Glow-in-the-dark

Rattus, or simply "Rat" for short, has never been to a storybook soiree before. When she was a just a mini minikin, her mother took great care of her.

When her mother vanished one day and left her alone though… Life was a little strange from then on. She was shy and rarely spoke to others, and odd trait among minikin and though there was never a shortage of those willing to wind her up, the thought of asking a stranger made her little clock heart anxiously tick.

Despite feeling like an outsider to her brethren, she wants to take her next step: friendship, and attending the storybook soiree is a first step towards this goal.

First impressions are important, yes? Maybe if she were to craft a beautiful dress she'd meet new people. Her mother was a seamstress and taught her some of the craft, it was how she made her beloved stuffed animal (also named Rattus) but Rattus herself has never tried making a dress before.

Upon receiving the invitation she scurried back to her little home and begun her planning. Cosmic? She didn't know a lot about space, and begun fretting over her lack of knowledge. They'd all laugh at her.

She laid down on her bed, languishing in her hopelessness, when she turned her head towards the roof of her den. Emitting a soft green glow, there were glow-in-the-dark stars on her roof.

She had a collection of them, her mother had always brought them back when she could and they were Rattus' favorite. When the lights dimmed, she'd stare at them until they took dimmed but by that time she'd already be asleep.

She stretched a paw upwards towards them, reminded of the joy they brought her. Stars are part of the cosmos, she whispered lightly to herself. 

There was a brief silence as the pieces all fell together and she sat up with a renewed fervor. She would create a dress that brings her comfort and expressed herself, inspired by the night sky of her childhood.

The perks of being small is that the scraps of human fabric left behind are huge in comparison, all Rattus needed was a corner of green tablecloth to create the base.

The thing that was much harder for a minikin to aquire was a sewing machine equally as small. Luckily, Rattus' mother was a crafty critter and had made her own out of scrap after investigating the big folk one.

It was roughly made and clattered loudly every time she worked, and it was also incredibly slow. But with time, her vision of the grand glowing dress finally came into fruition—

The final product: a dress that shimmered between pink and green decorated with sparkling stars. The collar was a pale yellow and resembled a star itself. 

Her favorite part by far though, was the glow in the dark paint she used. Using her own paws, she painted her own night sky.

She sat back admiring her own work— she was proud of it. Though it wasn't the most well made dress, it was pretty, and that's all the confidence Rattus needed to attend the Soiree.