An interview with Ulprec from the amazing children’s book The Anteater King!
Join Ulprec, a mouse, and Sombra, a fierce feline, as they embark on an epic journey. They flee from their home in South America to escape 'The Burning', a malevolent force determined to destroy everything in its path.
These two brave companions must navigate the treacherous jungle and overcome countless obstacles to save their world from certain doom.
You want to take advantage of this thrilling adventure of courage, determination, and friendship.
Join them on their harrowing quest as they fight for their survival and the
future of their beloved home.
Welcome to the protagonist interview for Book Buddies!
What is your
full name?
Ulprec.
What is your background? What makes Ulprec you?
I’m… not sure what makes me me;
perhaps my tail, my ears? Hmmm… I live with my friend Sombra, a large
female tuxedo cat, with her human caretaker Celia, an only child like me, and her
parents. I am VERY talkative, as you’ll probably notice. Sombra does not talk
at all, and I never mind having a lengthy, one-sided conversation.
It sounds like you could be a talkative mouse. Do you talk yourself into or out of danger?
I like to think I have a nose for staying out of unnecessary trouble. I may not be much, but I would do anything for the ones who show me love and compassion.
Where do you live?
A small village
in South America, which is being destroyed by an unknown, malevolent force
called La Quema.
What is La Quema? It sounds really scary. Should I be scared?
It is hard to explain. It is a big fire that
has a mind. The fires start from nowhere, and out of these fires come men, or
creatures that imitate the forms of men, that are made out of total darkness.
I was right. I should be scared! If you looked in a mirror, would you like what you saw?
I’m not sure what
a mirror is, sorry. I guess it would depend on what was in it. If this ‘mirror’
were full of cheese and berries, I would like seeing that. Celia gives me these
little berries that turn my little fingers purple. This is sort of making me
hungry.
What are your
likes/dislikes?
LIKES: I was
going to say something else, but now I’m thinking about cheese and berries, so
we’ll just begin with that. Other than that, passing the days aimlessly with
six-year-old Celia and the elegant Sombra.
DISLIKES: Snakes
and birds are bad news. Being alone is no fun. But most of all, I don’t like to
see others in pain.
What would be your biggest wish/desire?
For things to
return to the way they were in a time before La Quema’s fiery, unforgiving
wrath. Life was perfect.
Who are your parents? Are they still alive?
There are no
other of my kind in my life. I don’t remember my parents, nor if I had any
siblings. I have no mate and no offspring of my own. I don’t know how I came to
live with the human Celia and her parents in their modest home. The feelings of
aloneness are what make me cling so devotedly to the few creatures I am lucky
enough to have in my life, and those I am destined to meet along the way.
What would you
change about yourself if you could wave a magic wand?
I wish I was
brave, beautiful, and able to handle myself in a fight like my dearest friend
Sombra. She is literally perfect; so soft and pretty, so sure of herself, so
fast and strong, she fears nothing.
What do you think about the current news in your area?
It is beyond
horrible. Large fires are burning the jungle and entire villages. I’m afraid my
village will be next. Everyone and everything is suffering. No one knows why
all of this is happening, and it is terrifying.
How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings?
Overly honest,
and totally unafraid to let others know what I am feeling and thinking. If
talking was a superpower, I would be the mightiest hero in the whole world!
Who is the person you despise the most?
I don’t hate anyone. I only know one person,
and that’s Celia. She is wonderful to me.
Not even her parents?
I am familiar with the sight of her parents,
and I don't think they'd be too
happy if they saw me scurrying around their house, but I don’t hate
them. As I said, I don’t hate anyone.
Can you save Celia from La Quema?
I wish I could save her, but I am so very small.
If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.
First, I’d let the ones I care about know how much I love them. Second, snuggle in Sombra’s soft, black fur one last time. Third, eat my last meal out of little Celia’s hand.
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An excerpt from The Anteater King
Ulprec was familiarly accustomed to the one-sidedness of his relationship with his large feline friend, which made those ‘once in a blue moon’ morsels of her attention so welcome and captivating.
As Ulprec lay upon his back, drawing and releasing exhausted breaths, his tiny eyes retracted from the pains in his delicate limbs, Sombra calmly approached and began licking the mouse’s injuries.
After a few
dozen lathers of warm feline saliva, Ulprec felt the dull ache in his feet melt
away somehow: like a mother’s kiss upon the injury of her distressed child.
Pain departed and comfort ensued in the mouse as he lay there upon the jungle
floor.
Sombra stood tall again, circled a few steps around to the opposite side of her companion and proceeded to curl her soft body around him. There had never been a hole in the wall, nor a nook close to the roof of his old home whose warmth could compare to that of the dark fur and flesh over the oversized tuxedo cat. Its coziness and security were that of a mother’s womb.
As helpless and exhausted as he was, Ulprec felt as though nothing could hurt him as he rested. Not the jungle, nor its inhabitants, not the fires of La Quema itself… nothing.
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