The Art of Business

The Black Cat's attention was fixed on the Clothed Rat in the tree, so he paid little attention to what the little creatures by his feet were doing.

But craning his neck to look at the little fellow was starting to make him uncomfortable.

"Hmm. Did you come to the school for something?" Holding his breath, the Black Cat made himself swell another size. Now his head was level with the rat among the branches.

This time, Poseidon finally didn't fall over. Perhaps it was because the Black Cat hadn't swallowed him whole the previous two times he'd grown, or perhaps being frightened twice in a row had given the Little Fox a touch of immunity. Whatever the reason, he was a little braver this time. Though his legs still visibly trembled, he stood his ground, much to the Black Cat's satisfaction.

The other cats and foxes around them had grown braver, too. A few edged back a step or two, but overall, they were doing far better than they had at first.

This time, the only one thoroughly frightened was the Clothed Rat perched in the fork of the tree.

"Holy shit! What kind of rat are you? How do you keep getting bigger?"

The Clothed Rat shrieked without thinking. With a sharp flick of his long tail, he flipped upward, used the momentum to launch himself higher, and scrambled a good distance up the branch.

Only when he felt safely out of reach of the Black Cat's tongue did the Clothed Rat look back at that enormous head and cry, still shaken, "We can talk this through! Stop turning into something so terrifying every chance you get... You're scaring the fur off me!"

"I just happened to overhear your conversation... If those rats are a nuisance for you