A Christmas Tale
Peter was the youngest mouse in the fifteen-member, Family Mice. They lived in a big warm house where the big people always had a pantry full of food. The big people children were always nice enough to leave table scraps on the ground and of course you know who would help to clean up. The food was never consumed on the spot but was collected and brought back home where mom could organize the collections into a most wonderful shared common meal.
The big people had also brought into the house a big cat, named Boots, who had been a threat to the Family Mice initially. But the Family Mice began to share their collected food with Boots and always left his food bowl alone. This resulted in Boots becoming even larger but also limited his interest in chasing the Family Mice anymore. Boots used to sit near the fireplace. He would pass the time contented to curl up in his “ball of cat” position, occasionally wagging his big tail. Boots paid the Family Mice little attention as long as they only focused on scavenging the dining and kitchen areas.
The cold winter had settled in and the fireplace had a roaring fire going all of the time. The Family Mice were very content to stay in the house with no interest in venturing outside. Peter was a little “hell-raiser” and took great pride on his ability to sneak up on Boots and tug on his whiskers just to see if he would get up and play chase. Well one fateful evening when Boots was all curled up in his customary ball of cat, and was particularly enjoying his cat dreams, Peter quietly snuck up, grabbed one of Boots’ long whiskers with both of his little hands and YANK! Unfortunately for Peter… Boots’ dream had morphed into one where he was being chased by the neighbor’s dog, Rufus. Having his whisker pulled came across in the dream as a Rufus nip at Boots’ hindquarters and with a sudden start, Boots jumped up, spun around and with an inadvertent whisk of his long whiskers… poor Peter was tossed into the middle of the roaring fireplace…
Peter landed on a log in the middle of the fire where he had no chance of escape. Boots at first thought Peter had received what he deserved but then felt sorry for the curmudgeon. Boots tried to reach out with a paw, but the fire was too hot. Then Boots crafted a daring pan. He would use his long claws to climb into the fireplace, upside down, and
Page 2 Mouse Tails
at the appropriate moment, lower his long tail for Peter to climb up. Well before Boots gave any thought to how risky this plan was, he put it into motion and successfully rescued Peter who rushed up his long tail and into Boots deep fur on his back. Boots told Peter to hang on tight and with a twist and a lunge they were both back on the living room floor. Later that night when Peter did not show up for the customary shared common meal, the entire Family Mice ventured out and found a most wondrous sight… there by the Christmas Tree light glow and the flickering flames from the fireplace was Boots rolled up in his customary ball of cat and in the crook of his jaw and neck was a very contented Peter sleeping with his long tail intertwined with Boots’ whiskers. The family mice teamed up and ventured into the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a nice ball of catnip. The family Mice returned and placed the gift under the nose of Boots and stood back singing a quiet chorus of Silent Night.
The End.