Intro
Its dark. So dark not a single photon of light will penetrate your world for the duration of your lifetime. You will not lay eyes on...anything. For without light, and without true eyes, there is nothing for you to see. Your teeth are full of dirt, as they should be. You are built to dig, miles and miles of tunnels and chambers underground. You are a member of the only animal species whose social structure resembles that of honey bees - with workers, drones, and even a queen. Your queen lives deep within the dark recesses of the colony in the nuptial chamber, where she, fat and white, extrudes naked more rat after naked mole rat. Ever excavating, you look for food- tubers- the starchy roots of vegetation soaking in the African sun above. One tuber can feed your whole colony for months. But for the last several months, neither you nor your coworker naked mole rats have found any tubers and the group is hungry. You have been eating your own excrement for several days now, recycling it through your gut so many times that it is practically sterile ash.
Day 458
Digging continues. We haven't had a tuber in more than 92 days. The colony is lethargic, conserving resources. Other than digging, the workers sit still, falling into and out of torpidity. I had a strange dream today as I rested, my metabolism grinding to a peaceful, frozen pace. I was in a large cavern. There were mole rats everywhere, gathered around a large banquet table. On the table were candelabras, crimson cut glass wine goblets, china dishes and fine, ornate silverware. Giant platters of tubers of a strange variety I have never seen before were being served. The mole rats were gorging. They were growing fatter and fatter. So fat that their bulk started pressing against the walls of the cavern. Then, with a deafening crack, the cavern split, and light from the surface came pouring in. The mole rats squinted their vestigial eyes. The yellow light burned them. Slowly, they realized that they could see each other. Then I woke up.
Day 461
Last night, the colony voted to begin digging in a new direction. Its a direction we've never gone in before, in fact, we have a voided digging that way, but since we haven't found food in so long, things are getting desperate. We're going to start digging towards the west, where there is a good possibility that there could be another naked mole rat colony. If we come into contact with the western mole rats, war is assured. We haven't warred in many years - since long before I was even a pup, I am told. I'm afraid of war, but the colony is starving. Two mole rats died in the last few days, and our colony is down to just fifty of us. I helped take the corpses to the burial chamber. We pushed the bodies to the back wall, and then packed dirt against them. Untold numbers of dead mole rats are rotting behind those walls. They even contain the bones of my parents, but I try not to dwell on that. I'm feeling weak and vulnerable, emotionally. I'm trying to keep it together, but things are grim.
Day 463
I was in the toilet chamber today rolling around in the colony urine and feces to reapply the group scent. While there, I overheard several mole rats discussing the likelihood of finding fresh tubers towards the west. They seem to think the queen is crazy for initiating this change in digging direction, and that she may be ovulating or perhaps carrying an especially large litter. I don't know. All I know is that I'm hungry enough to risk possible warfare if it means finding some food. I cannot cope with having to eat my own shit anymore. There's nothing digestible left, and unfortunately, I'm a picky eater and refuse to eat anything but my own brand. We will be coming very close to the western colony tomorrow. I've bargained for a position as sweeper towards the rear, so I won't see any actual digging tomorrow. Thank God, my ulcers couldn't take that kind of stress.
Day 464
The colony was fraught with fear today. We were so close to the western group that we could hear them talking. The queen ordered a stop in working so she could maneuver her distended body to the front of the new tunnel and try to make out what they were saying. Since I was nowhere near the front of the tunnel, I can only write down what I heard from others, which is that the western colony is flush with tubers, and that their queen's harem of males are fat and lazy and barely even bother to feign interest in their queen, but she can't get rid of them because they are her first cousins and something about inheritance. I couldn't really tell. Our queen's males are robust and attentive, as they should be. I'm glad I'm not in the western mole rat colony.
Day 645
The inevitable has happened. We are at war with the western colony. We were digging one of our larger exploratory tunnels when the ceiling collapsed and we broke through into one of the western mole rats' chambers. Luckily, no one was in there at the time, and we were able to plan a coordinated attack. It seemed we were in their toilet chamber, so we were able to camouflage ourselves in the enemy's scent. They never smelled us coming. Our first objective was to kill their queen. A scout and a group of ten mole rats were sent to locate her. The rest of our rats huddled near the breech, waiting to be called into action. From what I have heard, the queen was killed easily, as her harem of males fled upon realizing they were under attack. They were killed as well. It was then that the western colony mustered a weak defense, but the element of surprise is a powerful tool, and we quickly decimated their entire colony. Tomorrow we remove the corpses and enlarge our domain to include the new territory. The western rats were indeed flush with tubers. They must have hit a rich vein, for one of their larger chambers was filled to the top with food. Our rats our refreshed. The new tubers ensure our survival for many years. I am glad the war came and went quickly.
Day 650
I had another dream tonight. We were at war again, but this time I was fighting at the fore. We had breached the queen's chamber and there she lay- pushing out milky white sightless pups one after another. Except the pups were some sort of monstrous larvae. I picked one up in my jaws and crushed it with my teeth. Blood coursed down my neck. Soon, I was drowning in an underground cavern of blood. I rose closer to the ceiling, and started digging towards the surface. When I broke through, it was still dark - I believe it is what they call "night." I was able to focus my eyespots to some degree on the sky, and there hung a glowing white round tuber - of a type I have never seen before. I began digging furiously towards it. Then I woke up.
Naked mole rat
Naked mole rat
Put on some clothes
Come up to the surface
And sit in the sun.
Unearth your queen.
Extrude her exquisite body
From your darkened chambers
And let her feel the light.
