Squirrel And Mouse
The search for food seemed to be particularly difficult this year. Squirrel continued his hunt as he moved throughout the wood, but there were not a lot of nuts to be found.
“Never mind,” thought Squirrel, “I must keep going. I need to have a good enough store of nuts to see me through the Winter”.
As he travelled further into the heart of the wood something caught his eye. He stared intensely up to the top of a tall tree. Shielding his eyes from the bright sun he could just make out what looked like the last leaf that was hanging precariously.
“How all alone that leaf must be,” thought Squirrel. “All its brothers and sisters have abandoned the branches and that leaf has been left behind.”
Squirrel cast his eye around at the other trees near him. It would appear that this was in fact the very last leaf on any of the trees in the whole wood. There was not another single leaf to be seen.
Then a memory stormed into Squirrels mind. Hadn’t there been a story, more a myth, about the last leaf to fall being special and if you caught that leaf before it hit the ground then special powers were bestowed to that person.
“If I run up the tree I could pluck the leaf and I would have these powers,” thought Squirrel, “and these powers could help me find all the nuts we need for all the Squirrels.”
He raced up the tree trunk as fast as he could and then danced his way along the branch until he stood face to face with the leaf. However all the bouncing on the branch had loosened the tree’s grip on the leaf and just as Squirrel leant forward to take the leaf, it fell away from the branch and started to gracefully float downwards.
“Nooo!!!” shouted Squirrel.
At that same moment Mouse was walking past the very same tree. She was very hungry and was looking around for any scraps of food that may have been lying around. The noise from high up in the tree made mouse look up. At the same time the leaf glided into her paws. Mouse stared at the leaf and was just about to throw it away when she saw Squirrel scrambling down the tree shouting something that Mouse could not hear properly. She stood still and waited to find out what all the fuss was about.
“That’s my leaf, that’s my leaf,” called out Squirrel.
Mouse inspected the leaf on both side, “don’t see your name on it,” she said.
“No what I mean is that I saw it first,” said Squirrel.
“When?” said Mouse.
“Sorry” said Squirrel.
“When did you see it first?” asked Mouse.
“About five minutes ago” said Squirrel.
“Oh, what a pity but I saw this very same leaf yesterday so that means in fact that is was me who saw it first” said Mouse. She was always prepared to make things as difficult as they could be. She was that sort of mouse.
“But it’s mine,” squealed Squirrel.
Mouse was now curious, why would Squirrel claim ownership of something as trivial as a leaf. She looked at Squirrel, he was looking very worried, there was definitely something going on.
“Why do you want this specific leaf?” asked Mouse.
“I like it’s colour and the shape,” replied Squirrel quickly
“What green and leaf shaped?” said mouse in disbelief.
“All right it looks like this is the last leaf to fall this autumn and I just took a shine to it, that’s all” said Squirrel.
Mouse looked all around her at the other trees in the wood.
“Well, well, well, you’re right.” Mouse stopped in mid conversation. “Wait a minute isn’t there something about the last leaf?”
“No, I’ve never heard anything,” said Squirrel with no conviction.
“Yes, yes,” said Mouse as the details came to her, “something about it being magical.”
“That’s just a fairy stories, you’re too sensible a mouse to believe in stuff like that. Aren’t you?” said Squirrel, desperate to stop Mouse from thinking any more.
“They say all fairy stories are based on some truth,” Mouse continued. “Let’s see if this one is truly the last leaf to fall.”
Mouse held the leaf in her paw and started to run around in a circle. She ran faster and faster until she was running so fast that the she created a mini cyclone and all the dead leaves whipped up around Squirrel.
Mouse stopped running and the leaves fell back to the ground. She was not out of breath or showed any other sign of exertion.
“Mmmh, interesting” mused Mouse.
Then Mouse decided to run head long towards a tree. Squirrel closed his eyes expecting Mouse to smack right into the tree and bang her head. Instead there was a whooshing noise and Mouse ran right through the tree, leaving a mouse shaped tunnel.
Squirrel was stunned. Mouse was delirious. She ran right to the top of the tallest tree and swan dived into the ground with a mighty smash. Mouse stood up and dusted herself. She was not hurt at all, not in the slightest.
“Wow that was fun,” she exclaimed.
Squirrel inched towards Mouse as she was busy cleaning herself and when he was close enough he tried to grab the leaf. But Mouse was far too fast for him and she skipped away.
