The day was a stormy one. Without windows, the Borrower colony wouldn’t have been able to tell except for the faint thunder muffled by the walls and the flickering of lights in their own homes. Thankfully, Borrowers were often overprepared for emergencies, so other forms of light kept their homes bright and warm.

Hero knew there wasn’t much he could do for the humans when it came to the flickering lights, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to check on his friends and the other people in the building. His siblings were all working on various tasks, particularly preparing for winter even though it was months away.

His oldest siblings, Atlas and Cali, were currently working with some thick yarn to make new comforters for themselves and any new family who may be moving into the apartment. His father, Casper, was taking stock of their supplies and planning what to use before it spoiled while his mother, Prim, went out borrowing with Tiron, Hero’s next oldest brother. Winnie, the youngest, simply sat on the arm crocheted comforter Atlas and Cali were working on.

Hero helped his father for a few hours before being dismissed to clean his room. Thankfully, the young Borrower had already gone through and tidied up the night before. He even double checked his lines and hooks, wanting to avoid another accident like what happened when he was with Sam. Admittedly, things could have been a lot worse and, if Hero was being honest with himself, the experience was a scary one, but not something he would turn down. Sam had been so gentle and careful – not only with him but with keeping his secret.

Still, Hero wanted to at least pretend he was following the Borrower rules and try to keep to the shadows during his hero work. Heroes didn’t need praise for their work after all. After slipping on his borrowing pack and checked his equipment, Hero set out. He had almost made it to the door when he heard his father call out for him.

“Hero? Where are you off to?” Hero felt his heart leap into his throat. His family hadn’t questioned his comings and goings before, and he didn’t want to lie to his father of all things. He turned around, now seeing his siblings were also paying attention to the young Borrower’s answer and thought up a genuine answer as fast as his mind could concoct.

“I was going to get some more batteries for my side light and some of the other lights in the house. Mine are running low and mom said something about grabbing some while she was out with Tiron,” replied Hero. While this answer seemed to appease the family, there was an added second where they watched his reaction. Were they suspicious of him? Had they noticed something odd? Couldn’t be! At least, Hero thought he was being careful around his family.

“Well, be careful; and try to avoid the fifth floor. There’s a human woman who has some… interesting habits. Your mother and I went to check it out. I don’t think it’s anything dangerous, but it’s suspicious,” said Casper. Hero nodded and smiled thoughtfully.

“Yes sir,” he chirped before spinning on his heel and heading out into the walls.

The fifth floor? A strange woman? Why? What makes her strange? There are some pretty weird humans out there; but, then again, couldn’t the same be said about us? We do live in the walls after all. Hero shook his head as he focused on the task at hand. Don’t think about that now. If dad and mom are concerned about it, then I definitely should be – at least for now. Let’s see what’s higher up on the floors. I remember seeing batteries on one of the human’s desks. I wonder if they’re still there.

Rather than turning left or right, Hero ventured straight to the lines that ran up and down the majority of the walls that towered above him. He was just about there when he heard another muffled clap of thunder. Human footsteps were loud more often than not, but thunder sounded like an immense giant slamming into the ground. The thought of a sentient creature larger than a human stomping about and making such a ruckus made him shiver, but he couldn’t think about that now. Now, the young hero had to climb the line and needed to focus.

Hand over hand, foot hold after foot hold, he scaled up one floor, then the next after a break and then one after that. Winded, he paused at the top and waited for his heart to stop pounding so hard before walking back through the halls and floor joists. There were only a few families who lived on this floor, and they often kept to themselves, so Hero didn’t see anyone while he walked along.

The light at his side flickered and dimmed. The bright-eyed Borrower had made the excuse of needing batteries to go out, but he didn’t realize that his side lamp was so close to dimming. He quickened his pace to the apartment entrance, a floorboard knot that acted as a trap door, and ascended the ladder. The sounds of thunder and the natural sounds of the apartment seemed to be the only things Hero could hear. He held his breath and opened the trap knot and listened again. Again, only the natural sounds of the apartment.

