Rats! Rats! Rats!

Rats here, rats there, rats everywhere!

In the kitchen, in the storage cupboards, in shops, in restaurants, all over the place.

People in Paris have no respite. The rat population has suddenly grown in such large numbers that Paris may soon need a Pied Piper to weed them out of the city.

The rat boom happened because of a new underground railway system. When work began on the railway system, workmen began digging the ground to make tunnels for the trains. In the process, they broke hordes of rats’ houses and drove them away from the ground.

But, they did not go very far. They just moved overground.

And raided the city.

Two of these rats even became celebrities after they were caught red-handed by a camera. The duo were biting into some snacks kept in the display window of a well known shop, Fauchon Foodstore.

Jean-Claude Crochard, the director of the foodstore, has been a very unhappy man after he saw the photo published in the newspapers. He spent the entire day getting his shop cleaned and disinfected.

While Chochard and other people in Paris get more and more unhappy over the rat menace, the rat catchers have been having a field day. But, despite all their efforts the rat boom continues. Perhaps, only a Pied Piper can rescue the city from its misery.

229 words | 2 minutes
Readability: Grade 5 (10-11 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: features
Tags: #paris, #railways

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