Holiday Escape

    Noiz opened her vacation checklist. "Let's see," she said to herself. "Clothes, snacks for the train, shoes, IPod, Laptop, money, map, binoculars, watch, meds, and pillow." A smile came onto her face. "Perfect!" she said aloud. The door opened behind her. Noiz turned around to see Rob coming inside. They smiled at each other for a moment. Noiz sat up some.

    "You booked the tickets?" she asked. Rob grinned at her happily.

    "Yes sama!" he said aloud.

    "Great!" Noiz called. "This is going to be a great vacation!" Cat and mouse were planning to go to Scotland and England for a couple of weeks. They plotted this for a month now. The moment had arrived. Just a few more days to go. But then, a minor hitch came along.

    "Did you get the plan tickets?" Rob asked her. Noiz stared at him blankly.

    "I thought you did..." she said. The mouse sighed out loud.

    "No," he said strongly. "I asked you to do it! Remember?" Noiz thought about it for a moment. Then, the lights suddenly came on in her head.

    "*Sweat drop* Oh yeah!" she called out. "That's right! Whoops!" *Rob falls down*

    "Oh great!!!" he called out. "Now how are we going to get to England?!?" Noiz held up her hand at that one.

    "Relax," she said. "I've got it now." She turned back to her laptop and clicked on the internet. She typed in the travel site that she used earlier and got to work. Rob watched her closely.

    "Done!" Noiz called out. "Tickets and flight are booked!"

    "Sweet!" the mouse called. "So when do we leave?"

    "Right on time!" Noiz called out. Rob grinned at that one.

    "Nice!" he called.

    "I know, right?" Noiz called out. They both grinned at the settings. Not so fast! The pig had other plans for them. Plans that might cancel trips. It all started around dinner in the cafeteria. Everyone sat down to eat. Noiz began describing in detail about the food they would eat in Scotland and England. Rob listened on in intent. He still hadn't gotten used to England food, but Noiz sure made it all sound exciting. But then, the cloud of doom crept into their plans. The doors blew open wide. Everyone looked up right away. Ametris and June walked into the room. They looked around for a bit. The animals went back to eating. The pig cleared his throat loudly. They all still ignored him.

    "Excuse me," he said. "Can I have your attention please?" No response. They all kept eating.

    "Hey!" he called out. "Listen up for a minute!" Nothing. Everyone kept eating. The pig turned to his assistant.

    "June, help," he said. The short woman stepped forward.

    "EVERYONE!!!" she yelled out. "GIVE ARTEMIS YOUR ATTENTION!!!" The animals all looked up at that one. June gave them a little nod.

    "Much better," she told them. She turned to her boss/crush. "They are yours now," she said.

    "Thank you, June!" Artemis replied. He turned to the animals. "I have signed up our house for this year's clean-up project!" he announced. Everyone looked up slightly confused. Noiz raised an eyebrow at the pig.

    "Doing what?" she called. "Cleaning up bodies?" Artemis tried to ignore her.

    "We will be participating in the Green Campus Project," he went on. "The administrators want us to make the campus look more inviting!" Graham Blake rolled his eyes at that one.

    "Why? Because you nearly cleaned out the budget to buy that new sports car of yours?" he asked almost shouting. The other animals laughed. Artemis went quiet at that one. June looked offended.

    "That's not true!!!" she cried out. But, covering for Artemis' and his greedy pride always proved to be rather pointless. The animals knew the truth. But yet, something didn't sit well with this particular project. Something had to be up. Rob slowly raised his hand.

    "When exactly are we doing this project?" he asked. Artemis smiled and relaxed some at that one.

    "In two weeks from now!" he replied. Everyone looked on in shock at that one.

    "WHAT?!?" the animals yelled out.

    "But Noiz-sama and I leave for England and Scotland then!" Rob cried. Artemis shrugged at them.

    "Sorry!" he called. "It's not my fault!" Sadly, that reply didn't fly with them at all. The animals all started throwing food and trash at the pig.

    "IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!!" he cried out. The food kept on flying. The idiot ran for cover out of the cafeteria. This was a problem. Noiz and Rob spent the evening plotting what to do next.

    "We could cancel the trip," the mouse suggested. Noiz looked at him coldly on that one. *Sweat drop on Rob's head*

    "Okay, no good. I see," he replied.

    "We have to find a way to stop the project!" the kitty called out loud. The mouse looked up at her confused.

    "How?" he asked. Noiz smiled at him wickedly.

    "We will find a way!" she called out loud. *Sweat drop on Rob's head* "I was afraid of that!" he thought uneasily. Well, time to monitor the cat to make she doesn't cause too much trouble. And so, operation holiday began. Artemis had upped his game some this time. He made extra care that the cat wouldn't get in the way of process this time. He had warned the sponsors about her, made sure the workers knew about her, and hid the tools well. In three days, Noiz became stressed out.

    "Grrr!!!" she cried out. "The pig has really beaten me to the punch this time!" The kitty sighed out loud unhappily. "We just have to go on this vacation!" she cried out. "We just have to!" Rob looked on at her in sympathy. He didn't like seeing her unhappy and obsessed. She looked to be heading down that path. Time to take control of the situation fast. Suddenly, an idea hit him.

    "Hold that thought!" he said out loud. "I know how to fix this problem!" Noiz looked up at him confused.

    "Huh?" she asked. "What do you mean? Huh?" Rob grinned at her in pride.

    "Wait here!" he said quickly. Then, the mouse raced all the way out the door. The cat watched on confused. "What the devil is he up to now?" she thought. The door slammed shut behind him. By the next morning, it all became clear. Rob and Graham were all laughing to themselves in the cafeteria. Noiz came in and looked on at them.

    "Something funny?" she asked. The boys stopped laughing and looked up at her. They quickly shook their heads.

    "Nothing," they lied. "Nothing at all!" Noiz didn't say anything, but she sure did look suspicious. She sat down at the table near the window and watched them closely. The boys laughed again. Then suddenly, Artemis ran into the room crying. Everyone looked up at him right away. Artemis had tears in his eyes. June followed behind him.

    "Artemis is upset," she said.

    "We can see that," Noiz replied. "But why?"

    "My car!" Artemis whimpered out. "They scratched and wrecked my precious car! I'm nothing now!" Rob and Graham snickered to themselves. Noiz smirked at the pig boldly.

    "Oh come now Artemis," she called out. "You always were nothing. You invented nothingness!" The pig buried his head in his hands.

    "I'm ruined!" he cried. "The project is canceled!" All of the animals cheered aloud. Noiz turned to Rob smiling. The mouse thumbs-upped her. In three weeks, the pair were on a plane to England and Scotland. Mission accomplished.