Nathan stirred from his pleasant dreams in a warm, furry cocoon of female mouse bodies. He was dreaming of the discovery of an enormous wheel of cheese. His tiny mouse form had climbed onto the great cheese as he reared on his hind legs to proclaim himself the mouse king.
A scuffle had broken out nearby between two of the female mice. The confinement and lack of personal space made for testy relations from time to time. Nathan opened one eye, not terribly interested in the bickering females... until he saw that their fight was leading them toward the ruler propped against the side of the cage.
He tried to leap to the defense of the crucial makeshift ladder, but the slumbering female mice around him impeded his progress.
"No!" Nathan squeaked when he saw the two fighting females blunder against the upright ruler. The 12-inch-long slab of wood began to tilt. Before he could reach the toppling ruler, his only means of escape from the cage crashed down into the wood shavings covering the floor of the cage.
Nathan felt his stomach lurch as he realized he was now as hopelessly trapped as the female mice surrounding him. The commotion has aroused some of the females, who were still pleased to find a male in their midst. One of them brushed her fur against Nathan, presenting herself. Although his little mouse cock reacted to her, he tried to keep focused. He needed to get out of the cage and back to the Chronivac. He didn't want to stay a mouse one moment longer.
But now that he was ready to end the transformation, he no longer had the freedom to do so.