I'm just a little mouse after all [Comprehensive British and American]

It was another all night, Ethan took a sip of coffee and went to work with his colleagues.He can't rest even on Christmas Eve, after all, bad luck is always there, and there is never a holiday.

He sat back in his seat and made the first emergency call of the night, only for a cat to run up a tree.

A fire unit could have taken care of it, and there have been no calls since, and it looks like it's Christmas Eve.

He squinted his eyes and waited until midnight when he received a strange call.

It was a call from a woman in extreme panic. Her voice sounded very young. As soon as the phone was answered, she could hear what she said over and over again, Santa Claus.

"Keep calm. Ma'am, what emergency do you have?" Ethan said.

The sound in the earphones was very messy, the woman's rapid panting and violent collision sound mixed together, it sounded very harsh.

The reporter screamed in a trembling low voice: [Blood! ! !There's blood everywhere and he's in!save me save me he's looking for me!No no no my god...]

Ethan tried to get her to give the address, but she couldn't speak coherently.

Ethan took a look, but the address hadn't been located yet. He gestured to his colleagues nearby, and then said reassuringly, "The police are on their way, please stay on the phone during this time."

[No he's looking for me oh my god Ellie oh my god... my kid is still here save her! ]

The reporter seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and there was no reaction to his words.

Ethan frowned, and he continued: "Is the person who attacked you armed?"

This time the woman reacted, she almost screamed: [Gun!He has a gun, and a chainsaw.The chainsaw made the cops come and kill him he's a lunatic! ]

The address has been locked, and the police patrolling nearby are on their way. Ethan tried to appease the panicked reporter, but it didn't work.

The reporter was greatly stimulated, and he spoke upside down, and his speech was so fast that it was hard to hear.

Ethan had an ominous premonition. He was planning for the worst, and tried to ask for useful information: "Who attacked you, have you seen his face clearly?"

The woman must have been injured, she gasped violently, and said in a hoarse voice: [Devil!He's a devil, but he's coming, I hear voices.This is what I should do He's coming...no...don't come in! ]

Ethan only heard her helplessly screaming, and the phone seemed to fall to the ground, making a muffled ringing.

Ethan's fingers trembled, he took a deep breath and whispered, "Ma'am?"

[No, no, no, the police will come soon!You let go of my devil!monster!ah--]

[On the phone...the police are on the phone!My god... my god don't hurt me... save me save me! ]

The woman's hysterical screams sounded particularly ear-piercing. The sound of her crying made Ethan feel tightness in his chest.

Their equipment was so good that Ethan could clearly hear the sound of the woman's bones breaking.

The address where the informant is located is very remote, and it takes at least 10 minutes from the nearest patrol police to arrive there.

A few minutes later, the woman's screams disappeared.

A little girl's terrified cry came from the earphones.

[You killed Mom! ]

[Mother……]

[No!Mother!I am afraid! ]

Immediately there was a bang on the phone, and Ethan stopped breathing for a moment, and then the phone was hung up.

"Ethan?" His colleague patted him on the shoulder and called out worriedly, "How's the situation?"

It took a long time before Ethan woke up from the two gunshots.

"Are you okay, Ethan?"

"Ethan?"

……

Ethan was extremely tired recently. He came out of the mental hospital and bought a hot dog on the side of the road.

He quit his job as an operator a few days ago.On Christmas Day, a murder case occurred on the other end of the phone. All three members of the family died, and the youngest victim was only four years old.

The report time was around [-]:[-] in the morning, and at [-]:[-], when the police rushed over, there were only three corpses left in the room.

After that incident, Ethan began to suffer from insomnia.He failed the psychological test, and he was really under too much pressure, so he simply resigned.

On top of that, he has recently experienced auditory hallucinations.

He could always hear a bunch of small voices, the voices were so small that they couldn't be heard clearly intermittently.The doctors he had seen all said that it was due to excessive pressure, coupled with the illusion caused by mental tension.

But Ethan always felt that the voice really existed, and it was at his home.As long as he's away from home, he won't hear this.

He doesn't have much savings, and he plans to find his next job and change to a better house.That's right, better, at least there won't be any rats in there.

God knows how much energy he and his roommates have put into dealing with these rats.

But recently his auditory hallucinations have become serious, and even began to affect his life.Every day he would be woken up by music from nowhere, sitting in the bedroom staring at the wall in a daze.

This time the sound of music appeared again, and Ethan listened with his ears up, and found that the sound seemed to come from the kitchen.

Maybe it wasn't an auditory hallucination or maybe there was something hiding in his house.

Ethan took out his pistol/gun and walked carefully into the kitchen.

Entering a person, the narrow kitchen is a bit crowded, and the leftover milk and cereals he ate this morning are still placed on the dining table.

As he walked into the kitchen, the voices that had been heard all this time began to become clear.

It seemed to be the sound of music, mixed with small voices.

At this moment, his roommate came in from the outside, looked at Ethan suspiciously and said, "What's wrong with you?"

"I heard conversations and music." Ethan gestured, clenched his hand/gun and said, "It's in this kitchen."