“Ah ah ah,” she said, wagging a paw at him.
“Well let me have a go,” pleaded Squirrel.
“No way,” said Mouse “you just want it for your self.
“I don’t,” replied Squirrel, “I want to use to help me find as many nuts as possible. What are you going to do with it?” he asked.
“That’s a good question” pondered Squirrel, “I’m going to, I’m going to.” She stopped and scratched her head.
“You know, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But when I do its going to be front page news” announced Mouse.
“Well I have to continue looking for food, so I will have to wait until tomorrows paper to find out what you did,” said Squirrel and he started to walk away checking the ground for any fallen nuts.
“That’s a marvellous idea,” squeaked Mouse.
Squirrel was confused, “what’s a marvellous idea?”
“Looking for food,” said Mouse.
“You’re going to help everybody stock up their larders for the Winter?” asked Squirrel.
“Good grief no. I’m going to sneak into Farmer Matthews grain store and eat so much that I wont be hungry ever again,” said Mouse.
“You can’t break into the grain store. It’s behind an electric fence and it’s inside a metal silo. You’ll never get in,” said Squirrel.
“I will with my trusty leaf,” said Mouse and she held up the leaf triumphantly.
“But why wont you help us” asked Squirrel
“Because I have the leaf and I don’t need to worry anymore. If you want to help yourself then I suggest you go and find your own last leaf in the wood.” And with that she ran off towards the farm.
Mouse ran up to the fence, put the leaf in her mouth and then started to dig. She dug right under the fence and emerged on the other side in three seconds flat. She ran up to the metal wall and with the leaf still in her mouth she pulled the metal apart to create a small hole for her to scurry in through.
The inside of the silo was a sight to behold for a hungry mouse. She dropped the leaf and started to eat and eat and eat.
Squirrel had followed Mouse from a safe distance. He had crawled through the tunnel and made his way towards the hole in the silo. He peered through the gap and he too was amazed at the amount of grain stored. Squirrels didn’t like grain. He wished that there had been an acorn store, if such a thing existed. Then his saw Mouse. She had eaten so much grain that she was now bigger than Squirrel. She was enormous.
Suddenly there was a noise outside the silo. It was a rumble that sounded like thunder and made the earth shake as through the hole in the metal wall hundreds of mice streamed into grain store.
Mouse shrieked at them “Go away, go away, this is my food. Stop eating my food.” But the hungry mice took no notice of the balloon shaped mouse in the corner and continued to gorge themselves.
The noise of all these mice had alerted Farmer Matthews and he stormed out of his farmhouse to see what was happening. He could see the stream of mice flowing into his precious grain store and armed with his shotgun he went to investigate.
As soon as he opened the door to the silo the mice took flight and as many as could raced through the open door. Farmer Matthews quickly closed the door. “I have you trapped, you vermin” he called out to the remaining mice. However the mice just changed direction and flew through the hole in the wall. All except one mouse.
Mouse was so big that she could only waddle slowly towards the hole, but she had to keep stopping to catch her breath. Squirrel was frantically trying to push her towards to the hole. Father Matthews stared at the strange sight of a squirrel pushing a fat mouse as he loaded his shotgun.
He was so distracted that he dropped his cartridges.
“Quick Mouse through the hole” said Squirrel.
“It’s no good I’m too fat” said Mouse “I won’t fit.”
“Then use the leaf”
“Yes the leaf, where is it”
“It’s too late” they both looked up at Farmer Matthews as he took aim and CLICK. The gun had jammed.
Squirrel frantically leapt into action looking for the leaf as Mouse wobbled next to the hole.
And then he found it.
It was dry and brown and had been trampled and smashed. He handed the leaf to Mouse and it crumbled in her paw.
Squirrel looked at the bits of the leaf on the ground and then he looked at Mouse. He mouthed the words sorry and disappeared through the hole. As he stood on the other side he heard the shotgun blast ring through the silo.
Next Autumn Squirrel was scurrying through the wood, collecting nuts for Winter. He happened to glance up and noticed that only one last leaf was still attached to a tree in the whole of the wood.
Squirrel sighed and shook his head sadly, quickly returning his gaze to the close inspection of the floor for fallen nuts.
As he wandered away he didn’t see the leaf fall gently to the ground.