Most likely, the human wasn’t home, which was a good sign. Hero lifted himself up, noticing he was under some sort of bookcase and that the desk had moved from the corner of the room to a space by the window and the couch. All of the lights were off and the only additional source of luminance were the candles on the desk and tables.

Is the power out? No, couldn’t be. The refrigerator is still humming. Just for fun? Hard to imagine a human sitting in the dark just for fun. Hero crept out of the shadows, turning his side lamp off, and hurried along the edge of the wall, then dashed to the coffee table and the couch before pausing to prepare his hook.

As he checked his hook and line, he noticed something by the edge of the desk. It was a bag, like a backpack. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen a backpack before. In fact, Hero preferred them over side satchels any day because they were easier to run with. What caught the Borrower’s eye about the backpack were the patches and buttons on it. They weren’t just any buttons. These looked like massive clothing buttons just about as tall as Hero, and something was odd about the patches.

Hero checked his surroundings, keeping his senses open, and walked up to the backpack. He was right. There was something odd about the patches – they were fake. The backpack itself didn’t appear to have any holes in it and the buttons themselves looked handmade. It almost looked like his own backpack, except the patches on Hero’s bag were because he actually needed them. With an odd look to the bag, he headed off to the desk.

Why would a human have this? wondered Hero as he made his way around to one of the desk legs and began swinging his hook. Once. Twice. Thrice. Zing! The hook flew from his hand, carrying the line with it. It clattered against the edge of the table and slid off. Hero had to run to catch the hook so it didn’t clatter as it hit the ground. Try again. He encouraged himself silently. He began swinging his hook again. Once. Twice. Thrice. Zing! This time, the hook barely caught the edge of the wooden table. Hero tried his weight on it a few times before ascending the line.

Every time he glanced down to make sure he had the right footing, his keen, bright green eyes caught sight of the backpack and he wasn’t sure why. It was almost unsettling how similar it looked to a borrowing bag. Hero’s fingers finally found the edge of the table and, arms and legs shaking slightly, he rolled up on top of the desk and crouched, finding the nearest thing he could hide behind which was a cup of pencils and brushes.

The little Borrower had just made it to his hiding place when a streak of lightening burst through the sky so bright it cast his shadow. The blinding light was followed by an explosion of sound so loud Hero had to cover his ears. Perhaps I should’ve waited to come out. I hope Sam and Maggie are okay. Do they get scared of storms too?

Hero knew he needed to go check on them, but the batteries came first. He checked one more time before stepping out onto the open in search of the batteries. This was the first time Hero had a clear view of the desk. There was a closed computer (Sam explained how they worked) off to the side as well as a couple of other strange rectangular boxes with buttons on them. Hero recognized the triangle play button, but wasn’t sure what the red dot meant. There was the cup of pencils and brushes he was hiding behind, but beyond that was some sort of small drawers with erasers, paints, and other supplies.

In the center of the desk was a book with drawings on it, but Hero was more interested in the small drawers – particularly in the top drawer which looked like it had what he was looking for. Now, he just needed to get into it.

First things first, he decided to climb up onto the drawers. He couldn’t pry it open and get into it if he couldn’t reach. With a quick roll of his shoulders, Hero grasped the plastic edges and, like a ladder, climbed up the side until he reached the top. The sandy brown-haired boy had just leaned over the edge and began pulling at the drawer when the drawing in the sketchbook caught his eye. The black and white pencil sketch took him by such surprise that he had to stand and tilt his head around to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

The sketch was of a person, which wasn’t the alarming part. The alarming part was the improvised pin sword at their side and the patchwork clothing they wore. The alarming part was the stitched bag and the fact the figure looked like there was a hook and string in their hands.

The sketch was that of a Borrower.

