Mice, mice, everywhere!

There was a house down by the lane, which was kept closed for a very long time. Finally a new owner moved in with all her belongings. She was known as Mrs. Pinto.

Now, Mrs. Pinto was a person who loved to eat. She always munched on something. So the kitchen was stacked with various food items and sweets.

During the time that Mrs. Pinto’s house was kept closed, it became a shelter to all the neigbourhood mice. They ran and played all over the house. But once she moved in, they all crept into the kitchen and stayed hidden in the holes in the walls and ceiling.

When night fell, all the mice would come out and scurry about in Mrs. Pinto’s kitchen. With the packets of sweet food in the cupboards and the fruits and vegetables on the racks, it was like a carnival for the mice. “Look at all this food!” squeaked and danced the mice, as soon as Mrs. Pinto switched off the lights and went to sleep.

“Listen everyone!” shouted the oldest and wisest mouse in the group. “Don’t take bites from the food, because then she’ll know that we are here! Take the entire thing to your nests without leaving behind any half eaten food. That way she’ll be confused about the missing food, but she won’t know that it’s us!” All the mice agreed to this, so they took bananas, biscuits, entire bread slices and other food items to their homes.

The next morning Mrs. Pinto came to her kitchen wanting, to eat the ripe banana that was there. But the banana was missing. “What happened to the banana? I am sure that it was here!” She searched all over the kitchen, but VKH FRXOGQ·W ÀQG LW 0UV 3LQWR ZDV VR confused that her face turned red. She scratched her head and walked out confused.

That night the mice came out again, as soon as the house turned dark. They ran around, enjoying the food and carrying them to their tiny homes. “Oh look at this!” shouted a tiny mouse hugging a packet of biscuits. “If you want biscuits, take the whole packet!” shouted back the old mouse. “Don’t leave half bitten biscuits behind, because when the lady sees your teeth-marks, she will know!”

So the little mouse pulled the packet, trying to drag it home. But it was too heavy. Finally he gave up and dropped it. The biscuit packet fell to the ground making noise and woke up Mrs. Pinto. The mice ran and hid when they heard her footsteps.

Mrs. Pinto turned the light on. She saw the biscuit packet on the ground, away from the cupboard where it was kept.

Mrs. Pinto picked up the packet and observed it. There was nothing suspicious. “Ooh...” shivered Mrs. Pinto. “There must be a ghost!” She was too scared to move. So she ran back to her room and sat on her bed, listening carefully. She could hear things being pulled and dropped in her kitchen.

Mrs. Pinto covered herself from head to toe with her sheet and shivered like a leaf. “This house is haunted!” she muttered. That’s when she heard a loud squeak. Not just one but a few more. “That is not the sound of a ghost,” said Mrs. Pinto and slowly tiptoed back into the kitchen.

The mice were having a jolly good time in Mrs. Pinto’s kitchen. They were enjoying the food and doing their food shopping from her cupboards. They didn’t know that Mrs. Pinto was back. So they continued with their merriment. But when she switched on the light, Mrs. Pinto and the mice all froze in shock.

6HHLQJ WKH EURZQ ÁXII\ FUHDWXUHV Mrs. Pinto screamed in horror, “Eek, mice!” and got on top of a chair. “Eek, a human!” squeaked the mice and ran this way and that way, making Mrs. Pinto scream some more. “Mice, mice, everywhere! This house is infested with mice!” All the mice ran into the holes and hid, except for the oldest mouse.

“I’ll catch all of you and destroy you!” screamed Mrs. Pinto waving her hands like mad. “Please don’t harm us,” said the old mouse. “We too feel pain like you humans do!”

“What do I care!” shouted Mrs. Pinto stomping her feet on the chair in anger.

The chair couldn’t support her weight and it broke, dropping Mrs. Pinto to the ground. Mrs. Pinto howled in pain.

“Are you hurt?” ask the old mouse. “Of course I am, I just fell didn’t I?” yelled Mrs. Pinto. “I wish I could help you but I am too small to do anything...” said the mouse.

Mrs. Pinto thought for awhile, “but I just said I’ll destroy you all. So why do you still want to help me?”

“That’s how we animals are,” replied the mouse. “We have no hate in our hearts. If we attack you, that’s only to defend ourselves. We don’t hurt others for no reason, like humans do.”

“But you eat my food!” accused Mrs. Pinto. “That’s because we don’t have the ability to understand right and wrong. But you humans have that ability. So why don’t you use it and not harm others?”

Mrs. Pinto sighed. “But I can’t have mice in my kitchen. My food gets destroyed and mice can spread diseases! So I’ll give you time to leave my kitchen.”

“Okay we will leave this place.

But promise us that you will use your ability as a human to judge right from wrong and not harm any other person or animal, in the future!”

“Okay I promise,” said Mrs. Pinto, “I will trap any animal that causes trouble and release them to a place away from houses. I won’t harm them!”

“Great!” said the mouse. “We will leave tomorrow. Thank you for showing kindness to us animals, who are disliked by many. We too have to live somewhere on earth you know!”