelled so fragrant beef! It looked up at the man in disbelief, beef? Give it a gray mouse?

"Eat." The man said, then turned around and walked out of the utility room.

This piece of beef is quite big for the little gray squirrel, as big as its head. It carefully touched the beef and confirmed that this piece of beef really belonged to it.

After a while, it pressed the beef with its claws and began to bite it and eat it.

It's so delicious. Although it knows beef, it has never eaten it before. It always thinks peanuts are delicious, but now it knows that beef is better than peanuts.

When he ate beef, he temporarily forgot the pain in his hind legs and ate it happily.

When I ate half of the beef, the utility room door opened again. The man walked in with an oil lamp and glanced at it: "Really, I thought you ran away."

It was holding the beef and looking at him. Should it run away? So is he here to hit it now?

The man put the oil lamp on the ground, and then it noticed that the man had a small wooden box in his hand. He sat on the ground and opened the small wooden box.

This man didn't seem to be planning to hit it. He stumbled his head curiously, wanting to see what was in the box.

"Does it hurt?" The man took out a small porcelain bottle from the box and put it on the ground.

It hurts. It stares at the bottle with its round eyes. What is this?

"I'm very idle now and can't sleep," the man smiled, leaned against it, and reached out to it, "I'll wrap your legs for you."

This is the first time that a human has smiled at it. This smile makes it feel warm in its heart, but when it sees a man's hand, it retreats a little. It has just been smashed by another person and it is scared.

"Afraid of me?" The man laughed again, his hand still stretched out, "It's okay, come on."

It hesitated for a moment, it was scared, but its desire for warmth made it unable to help but want to get close to the man.

When it mustered up the courage to finally climb into the man's palm, its heart suddenly felt relieved. His palm was very soft, making it comfortable and warm. It likes to feel like this, like the mother's temperature.

It hurts the legs and gets blood on the man's hand. It is a little worried and wants to lick it clean, but the man just rubs it casually with his fingers: "Don't move, I haven't covered the wound for such a small animal."

It fell quietly, enduring the pain, and asked the man to check it for the injury in his leg.

"It's broken? I thought it was just a skin-breaking..." The man frowned and muttered in a low voice, "Try it."

The man used a small bamboo stick to fix it hurt his leg, applied some medicine, and wrapped it with a cloth strip. It moved its legs gently, but it still hurt a little, but it was much better than before. It squeaked in a low voice to express its gratitude.

"Come and come to me if you are hungry," the man put it on the ground, took out a veil and put it in the corner of the wall. "You can sleep here, there are no cats nearby."

After the man closed the door and went out, he returned to the darkness in the utility room. He stared at the moon outside the window, but he was unable to come back to his senses. Was it taken in by this man?

Does it have a safe place to hide? Can you still eat?

It felt dizzy and couldn't figure it out, and then fell asleep in a daze.

When the little gray squirrel lived in the utility room, the man would give it some food every day, and usually he would give it whatever he ate. Sometimes it was beef, sometimes it was chicken legs, and once he gave it a small glass of fruit wine.

It drank a little, then squeaked for the night, and the man couldn't stop laughing while holding the wine pot.

Later, the man fell asleep on his shoes. When he woke up, he lay in a small wooden box. The man made a nest for it, which was covered with hay and soft cloth.

It's very happy.

It will still go out for a walk, find food, hang out, and will not go back to that box to sleep every day. This is its habit, and these will not change, but its life becomes warm and down-to-earth because of this man.

It will still be injured, caught by cats, and driven away by people, but it gradually gains experience and can escape again and again, and return to the small wooden box with the injury.

The man sighs every time, but he never lets it not go out again. He just patiently puts medicine and gives it something to eat.

"Little thing," the man kept calling it, "Don't be afraid, this is your life, you must insist on going well no matter what you do."

It doesn't know the man's name, he hasn't told it, but it likes the name of small things.

Life is terrifying and warm. It goes around every day and meets friends. Sometimes they will find something to eat together and run away from their lives. They will also bring their friends back to the small wooden box to hide. Of course, sometimes they will fight.

When it was scratched and returned to the small wooden box, the man carefully checked its wound: "Little thing, don't you catch it by mice?"

Squeak.

"Is it a fight? Did the mouse come back with the last time?"

Squeak.

"Why do you want to fight? You can't beat them?" The man smiled and touched the tip of his nose. "Don't fight in the future. Friends should cherish it, little thing."

This gentle tone made it reminisce over and over again in the days that deeply engrave his heart.

Friends should cherish them, I will cherish you, but are we friends?

It doesn't know, no matter how much it wants to know, but it can't express it, it has no way to ask or say...

If, if I were alone, it would be great. Yes, if I were alone, I would no longer have to flee everywhere, nor would I have to be afraid of all kinds of people and animals around me. Importantly, I can tell him that you are my friend and I cherish you very much.

How great it would be if it were a person.

This wish becomes stronger and stronger as time goes by. It does not live long. Even if it can survive safely, it will only take a few years.

Too short, yes, too short.

It thought hard for a few nights and made a decision.
To be continued...