Chapter Text
Los Angeles, CA. 1928
At half past one in the afternoon a mischievous and incredibly curious young toon mouse named Mickey was by himself as his creator went about the work day. The weather was too stormy for him to do anything outside so he was entertaining himself in his creators spare room. There was just so much to look through!
Mickey giggled as he crawled under the bed. He was sure as long as he didn’t make a mess Walt and his wife wouldn’t mind. Boxes and a few bags of luggage were shoved haphazardly in place, unmoved for years if the dust he disturbed was any indication.
Sneezing as the dust floated around him Mickey bumped into something harder than the other boxes. Rolling around onto his stomach he discovered a safe-box up against the wall. Excitement filled him as he wiggled to maneuver the box and himself right-ways around. For being made of metal, the safe-box wasn’t very heavy.
Shoving the box out from under the bed ahead of him Mickey sneezed again.Nose twitching Mickey titled the box this way and that. It wasn’t very big and curious, the small mouse tried to opened the box. The lid didn’t move. A few minutes were spent trying to pry the top off with no success.
Mickey pouted for a moment before snapping his fingers happily. His new trick that he learned, the one that turned his tail into a key!
Taking his tail he licked his fingers and twirled the tip of it until a springy curl had formed.
The lock was done with quick work and soon Mickey had a bunch of papers laid out around him on the floor. There were some written documents, notes and other things he couldn’t read.
There were many sketches of toon animals like him. Some that looked like landscapes….and a rabbit.
There was only one of the toon rabbit and Mickey held it in both hands as he examined it. There was something different about this one. Mickey traced the drawing with his fingertips. The rabbit looked nice and friendly, like he knew how to have fun. Mickey grinned down at the drawing.
They even kinda looked alike!
Was his creator going bring the rabbit to life like how he brought Mickey himself to life? The thought made Mickey giggle happily. It would be nice to have someone like him around. They could be friends even!
There was no name anywhere on the paper. If it was on the written ones Mickey couldn’t read them to find out anyway. Mickey took some of the landscapes and laid them out like a map before placing the rabbit on them. “Heya pal. I’m Mickey Mouse! My creator is gonna put me into cartoons soon and if they do real well he might be able to make others like me. But I’m gonna ask him to make you first. I think we could be great friends!”
The whole afternoon was spent looking at the drawings and making up stories in his mind. The rabbit remained unnamed but Mickey imagined that they were friends and that they would have adventures and then come home to their creator and his wife for supper before bed.
He imagined them as a family.
Mickey was shaken from his play when he heard people returning to the house. Quickly the mouse gathered the papers back up and moved to put them back into the safe-box. Coming to the rabbit Mickey paused. Carefully he laid it aside and kept replacing the papers.
The lid closed with a click as the lock was again in place. Mickey got down and slid the metal box back to where he had found it under the bed. Peeking around the door frame to see if his creator had made it to the hallway yet the mouse then hid the drawing in his sleeping area before going to greet Walt and Lillian.
Supper was a light affair as Walt told him how the cartoon was coming along, Mickey listening with stuffed cheeks. When asked what he did that day Mickey replied he just played in the spare room. He didn’t want Walt to know he found the safe-box or the toon rabbit drawing yet. It was kinda fun having a secret to himself.
That night the house was still, the box was back where he had found it, minus one drawing that Mickey kept under his pillow as he slept.