From his perch atop a still fan blade Henry the shrew could barely make out his objective. The enticing morsel was covered in aeons of dust, unfazed by time or the elements. Lying unclaimed by any who had come before it would today find itself a new home. The descent was certainly treacherous and not for the meek or unskilled. But Henry had prepared for this. First was the cooler tubes leading up into the fan. He straddled the tube closest to him and leaned forward, gripping loosely and allowed gravity to take its course. Having slid down to the CPU cooler he eyed the next obstacle. Two ram sticks would provide his avenue of descent.
If the timing or power behind the leap was poorly judged it could spell Henry’s quick demise. With a sharp breath and a quick run-up he leapt the gap and rolled mid-air, unfolding into a dive between the 2 sticks and stuck out his back and feet to slow the descent. Henry then released neatly at the end of both sticks to make a graceful landing on the plateau that was the rear side of the graphics card. Now was the moment of truth. A power cable bent gently down from the side of the great slab towards the little treat. Stepping gingerly onto the line to test its endurance he side-eyed his trajectory and once satisfied hopped into a little somersault off the side. As he did so he threw his skinny tail over the cable and grabbed the tip, gliding down just short of the power unit and releasing into a neat tumble.
He had done it! The bottom of the case! Two quick bounds closed the distance on his quarry. Henry sat back on his furry rump and stuffed the chunky crumb into his mouth, careful not to waste so much as a speck as he relished his well earned prize. Suddenly, a rumbling sensation he felt shiver up his tail, gaining in momentum and power moment by moment. Henry scampered beneath the great slab as far back as he could whilst the towering machine surrounding him hummed to life. Henry squeezed his eyes shut and flattened his ears tightly against his little head as a cadenza of rainbow colours exploded to life, the whirling blades on the machine’s side screaming into existence a sandstorm of glowing dust motes. Henry shook with terror at the influx of light and sound, cowering in his corner.
This was not the time for fear though! Fear may have kept the tiny shrew alive this long, but it had never stopped him from living. Little fists scrunched into balls, ears pricked up and eyes snapped open he allowed the sensory load to wash over him. Having adjusted both hearing and sight to the brightly altered cacophony, he settled on a plan. The spinning fans above were his best hope of escape, as a previous failure had taught him the danger of the power unit at the case’s rear. But how to stop the whirling death wheel? As Henry studied the whirlwind exits through the fluorescent haze they created he noticed a thin white wire leading from the fan to the motherboard spread against the side wall. There was his answer. Now came time for some shrewd parkour.
Henry scurried atop the water tank on the case’s bottom. Jumping onto the tubes leading upward, the agile shrew let adrenaline push him forward as he scampered upward onto the cooling unit above. Taking quick aim and an even quicker breath he bounded off the side towards the skinny wire. As Henry grabbed it the wire shifted under his weight, popping loose from the motherboard and sending him swinging towards the waiting fan as it came to a sudden halt. Bringing his weight to bear at the wires end he swung it upwards and released, grasping one of the now still fan blades as his improvised rope fell loose below him. Letting free the gasp of air that the exhilaration had trapped in his small lungs the shrew lowered himself down step by step using the apertures studded along the case’s rear. Scampering to safety as upon reaching the bottom, Henry would survive to venture forth another dawn.
Strange Wanderings 