Copyright Pete Donald 2011
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/22407/squirrel-and-mouse to download free to Kindle / iPhone etc
“Never mind,” thought Squirrel, “I must keep going. I need to have a good enough store of nuts to see me through the Winter”.
As he travelled further into the heart of the wood something caught his eye. He stared intensely up to the top of a tall tree. Shielding his eyes from the bright sun he could just make out what looked like the last leaf that was hanging precariously.
“How all alone that leaf must be,” thought Squirrel. “All its brothers and sisters have abandoned the branches and that leaf has been left behind.”
Squirrel cast his eye around at the other trees near him. It would appear that this was in fact the very last leaf on any of the trees in the whole wood. There was not another single leaf to be seen.
Then a memory stormed into Squirrels mind. Hadn’t there been a story, more a myth, about the last leaf to fall being special and if you caught that leaf before it hit the ground then special powers were bestowed to that person.
“If I run up the tree I could pluck the leaf and I would have these powers,” thought Squirrel, “and these powers could help me find all the nuts we need for all the Squirrels.”
He raced up the tree trunk as fast as he could and then danced his way along the branch until he stood face to face with the leaf. However all the bouncing on the branch had loosened the tree’s grip on the leaf and just as Squirrel leant forward to take the leaf, it fell away from the branch and started to gracefully float downwards.
“Nooo!!!” shouted Squirrel.
At that same moment Mouse was walking past the very same tree. She was very hungry and was looking around for any scraps of food that may have been lying around. The noise from high up in the tree made mouse look up. At the same time the leaf glided into her paws. Mouse stared at the leaf and was just about to throw it away when she saw Squirrel scrambling down the tree shouting something that Mouse could not hear properly. She stood still and waited to find out what all the fuss was about.
“That’s my leaf, that’s my leaf,” called out Squirrel.
Mouse inspected the leaf on both side, “don’t see your name on it,” she said.
“No what I mean is that I saw it first,” said Squirrel.
“When?” said Mouse.
“Sorry” said Squirrel.
“When did you see it first?” asked Mouse.
“About five minutes ago” said Squirrel.
“Oh, what a pity but I saw this very same leaf yesterday so that means in fact that is was me who saw it first” said Mouse. She was always prepared to make things as difficult as they could be. She was that sort of mouse.
“But it’s mine,” squealed Squirrel.
Mouse was now curious, why would Squirrel claim ownership of something as trivial as a leaf. She looked at Squirrel, he was looking very worried, there was definitely something going on.
“Why do you want this specific leaf?” asked Mouse.
“I like it’s colour and the shape,” replied Squirrel quickly
“What green and leaf shaped?” said mouse in disbelief.
“All right it looks like this is the last leaf to fall this autumn and I just took a shine to it, that’s all” said Squirrel.
Mouse looked all around her at the other trees in the wood.
“Well, well, well, you’re right.” Mouse stopped in mid conversation. “Wait a minute isn’t there something about the last leaf?”
“No, I’ve never heard anything,” said Squirrel with no conviction.
“Yes, yes,” said Mouse as the details came to her, “something about it being magical.”
“That’s just a fairy stories, you’re too sensible a mouse to believe in stuff like that. Aren’t you?” said Squirrel, desperate to stop Mouse from thinking any more.
“They say all fairy stories are based on some truth,” Mouse continued. “Let’s see if this one is truly the last leaf to fall.”
Mouse held the leaf in her paw and started to run around in a circle. She ran faster and faster until she was running so fast that the she created a mini cyclone and all the dead leaves whipped up around Squirrel.
Mouse stopped running and the leaves fell back to the ground. She was not out of breath or showed any other sign of exertion.
“Mmmh, interesting” mused Mouse.
Then Mouse decided to run head long towards a tree. Squirrel closed his eyes expecting Mouse to smack right into the tree and bang her head. Instead there was a whooshing noise and Mouse ran right through the tree, leaving a mouse shaped tunnel.
Squirrel was stunned. Mouse was delirious. She ran right to the top of the tallest tree and swan dived into the ground with a mighty smash. Mouse stood up and dusted herself. She was not hurt at all, not in the slightest.
“Wow that was fun,” she exclaimed.
Squirrel inched towards Mouse as she was busy cleaning herself and when he was close enough he tried to grab the leaf. But Mouse was far too fast for him and she skipped away.
