1Kerätä perched atop the sill and gazed in awed silence at the machine before him, his small black eyes gleaming with endless love and reverence. The rat could feel his heart beginning to thrash furiously in his ribs, his breath stopped short.
So, this was the great creature that Fiat spoke of. This was a "car". It seemed too small; too humble a word for the thing that he faced now.
The rat frowned in thought. Perhaps that was just the name of the general species, for all large rolling things. Each of them must have a specific name, the same as any creature. Otherwise, how could they be told apart and addressed? According to Fiat, who was cleverly schooled in the matters of the two-leggeds, told him once, seasons ago that this beauty that stood before him now was knows as Mercedes.
"Mercedes," the rat breathed.
Even the name breathed beauty. A majestic title to suit a majestic creature. Kerätä scurried down the sill to have a better look at the car, positive that sitting atop the great ebon Mercedes' front bumper, his own black pelt wouldn't be seen. After all, who would notice a lowly, small rat when they had this splendor to admire?
The thing stood at a thousand times his size, upon four massive, swollen black paws whose smell reminded Kerätä of the bands used to bind newspapers. There had been rumors among the rats of how those paws had crushed bodies of their enemies on the many rivers of black tar, as easily done as one chewed through wire. Not very hard to imagine- this creature could probably mow down even the two-legged giants with ease, if it had to.
It seemed rather unlikely the car would do that, though. After all, it was common knowledge that the two-legged ones served the cars, the way they fussed over them so, constantly feeding and grooming them, this car especially, making doubly sure nary a speck of mud should bring disgrace to its shining glory. And oh, how it did shine. In the afternoon sun Mercedes' ebony pelt proudly gleamed brighter than all the sparkling treasures in Kerätä's entire hoard, possibly brighter than all the sparkling trinkets in the world, visible from the heavens and beyond. A beacon of perfection and magnificence. The rat put his nose against the glass and inhaled; it even smelled flawless.
Suddenly, the beast sprang to life, snarling at the rat with an almighty voice that froze his blood and liquefied his bones, the great vibrations shaking the core of his soul. Kerätä squeaked in terror and dove to the pavement, face hidden in his tail, awaiting the mighty beast bring its wrath down upon his frail and tiny body. He should have predicted such a fate, for what right did he have to even gaze upon a being such as this?
Then, a miracle. Mercedes did not bring its almighty wrath down upon the cowering rat, nor did it make any more to harm him in any way. The snarling lowered to a growl, soft and low, almost like the purr of a cat. Warm breath ran though Kerätä's fur, gentle as a mother's tongue. The little black rat opened his eyes to meet the light Mercedes' own.
The car roared again, but this time Kerätä was not afraid. The beast would not harm him. He knew this now. However, he felt that Mercedes patience had worn thin, and quickly decided that it was best if he made his way back to the Nest. The beast sounded hungry, and while Kerätä was not sure what cars ate, he had no desire to find out.
Running back along the sill, a grin spread across his face. Pride and purpose sang in his soul, for he, Kerätä, was the only rat to ever actually come face to face with a car, with a mighty creature revered by twolegs and feared by everyone else.
He had seen the face of Mercedes, and he had live to tell the tale. Surely, in the blining gaze of it's illuminated eyes he had been blessed.