"SAMMY" THE LAB RAT BEING & TIME (IN THE GRAY WORLD)

"SAMMY"

THE LAB RAT

BEING & TIME

(IN THE GRAY WORLD)

RESCUED BY

MATILDA

AKA:

"MATTY ORLANDO"

J. BECK

2025

Cassie had gone to work at Alabaster Laboratories & Research in the "White World" leaving Sammy the Rat behind safe and secure inside her Brooklyn apartment building. Or so she thought:

Sammy had pushed open a cracked window to slip out onto the apartment building balcony to get a closer view of the bussling "Gray World" city outside.

But suddenly out of no where while Sammy was sniffing red potted flowers a large Redtail Hawk swooped down to pluck Sammy's White Rat ass off the decorative fire escape balcony.

Before Sammy knew what happened they began to quickly descend due to Sammy's larger heavy size until the hawk was able to lift they back up between the rows of apartment buildings in the Dumbo neighborhood.

Sammy could see more and of the expansive Gray World City. Sammy could see two wide rivers and two large bridges with countless skyscrapers in the background.

Sammy was fascinated by the sight below to the extent that he momentarily forgets that his life is in danger being clutched in the mighty bird of Grey's sharp talons.

When suddenly they began dropping again halfway across the East River. They were descending at a faster rate until the redtail released his tired hold on Sammy & had to drop its large white rat prize to drop & freefall downwards to land in the dirty river with a big splash breaking his fall.

Sammy instinctly began to swim for the nearest shore on Manhattan banks of the east river. The smelly brown water was cold & tasted horrible as Sammy paddled his legs and feet while keeping his head above the rancid waters.

Sammy

Swam...

SWAM

Until he finally swam & crawled out onto to trashy shoreline cold soggy wet and exhausted from the entire chain of events that had quickly transpired from the Dumbo apartment building balcony to being dropped into the nasty river & swimming to safety. Sammy collapsed laying I n his back with his legs & feet up in the air panting to catch his shallow breath having taken water into his lungs to spit up the vile river water.

Sammy had passed out laying on the shore like a drown dead white rat when he realizes he is surrounded by four big fat gray rats hissing and showing their long sharp ugly yellow teeth at him.

That was until Sammy regathered & collected himself to stand up to his four smaller foes and shakes the remaining river water off his dirty stained white fur coat all over them as he showed his larger white & longer sharp teeth in response to the aggression.

But the four smaller gray rats coward & submit to the larger white rat although they outnumbered him 4 to 1.

Sammy is wet cold tired & hungrey. So the four gray rats all apologize to Sammy for their rude treatment of the white stranger rat (Freak of Nature) Sammy accepts their apologies and agrees to follow them to a food source.

There was only one problem: Sammy was too big to follow his four new smaller aquanances into their narrow drain pipes passageways.

So the Gray Rats have to take a alternative route down a manhole into the "Dark World" of the more dangerous underground sewers where other threatening predators would be laying & waiting in the shadows around every turn.

But Sammy knew how to negotiate the tunnels once his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Sammy had been tested many times in the White World Laboratory racing through mazes.

When the company of their small rat-pack resurface to the Gray World they found piles of spilled corn on the banks from

a moored corn-barge.

As they proceeded to feast on the bountiful piles of golden shelled corn kernels they were ambushed by three large Blue Rats who were larger the the fat gray rats yesterday smaller then Sammy.

The Blue Rats assumed the gray rats were on their side & they outnumbered this Sammy the White "Freak" Rat seven to one.

Mistaken Identity:

That was until a young female human appeared trekking up the alley to bust up the confrontational rat encounter.

All of the Rats scattered--scampering away quickly at the sight of a human except for Sammy. He stood froozen looking up at his rescuer & at first blush he thought it was Cassie who came to save his rat ass for a second time.

But it wasn't Cassie. It was Cassie's look alike double: "Matty Orlando."

She had short black hair & dressed in the same style as Cassie with shorts black netted nylons wearing heavy boots carrying a black leather book-bag backpack just like the one Cassie used to smuggle Sammy out of the White World Laboratory.

Sammy slowly approached Matty as she sat down to finish her cigarette. Sammy was sniffing & winding the the relaxing smoke from her sweet tobacco stick like Cassie smoked with him before he was abducted by the redtail hawk from her apartment balcony

Sammy hopped atop Matty's leg before crawling up her arm to perch upon her shoulder to sniff more pluming cigarette smoke.

The two new acquaintances appeared to hit it off genuinely. Matty appeared familiar to Cassie affording him a measured of comfort & trust. Matty could see that this dirty white river drown rat was out of his elements & appeared to be tamed & friendly.

Sammy takes it upon himself to decide for both of them as he loads himself into the back of her open bookbag as he had escaping the White World.

Matty laughing stands up to flick her cigarette butt away to hurry home to her upstairs apartment in the Little Italy neighborhood around the corner from Mott St before dusk.

But when Sammy came out of the backpack in Matty's pleasant & safe apartment he is taken aback--pausing momentarily to collect himself. There was a big black cat sitting on Matty's lap purring loudly seeking strokes & affection for her while ignoring their new visitor.

Matty picks Sammy up out of the open bag & the black cat leaps down off the couch. Matty plug her nose and carries Sammy out to the kitchen to give him a warm bath with blue liquid soap to restore his white fur and remove the sewer odors.

Sammy was in White World Heaven as Matty's firm but gentle hold made him feel secured and liked by his new human hostess.

Matty would order two large chef-salads to feed & share with "Sammy". She had noticed that he had a single notch in one of his ears & when she examined Matty found he had a tiny date 2002 tattooed in one ear and SAM tattooed inside his notched ear.

Afterwards having finished their salads & were satisfied Matty poured a glass of wine & sat on the couch in between Sammy on one end & "Ludwig" (Named after Beethoven) on the other as she chain-smoked cigarettes before bedtime.