“Ah ah ah,” she said, wagging a paw at him.
“Well let me have a go,” pleaded Squirrel.
“No way,” said Mouse “you just want it for your self.
“I don’t,” replied Squirrel, “I want to use to help me find as many nuts as possible. What are you going to do with it?” he asked.
“That’s a good question” pondered Squirrel, “I’m going to, I’m going to.” She stopped and scratched her head.
“You know, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But when I do its going to be front page news” announced Mouse.
“Well I have to continue looking for food, so I will have to wait until tomorrows paper to find out what you did,” said Squirrel and he started to walk away checking the ground for any fallen nuts.
“That’s a marvellous idea,” squeaked Mouse.
Squirrel was confused, “what’s a marvellous idea?”
“Looking for food,” said Mouse.
“You’re going to help everybody stock up their larders for the Winter?” asked Squirrel.
“Good grief no. I’m going to sneak into Farmer Matthews grain store and eat so much that I wont be hungry ever again,” said Mouse.
“You can’t break into the grain store. It’s behind an electric fence and it’s inside a metal silo. You’ll never get in,” said Squirrel.
“I will with my trusty leaf,” said Mouse and she held up the leaf triumphantly.
“But why wont you help us” asked Squirrel
“Because I have the leaf and I don’t need to worry anymore. If you want to help yourself then I suggest you go and find your own last leaf in the wood.” And with that she ran off towards the farm.
Mouse ran up to the fence, put the leaf in her mouth and then started to dig. She dug right under the fence and emerged on the other side in three seconds flat. She ran up to the metal wall and with the leaf still in her mouth she pulled the metal apart to create a small hole for her to scurry in through.
The inside of the silo was a sight to behold for a hungry mouse. She dropped the leaf and started to eat and eat and eat.
Squirrel had followed Mouse from a safe distance. He had crawled through the tunnel and made his way towards the hole in the silo. He peered through the gap and he too was amazed at the amount of grain stored. Squirrels didn’t like grain. He wished that there had been an acorn store, if such a thing existed. Then his saw Mouse. She had eaten so much grain that she was now bigger than Squirrel. She was enormous.
Suddenly there was a noise outside the silo. It was a rumble that sounded like thunder and made the earth shake as through the hole in the metal wall hundreds of mice streamed into grain store.
Mouse shrieked at them “Go away, go away, this is my food. Stop eating my food.” But the hungry mice took no notice of the balloon shaped mouse in the corner and continued to gorge themselves.
The noise of all these mice had alerted Farmer Matthews and he stormed out of his farmhouse to see what was happening. He could see the stream of mice flowing into his precious grain store and armed with his shotgun he went to investigate.
As soon as he opened the door to the silo the mice took flight and as many as could raced through the open door. Farmer Matthews quickly closed the door. “I have you trapped, you vermin” he called out to the remaining mice. However the mice just changed direction and flew through the hole in the wall. All except one mouse.
Mouse was so big that she could only waddle slowly towards the hole, but she had to keep stopping to catch her breath. Squirrel was frantically trying to push her towards to the hole. Father Matthews stared at the strange sight of a squirrel pushing a fat mouse as he loaded his shotgun.
He was so distracted that he dropped his cartridges.
“Quick Mouse through the hole” said Squirrel.
“It’s no good I’m too fat” said Mouse “I won’t fit.”
“Then use the leaf”
“Yes the leaf, where is it”
“It’s too late” they both looked up at Farmer Matthews as he took aim and CLICK. The gun had jammed.
Squirrel frantically leapt into action looking for the leaf as Mouse wobbled next to the hole.
And then he found it.
It was dry and brown and had been trampled and smashed. He handed the leaf to Mouse and it crumbled in her paw.
Squirrel looked at the bits of the leaf on the ground and then he looked at Mouse. He mouthed the words sorry and disappeared through the hole. As he stood on the other side he heard the shotgun blast ring through the silo.
Next Autumn Squirrel was scurrying through the wood, collecting nuts for Winter. He happened to glance up and noticed that only one last leaf was still attached to a tree in the whole of the wood.
Squirrel sighed and shook his head sadly, quickly returning his gaze to the close inspection of the floor for fallen nuts.
As he wandered away he didn’t see the leaf fall gently to the ground.
Copyright Pete Donald 2011
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/22407/squirrel-and-mouse to download free to Kindle / iPhone etc