His black roommate said worriedly: "Hey brother! Put the gun down, do you want me to call the doctor?"

"I'm sure I heard it." Ethan bowed and walked slowly following the sound.

"Is your auditory hallucination already this serious?" The roommate nervously took a few steps back, holding the phone ready to call the police at any time.

Ethan didn't answer, his eyes fell on a flowerpot against the wall.

"So you think those flowers are talking?" The roommate said vigilantly, "Did it say when it will bloom..."

Before he finished speaking, Ethan suddenly pushed the flower pot aside, revealing the scene behind the flower pot.

It was a small semi-circular hole, loud music sounded from inside, and colorful lights came out from the hole from time to time.

"What's this?" Ethan hissed blankly.

The roommate looked over and said, "If I'm not mistaken, it's a rat hole."

"How come there are lights in the mouse hole?" Ethan questioned: "It's still the colored lights of the bar. Didn't you hear the music and voices inside?"

The roommate grinned. He looked at the ordinary little mouse hole, and after listening carefully for a long time, he could only hear the sound of the mouse squeaking.

He took a few steps back, hid his head outside the door and said, "Ethan, have you taken your medicine today?"

Ethan looked at him, then at the mouse hole in front of him.

He hesitated for a moment, put down the gun and bent down on the ground to look into the hole.

The cave is very spacious inside, decorated like a bar.A group of rats walked around on their legs upright.

A little mouse near the door was sitting on a sofa near the entrance of the hole, drinking from a small wine glass.

As soon as it raised its head to meet Ethan's eyes, the little mouse tilted its head to look at Ethan, and suddenly raised its glass to him, grinning and showing its big white teeth.

The roommate waited outside for a long time. Seeing that Ethan was still lying there, he yelled worriedly: "Hey! Brother! Are you okay, do you want to go to the doctor?"

It took a long time for Ethan to respond.

He got up, stood stiffly on the spot, and said with dull eyes: "The mouse in Tom and Jerry has big brown eyes and big ears and can drink red wine to soak the female mouse."

"Huh?" The roommate poked his ears and said, "You spoke too fast, I didn't hear anything clearly."

Ethan seemed to have recovered a bit. He took a deep breath and said with difficulty, "I saw Jerry."

He paused and continued, "Do you think I can still be saved?"

The roommate shrank behind the door with only one eye exposed. He looked at Ethan's dark circles and bloodshot eyes, and said affirmatively: "You are very sick, I suggest first aid. Do you want me to call the doctor for you, yes By the way, do you mind if I call a policeman over to stay with me. Since you have a gun and I'm on the verge of crying."

Just as Ethan was about to speak, the music in the cave stopped again.

He turned his head and saw that Jerry was wearing a top hat and carrying a suitcase swaggeringly out of the hole. He waved at Ethan and went back into the cabinet.

"Did you see it?" Ethan pointed to Jerry and said to his roommate; "Jerry, the cartoon's big eyes can still wave at me!"

"I only saw a mouse crawling past you." The roommate said cautiously: "Well, I admit that there are indeed a lot of mice here. But can you put down the gun? I'm afraid of you."

Ethan covered his forehead, and said with difficulty: "A Jerry! Cartoon Jerry!"

"That's right, that's right, Jerry. That's Jerry, let's put the gun down." The roommate whispered, "Okay buddy, I get it, isn't it Jerry, don't be nervous."

Ethan heard a strange sound again, he took a deep breath, walked over quickly, and slammed the cabinet door open.

Then he saw Jerry standing on a shelf in the cupboard, holding a pointer, discussing plans with another cartoon mouse.

Ethan even saw that Jerry was writing 'Murderer Apprehension Plan' on the blackboard, with items [-], [-], and [-] listed below.

The corners of Ethan's eyes twitched, his already tormented nerves finally reached their limit at this moment.

The roommate saw Ethan roar, and then a series of gunshots rang out in the house.

……

Ethan was brought into the interrogation room. He closed his eyes and kept telling himself to calm down so as not to go to the mental hospital.

"Name?"

"Ethan Washington Fox."

"Why did you shoot?"

Just as Ethan was about to answer, he heard a small voice from the corner.

"Hi, my name is Jerry, can you hear me?"

Ethan turned his head stiffly, and Jerry was hiding behind a flowerpot in the corner, poking his head out and said to him, "Great, you can really hear me, then tell this policeman that the murderer is a tall black man .”

"Mr. Fox?" The female policeman knocked and followed Ethan's line of sight, with some worry in her voice, "Did you hear that potted plant talking?"

"That's the one for Christmas," Jerry yelled into a megaphone. "Tell her!"

Ethan pursed his lips, smacked his lips and said, "No, I just think this potted plant is good, I thought these things would not be placed in the interrogation room."

The policewoman nodded and lowered her head to record.Ethan turned his head slightly, looking at the potted plants from the corner of his eye.Jerry crouched back, holding up a small stand that read 'The murderer was a black man! '

"Mr. Fox?"

Ethan immediately withdrew his gaze, sat up straight, and pulled the corners of his mouth to reveal a stiff smile.

"I'm listening, you keep asking, ma'am."