You're never more than 200 metres from a rat or whatever it is. And yet the tube is the only time I'm ever aware of them. I don't really get what they live on in the tube. There's plenty of stuff to feast on left on trains but probably not on platforms yet when they think nobody is looming they scurry up. One got very close but when it realised I'd spied him it backed off. It nestled against the blue and yellow generator at the back of the platform. And then with it's back to wall it sussed out what was going on. Eventually it realised I wasn't going anywhere so it retreated further.
I wonder how far they travel. At liverpool street when I stand at my spot by the first video projector so as to get the quick exit you need onto to the Northern line, there's always a rat on the tracks. Sometimes two.
I presume they're the same ones and that they don't stray far from where they are. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe rats travel the lines, commuting from Liverpool street to chancery lane. Or migrating all the way to Shepherd's bush over weeks. It's just there are so many and by the projector is such a good spot someone is always picking it up.
Is the rats of the underground a good kids story. I loved the rats of nimh as a kid. I think rats can be likeable. And these rats are small and likeable really. And there are plenty of perils for
Them to deal with.
So where should they be from
London Bridge
Elephant and Castle
Lambeth North
Angel
Mornington Crescent
Borough
Bethnal Green
Warren Street
Euston Square
Pimlico
I think they're mice, actually. And I think the tube network is like a coming of age for cocky young mice - their families are all in Epping and Uxbridge and Croydon and Richmond. They travel the lines, guided by Angel mice who are a priestly tribe of the tubes and who induct them into mousely spirituality and help them find a way in life.
ReplyDeleteSome never leave, trapped in a spiral of shame and neglect and wandering the noisy dusty tunnels in despair. These are the source of much fear and peril for the young inductees.
But most learn the dangers of life, the guidance of mouselore, and eventually find their calling and return blinking to the surface - back to the loving paws of their families.
Well the thing is that the Angel mice may be a source of spiritual comfort for those who find themselves on the Northern line but those on the circle are interested in Temple mice. That's why they had to make Bank and Monument two stations, to stop them fighting over it.
ReplyDeleteBut I do like this idea of mice from the overground bit of the London Underground going on a trip into the darkness. A cocky but good hearted young mouse from the suburbs striding out to find out what lies beneath.
He could come across the different mice of the stations. Mornington Crescent mice are always playing strategy games. Paddington mice are obsessed with Marmalade. Picadilly and Oxford have rival circuses with mice acrobats and rat tamers. Covent Garden mice are vegetarian.
But I do for some reason want to have him based at Lambeth North. I think he hops on a train and ends up at Elephant and Castle where he's chased away by the tough ghetto mice and makes friends at Lambeth North. No one really minds the Lambeth North mice. People forget about them but they show him around as they try and figure out how he got there.
Thanks Andrew, I have some new ideas.