Ugly Rat was hungry. His belly rumbled and hurt so much he could curl up in the corner of his “home” and cry.

  He walked to the entrance of the drain where he had lived for a year now. The sky was mostly blue, but some dark clouds were starting to show on the horizon.

  He didn’t remember his real name anymore, and he barely remembered his previous life. All his mind told him each day was that his current life was better than before. At least now he had Mimi to keep him company and help him forget the hunger.

  She barked from the dark, as if she had read his mind.

  She was hungry too, but Ugly Rat had given her the whole piece of meat he found in the trash last night. That made him skip a full day of meals and fed the hunger twisting inside him today.

  “I know, baby girl, we shouldn’t go out in the daylight. But I’m very, very hungry.”

  He went back inside to switch clothes and grab his bag. Ugly Rat had a special T-shirt and pants for the days he needed to go out in daylight, when he couldn’t hide in the shadows.

  Sadly, there was not much he could do about his smell.

  After he dressed, he bent down and kissed Mimi.

  “You stay here, baby girl. Dad will be back soon with food.”

  She would wait for Ugly Rat for a few hours before her own stomach started hurting. Then she would go out to search for him and for food herself.

  Mimi would never see Ugly Rat again. At least, not as she knew him before.

  ***

  Ugly Rat walked around town for a while, trying to find a good place to ask for money. In daylight, he couldn’t search the trash for food. He had to stand somewhere and ask for help. It was easier that way. He would usually get better food than what he found in the trash, but people were mean, and he always went back home feeling smaller than before.

  That’s why he preferred the night, when he could hide and avoid human contact. He hated leaving his home and Mimi, but he needed to. He needed to keep both of them alive.

  He was walking, distracted by his thoughts, when he saw a small café filled with people. He decided to try his luck there. His stomach hurt too much to keep walking.

  There was a bench in front of the café where he thought it would be good to sit.

  He didn’t like asking for help. Since the day he ran from his home and started living on the street, Ugly Rat had tried to avoid asking others for money or food. He would only do it when his stomach hurt too much.

  He was about to sit, but then remembered people wouldn’t help him if he looked comfortable, even though he was in real pain. So instead, he knelt on the hard concrete and waited for people to pass so he could ask for food or money.

  Ugly Rat knew it would take time before someone felt pity and gave him something. Most people would pass and pretend he didn’t exist. A few would leave something on the ground. Food. Drink. Money.

  But there was a third type of person that always made him nervous. The ones who acknowledged his existence but didn’t agree with it. He would go home feeling worse because of what they said.

  He thought about Mimi, who would calm his heart and help him get through those days.

  Ugly Rat stayed there for almost half an hour, asking each person for help, but no one seemed to care.

  His knees started hurting, but he couldn’t get up yet. He needed at least something for himself and Mimi so they could get through the day. Then he could go home and search the trash again at night.

  Far from the mean people.

  “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

  He didn’t look up, but he knew that voice. His heart started beating fast. He wanted to run, but he knew he couldn’t. The man would follow him.

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  “Hey, you fucking dirty rat, I’m talking to you.”

  Ugly Rat froze, too afraid to move. He didn’t know why this man liked to pick on him. He had never done anything to anyone. He was only trying to survive and get food for himself and his dog.

  “Please, sir, I’m just trying to get some food,” he said, his voice cracking.

  “Then go find a proper job, like everyone else, you lazy communist.”

  The man always called him that word, but Ugly Rat had no idea what it meant. Many words meant nothing to him. He had no one to ask.

  “Please, sir, I—”

  A kick to his stomach cut him off. All the air left his lungs. Tears burst from his eyes.

  “Shut the fuck up, you trash. You don’t deserve to talk to me. I hate lazy pieces of shit like you, sitting around all day asking for food and money to get drunk instead of being useful to society. That’s why this country is trash.”

  Ugly Rat started crying harder. He didn’t understand why people could be so mean. He almost never begged. He avoided humans whenever he could.

  Now his stomach hurt even more. Hunger and the pain from the kick.

  “I’m going into that café for breakfast. You’d better be gone when I come back. If I see you here, I won’t be this kind anymore. I’m tired of your type.”

  The man kicked him again and went inside.

  Ugly Rat fell to the ground, holding his stomach and crying.

  He didn’t understand why humans were like that. He had never hurt anyone, yet they hated him.

  He had learned about this side of humanity early in life, and remembering it always made him sad.

  He pulled himself together, grabbed his bag, and stood up. His body hurt. He was still hungry. But he couldn’t stay. The man could return at any moment, and Ugly Rat was tired of pain.

  Once on his feet, he started running.

  ***

  He ran for minutes without knowing where he was going. He ran even though his stomach hurt. He ran until his legs hurt too.

  Some days, he wished his life would end. He didn’t have the courage to do it himself, but he fantasized about being hit by a truck, getting sick beyond recovery, or meeting one of the bad humans who would do more than kick him.

  At least the pain would stop.

  But then he would think about Mimi, and he would push those thoughts away. She deserved whatever good he could still give.

  Ugly Rat kept running until he was far from the city and the people who wanted him gone. He fell to his knees, head down, breathing hard, tears running down his face.

  He stayed there for minutes, resting.

  A thunderclap pulled him out of it. He looked up, surprised at how quickly the cloudy sky had turned into a gathering storm.

  Ugly Rat stood and kept walking. He was in a place he didn’t know, filled with abandoned buildings. His heart pounded, but he forced himself to breathe slowly. What could be worse than a town full of people who didn’t want him alive?

  His stomach growled loudly. With all the running, he had forgotten the hunger. Now it returned.

  He looked around for something to eat.

  The only things moving in the ruins were rats.

  He promised himself he would never do it again. He still remembered the taste. He would never let that meat touch his mouth or Mimi’s again.

  He kept walking — minutes, maybe hours — until the rain started falling hard from the sky.

  Ugly Rat ran to the nearest building with a roof.

  ***

  He found an abandoned house where he could rest without getting soaked.

  He hated wet clothes sticking to his body and the cold that followed.

  He stood there for a few minutes, watching the rain hit the ground. He loved rainy days when he was safe inside. The sound on the roof. The smell that came seconds after it began. In those moments, he could forget everything else.

  Then it happened fast.

  A sound inside the building. Quiet at first. Then louder.

  A growl.

  Mimi made a similar sound when she saw a bird or rabbit. But this wasn’t her.

  A man came running toward him, thick saliva dripping from his mouth.

  I’m sorry, Mimi, was the last thing Ugly Rat thought before the man bit into his neck.

  He screamed and tried to push him away, but the man was much stronger.

  Tears rolled down his face as he realized he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do.

  He felt the strength leave his body.

  He stopped fighting.

  Soon, Ugly Rat was dead. The man was gone.

  Two minutes later, his body moved again.

  But he was not human anymore.

  Ugly Rat stood up and started running.

  He was angry. Very angry.

  He wanted to kill humans. Make them suffer.

  Kill.

  Suffer.

  Angry.

  Hungry.

  Angry.

  Hungry.

  ***

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