An anniversary dinner is interrupted by the constant appearance of rats. Desperate to give his husband a perfect day, the Protagonist takes more and more extreme action to rid the house of the vermin. In his blind rage, he doesn’t see that the rats aren’t what they seem.
Act 01 – Set Up and Call to Action
The Protagonist sits to dinner with his partner. They enjoy their meal, their anniversary meal, though neither can remember how many years it’s been. The dinner is perfect except for the appearance of a rat that Protagonist chases after and kills. After a lovely night, they go to bed.
Act 02 – Things Go Well. Initial Objective Achieved
The next morning, Protagonist makes their anniversary breakfast. It’s stunning, and Partner is over the moon. Protagonist suggests a walk, but as they reach the door, Partner remembers he has a work call and stays behind.
Protagonist enjoys the walk, using the time to plan their anniversary dinner for that night. He goes to the supermarket, not noticing the place is empty but for a few scurrying rats. At the self-service checkout, the Protagonist notices a rat on the next checkout. Disgusted, Protagonist quickly packs, pays, and leaves.
Returning home, he finds Partner in their bedroom, on a call. The Partner doesn’t notice the rat creeping up behind him. Protagonist quickly, quietly dispatches the rat. He’s sick of this now. There are rats everywhere.
Protagonist finds some rat killing powder and puts it around the house at entrances and around windows.
Act 03 – Things Start to Go Wrong as Forces of Antagonism Gather Strength
The Protagonist sits to dinner with his partner. They enjoy their meal, their anniversary meal, though neither can remember how many years it’s been. The dinner is perfect until three rats arrive through the back door, ignoring the rat repellent. Protagonist has had enough. He locks the door, grabs a knife, and swears revenge on the ‘filthy vermin’.
Three teenagers approach the house, looking for their stupid friend that went into the house earlier but hasn’t come back out. As the front door is locked, they go in through the kitchen. In the kitchen they find a rat-bitten man having dinner with a corpse. The man locks them in and swears revenge on the ‘filthy vermin’.
Act 04 – Things Go Really Badly Wrong
One tries to escape through the window but is stopped by Protagonist slashing her ankle. As she collapses to the floor, Two and Three disperse into the house. Two stumbles into the bedroom, which is dusty, covered in cobwebs, and set up for a night of passion that never came. He finds his missing friends phone on the holey carpet.
Three tries to hide in the cupboard under the stairs, but finds it full of rat traps. Rat traps and corpses.
Protagonist finds Two in his bedroom and murders him, cursing him for ruining a year of hard work and planning. Protagonist kills Two, and puts his body with the rest.
As Protagonist hunts for Three, his Partner calls for him to stop from the kitchen. He wants Protagonist to use more humane methods to dispense with the rats. Protagonist grows angrier and angrier with each failed attempt to kill Three. The chase leads them back to the kitchen. Three is trapped.
Protagonist stabs at Three. Three throws the corpse to block the blow. Protagonist stabs the corpse.
Act 05 – Crisis and Climax
The corpse crumbles to the floor. Protagonist stands still as a statue. He looks down, seeing One bleeding and crying on the floor. Three goes to her and they cower. Protagonist screams, dropping the knife.
Protagonist falls to his knees, cradling the corpse. For a brief moment, One and Three see Protagonist as he was, cradling a bleeding man that begs him to let the rats go.
Protagonist rises, unlocks the back door, and lets one rat drag the other one away. Protagonist returns to his Partner and holds him as he dies.
The next morning, Protagonist rises early to make his anniversary breakfast. As he does so, the Vermin amass outside.
Thumbnail Art Generated at NightCafe
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