When Sophie woke in the middle of the night the moon was high in the sky. Silver light streamed through the open window and made long shadows on the floor. It was so quiet she could hear the hum of the engines far below her. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but her mind had woken up and her mouth was dry and her bed was too hot. Then she noticed the river of moonlight that flowed through the bedroom and thought that a walk in the cool night air would be lovely.
Sophie got out of bed very slowly, taking care not to rustle the sheets. She shared a room with her four sisters, all of them sleeping soundly in the bunkbeds that lined the walls. Wincing every time the floor creaked, she tiptoed out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. She grabbed a bright red coat off of a peg and carefully pushed open the front door.
The sight of the deck all still and quiet and bathed in silver light made Sophie catch her breath. The magic of the full moon transformed the watchtower into a castle, the trees into an enchanted forest. Sophie dug her bare feet into the grass and took deep breaths of cool air. Soft breezes ruffled the branches of the pine tree at the helm of the house-ship and set the laundry on the line swaying. After taking a slow walk around the deck in the dreamlike nighttime world she was about to go back inside when she saw the raven.
He was perched on the point of the watchtower, his feathers gleaming in the moonlight, sitting stone still and gazing intently to the east. Sophie had seen bigger birds, but none so completely wicked looking as this one. The silhouette of his hunched, bristly back, his thick bill, and his great, sharp talons made an ugly black gash in the silvered sky. Sophie pressed herself into a pine tree, paralyzed with horror.
All of the mice in the Burdock family had snowy white fur. Sophie’s small body stood out brightly against the darkness and she was made yet more conspicuous by her crimson coat. If she moved she would surely be seen, and that bird could easily snatch her away in his terrible talons. Yet Sophie did not easily despair. Her heart pounding, she slipped off her coat and left it beneath the pine tree, then scampered from shadow to shadow until she reached the front door. She opened it as quickly and quietly as she could and nearly slammed it shut once she was inside.
Sophie’s paws were shaking. She collapsed to the kitchen floor and lay there awhile, feeling the soothing coolness of the tile against her cheek. The clock on the wall told her that it was nearly three in the morning. Her limbs felt suddenly heavy. She thought briefly of slipping back into bed before anyone noticed she was gone, but a moment later she was asleep.
