School was over and summer vacation had arrived. When Tori got home, she realized she missed home, but she had been feeling unwell ever since her pet rat, Vick, arrived. He wouldn't come out of his cage and wouldn't go into the small spaces in his room like he used to.

When Tori shared this with her family, they took Vick to the Magic Zoo, where the wizard working there told her she was getting old and gave her rat tonic. But this tonic was of little use because Vick was now having difficulty eating and the little mouse was starting to lose weight.

One evening after dinner, Victoria came back to her room with a small container of rat tonic she had prepared for Vick. She tried to sound cheerful. Animals thought that humans could understand their emotions from their voices.

"Vick, I'm back. I brought you your favorite foods."

When Victoria went into her room, she saw that the cage was open and her mouse was gone. At first, she thought it was somewhere in the room, but considering Vick's condition, she realized that was impossible. Looking around her room, she saw that Vick was gone. When she saw the open window, a single thought came to her mind.