I race along the top of the wall, searching for anything that I might be able to use as a weapon. As I go, I wrack my brains, trying to think of a way to defeat them. It’s when I see one of the rats nip the other that I get a brilliant idea. In the last fight, I used the obstacle against the opponent. What about if in this fight, I pit the opponents against one another?

I notice ahead a place where the walls move in and out, forming a block like a prison cell. I know then what I have to do.

“HEY!” I shout at the stinking creatures, trying to get their attention. “I’M UP HERE!”

All three of them turn their disgusting faces up to me, twitching their crusty noses. Revolted by the sight of them, I start to run. My feet slap against the hard wall. The rats are right behind me, chasing so fast, getting so close. I have to time this perfectly or it won’t come off at all.

I take a running leap just as one of the walls is starting to rise and manage to grip it by my fingertips. I hang there, dangling helplessly as it continues its slow rise. I try to heave myself up but I can’t quite get purchase on the wall. Gritting my teeth, I begin to scrabble and kick, searching for a nick in the wall where I can get my footing. The rats are racing toward me; I can hear them, smell them, can feel the crowd on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Finally, I get my foot onto a rough part of the wall and start to scramble, heaving with all my might. Then, in the nick of time, I’m crouching on the top of the wall.

The rats congregate beneath me, snarling, snapping their teeth. I stand there, trying to catch my breath. I need to time this perfectly.

I turn on top of the wall and watch the one opposite as it begins to lower. Then I jump, right into the enclosed space. It’s a complete dead end. The audience has no idea what I’m doing and must think I’ve chosen suicide, because they all gasp in unison.