Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gun violence and the deaths of animals.

Celeste the mouse lives under the floorboards of a Louisiana plantation. She skillfully weaves fragrant blades of dried grasses into baskets “with perfect knots and minuscule braids” (11). Her living space under the plantation’s dining room is dim and musty, and she only dares to search the house for food and materials at night, so she has all but “forgotten what a sunny day was like” (13). Recently, Celeste has begun to find feathers during her nocturnal expeditions. As she finishes up a new basket, she hears a rustling sound from the tunnel connected to her nook. Two gray rats push their way into her home. Celeste has grown accustomed to living in darkness, but she doesn’t enjoy sharing the space with the rats.

The two rats are named Illianna and Trixie, and they often bully Celeste and steal food from her. Illianna scorns Celeste’s basket-weaving and asks, “Don’t you have anything better to do than this silly pastime?” (17). Trixie looks through the baskets where the mouse keeps her food. Finding only bread crusts, she bites Celeste and accuses her of hiding the good food, “the bacon scraps and the sausage bits and the biscuit pieces” (18).