Hero felt a surge of energy course through his body, ears ringing and feeling slightly light-headed. This person had drawn a Borrower, and accurately if Hero was honest. The Borrower boy abandoned his quest to retrieve the batteries from the top drawer and climbed back down hurriedly to get a better view of the sketch.

The drawing was shaded, though the eyes still looked a little cartoonish, but the other fine details matched piece for piece. There were a few elements that seemed a little odd to him though, such as the furry ears and mouse-like tails, but who was Hero to question what a human thought they saw. Hero tried to recall if the Borrower looked like anyone he knew and, thankfully, the answer was no. Still, what would inspire a human to draw something like this? Did this person know about Borrowers? Had they been talking to someone? Were there other drawings?

Curiosity overtook the Borrower’s mind as he walked to the edge of the page and lifted, being careful to not bend or tare the paper. Sure enough, there were other sketches. There was a variation of elements such as clothing style, age, and gender. All of them had furry ears and tails, sometimes furry feet too. The scenes were different too. In some of the pictures, the Borrowers were with a human, being held or carried or simply just talking.

Hero had nearly lost himself in the artwork when he heard a door open and close. The Borrower nearly jumped out of his skin as he scrambled out from between the sketchbook pages and made a mad dash for the pencil cup. Just because they’re drawing Borrowers doesn’t mean they won’t try to keep me. Maybe that’s how they learned how to draw us. Oh no. What if they try and keep me?

Hero hoped that he wasn’t noticed but had scrambled out of sight in such a hurry that he didn’t push the sketchbook pages back to the original picture. He covered his nose and mouth to stifle his heavy breathing when he heard something thud against the ground and a curious hum. The footsteps approached, faltering before arriving fully at the desk.

“What the…” The sounds of that soft exclamation from what sounded like a boy made Hero’s heart skip a beat. There were a few more footsteps which ominously paired with another bolt of lightening and a crack of thunder. Hero didn’t need to see the human to know he was to Hero’s left.

It suddenly hit him. Hero had left his hook and line at the edge of the table, and a quick glance to his left confirmed that the boy had found his line as he saw a hand letting the thread run across his palm. There were sounds of shuffling and pages turning.

Then, out of nowhere, the boy started talking in a low, soft voice. “Hello. Um… I don’t know if you’re here or not, but I hope you know I’m not going to hurt you. That’s probably not much consolation, but… well… I don’t know… saying out loud sometimes helps.” Hero leaned against the pencil jar, working up the courage to try and say something – anything.

“I’m Watney,” said the boy as the sound of footsteps retreated from the desk. “Do you have a name? Ug… silly me. Of course you probably have a name. Idiot.” The last part of the sentence seemed to be directed at himself.

Hero wondered what he was supposed to say. What could he say? Should he say anything? He didn’t have time as Watney continued talking.

“Um… do you like the drawings? I’m… assuming you did. Or did they bother you. I’m sorry if that’s the case,” said Watney. Hero finally managed to get his breathing under control and his thoughts in order.

If this Watney guy knows about Borrowers, then he should have an idea about the rules and be willing to answer some questions about how he knows about us. If that’s the case, he won’t want to keep me. I have to find out how he knows about us. If he’s telling other people, then we’re in trouble – danger even. I need to make sure he’s not telling anyone. It’ll be okay. He didn’t take my line and I have my things. I can do this.

Watney sighed and sounded like he was heading for the kitchen when Hero peered around the jar and stepped out. The subtle motion instantly caught the boy’s eyes. To Hero, the boy looked to be around his oldest brother’s age if not a little older. He had auburn hair and pale blue eyes that, in an instant, seemed to absorb Hero’s entire frame.

“Woah…” The exhalation of Watney took on the single word, sending an instinctual shiver down Hero’s spine. Still, Hero forced himself to smile, remembering that he may not be helping a human – but he was helping his whole race of people.

“Hello,” greeted Hero, admittedly sounding more bashful than he wanted. He cleared his throat and straightened up before continuing. “It’s nice to meet you Watney. My name is Hero.”