Steven's · Stories

Hello everyone!

First and foremost, thanks to all you people who have friended Stevie! We love you!

The second story is online now. Things for Stevie aren't going to be easy, but don't worry - it'll turn out alright in the end, I'll see to that.

The semester at the ETH starts on Monday, and I'll be working, too,  so I won't be able to write so fast, but I'm sure I can manage one story a week. One every two weeks, at worst. I hope you stay with me. For the rest of this week I'll be as productive as I can to get a head start.

Stevie's user info has been updated - there is now a list of characters that'd come up so far. The list will be updated as new characters enter the story. Check it out. Furthermore, our biggest supporter lautenist  has made a fan group on Facebook. Just search for Stevie, the Lab Rat.

Thank you, our readers!

Anna & Stevie

The house was quiet when I woke up. Ah yes, I thought, Friday. On Fridays and Tuesdays the professor reads lectures at the university, so the lab was going to be quiet and locked until midday at least. I finished off yesterday's bread and searched my empty mind for ideas. His Majesty Steven Lionheart was bored and needed some entertainment ASAP. I considered going to Pete's nest and stealing some food. That'd have him running after me through the whole house and I'd have fun watching the poor fat rat trying to catch Steven the Fast. But that plan had two major drawbacks. First, I would get a beating for a feat like that sooner or later, and watching out for Pete for the rest of my life wasn't exactly an endearing perspective. Second, it was just plain mean. Pete never harmed anyone and was a nice and likeable guy (as long as no one stood between him and his food, of course). I could go and visit someone but most of the others would be annoyed at my presence. The rest would just be indifferent. Nah, boring people for my own entertainment wouldn't do either. I thought for a minute or two and decided to go out into the garden.

As I said, the house I live in is really old. The lab has been rebuilt and equipped with various safety measures, but the rest of the house has remained the same for decades. It's built of brick and wood, with two stories, a nice wooden porch (Mike and Minka live under there, together with their offspring) and a slanted roof all complete with a chimney. (Lucky for Oscar and his family the prof is too lazy to use the fireplace, or they would have to move in a hurry.) There is a cellar under the house, but no one ever goes there – it's cold, dark, damp and full of scary stories. Some say there's a blood-drinker living there. Ugh, maybe it's true – the prof never ventures into the cellar either. Then again, he might simply have forgotten its existence – the trap door in the storeroom is covered with dust, dirt and litter so it's nearly invisible.

( Read on... )

It seemed as if the whole ceiling was about to fall down on me. The creaking and groaning coming from above put an end to my nap. Slightly panicky, I looked up. Bad idea.

I blinked the sawdust from my eyes while the noise slowly subsided and I finally remembered that I wasn't in my comfy little nest in the old lab coat in the chemicals closet. I was under the stairs (which explained the darkness and the sawdust), and the professor had just gone up to the lab (which explained the creaking). And since the professor was in the lab, Steven the Fearless' way to the kitchen was unobstructed. Yee-haw! I squeezed through the crack between the stairs and the wall, sneezed, shook the sawdust out of my fur and scuttered to the kitchen door. It was open – fortune loved Steven the Brave. Not that this mighty and noble rat would have feared the detour through the hole under the bath that led to the kitchen storeroom, but still... It was just faster this way.

The kitchen, old like everything in the house (and the house itself, for that matter) looked cheerful and welcoming – the afternoon sun was beaming straight through the dirty window. And behold the shining whiteness on the floor by the fridge, a dream come true! The professor had forgotten to store away the groceries and various edible smells filled the kitchen. Beautiful! I hurried over to the two cellophane bags and stuck my nose into the first one. I was greeted by a carton of raw eggs and a bunch of celery. Yikes. I mean, rats *are* omnivorous, but Steven the Mighty could not settle for anything but the best. Trying not to breathe I made my way past the stinking celery and scored a pack of spaghetti. Much better. I stilled the worst hunger and moved on – the others would be here before long, and I just couldn't let them get to the better stuff before me.

( Read on... )