It Was All Started By A Mouse- Chapter 1

"It Was all Started by a Mouse"
Written by: Kartoon-Company (2008)


I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self contained;
I stand and look at them long and long

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

So they show their relations to me and I respect them
They bring me tokens of myself, they envince them plainly in their possession

I wonder where they get those tokens
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

                                                                                                              --Walt Whitman
Chapter 1

It was almost winter and the Kansas climate would soon turn very inhospitable, cold, dry and bitter.  The sky was a beautiful canvas graced with sky blues and pure milky whites.  Even with its beauty, it still foretold of a hard winter to come.  The day had been somewhat tiresome for a little brown mouse whose name was Michi.  It was tiresome for her because she was also expecting her first baby mouseling and knew her time was near.  The old furniture warehouse she had lived in for most of her young like didn't seem safe anymore.  Things were changing in some of the most unpleasant ways.  The humans who worked there started putting strange smelling seeds around the place and her instincts told her not to eat them.  There were times when food was very scarce, and this was one of these times. Some of the mice could not ignore their hunger and ate the seeds, only to get sick and die.  The horrible sight of seeing them suffer told her it wasn't safe for her or her soon to be offspring.  

Michi took her time and walked through the piles of twisted junk and old furniture which was thrown behind the warehouse.  She tried to find a suitable place to prepare her nest.  One thing she did know—her nest must be perfect.  Her older sister was an expert. She knew how to gather the right materials and build a cozy nest for her mouselings.  Most importantly hers grew up and thrived.  Michi was the runt of the litter and was sort of looked down by her older siblings.  But that was long ago.  

As she looked around her, she sighed.  The old warehouse had been home ever since she could remember.  It was her school as well as her playground.  Her mother taught her all the things a mouse should know to survive.  Michi knew every nook and cranny of this building.  She loved to climb up to the highest rafter and look out over the town.  She could see the trains, wagons and people.  At the warehouse she could even remember some of the names and even the faces of the men who worked there every day.  It was her home, but something was telling her that maybe this was not the place for her mouseling to be born.  It would be wonderful to raise her baby in the same place in which she grew up in, but maybe not. The cold breeze ruffled her fur a little, which pushed her to move on.  Night was fast approaching so she gathered her courage like a cloak and pressed on.

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Michi turned and took one more look at the old warehouse and began her journey.  Maybe one day she'll bring her baby back to at least look at the place she called home. As the darkness started to settle over everything, Michi took advantage of it.  Since mice rely more on smell and hearing than sight, she sniffed the air and listened intently. She was her own compass that would hopefully lead her in the right direction.  All through the night, she quietly traveled hoping not to come face to face with the many nocturnal dangers that come alive once the sun goes down.  More than anything was her concern was for the little life she was carrying.  

The night seemed never ending and Michi was exhausted when morning finally started to shed its light over the land.  She really did not want to stop for anything but did manage to catch a quick nap in some tall deep grass before moving on.   A drop of dew plopped on Michi's nose which woke her up.  She stretched, yawned and rubbed her stomach.  She could have sworn she felt her baby move again.  "Don't worry, little one, we'll be home soon," she whispered. The dawn cast its light on what looked like a small farm.  It still seemed far away, but even from where she stood she could smell the stores of sweet grain and corn which has been gathered.  She could also hear many sounds like a  rooster crowing heralding the dawn and the clanging of the cowbells.  The next sound she heard was her stomach growling and she giggled to herself.  Suddenly, a soft breeze sweetly kissed her cheek.  Maybe, Michi thought, she had found a new home and maybe a new life.

Michi started to slowly move toward the farm.  Her heart beat quicker with each step she took; she was excited and nervous at the same time.  Who lived there?  Will she be able to make a friend or two? What would she do once she got there? Oh, that was simple; start right away making a place to stay for her and her baby.

After much maneuvering to still stay hidden, she finally made it to one of the large barns and peeked around the corner.  She could hear the cows moving about by the clanging of their bells and heard chickens squawking over something they found in the yard.  Then another creature caught her eye…a human! She pressed herself flat against the barn's side and didn't dare breathe.  The human didn't see or sense her.  That was one thing she couldn't quite understand about them.  They seemed to own the world and its creatures, but were very weak when it came to their five senses.  Her worry left her when the human went into what she perceived was the farmhouse.  

Michi sighed, "Whew…now I have to really get busy!" She sniffed the air to make sure that there was nothing dangerous lurking around.  Just as she was ready to take another sniff, something pecked her on her tail.

"OUCH!" shrieked Michi turning around suddenly.  Looking back at her was a very round brown hen.  Michi started backing away rubbing the spot where the hen just pecked her.  "Um….sorry…I…I was just looking around," she stammered.

The hen turned her head quickly to the side as hens do and looked at her.  "What are you looking for….vermin?" said the hen with an air of authority.  

Vermin…that word sent a rare shiver up Michi's spine.  That word made her feel like the lowest creature in the world.  She wished she could come up with a word to describe this hen, but still tried to be very aware of her manners.  

"Well, excuse me for…intruding….I'm sorry, but I came from the old warehouse in town to look for a safer place to call home for myself and"….then she rubbed her tummy. "I don't want to be a problem, and… I…can move on, it's not a problem," she continued. The hen turned her head again, stared at this mouse and the look on her face softened.  Her eyes grew wide.  She began to flap her wings and started clucking loudly.  Michi was startled by the sudden flurry in which the hen ran around the corner of the barn.  She could hear a lot of other hens clucking and heard them running around to her again.  Michi became frightened and since she couldn't run very quickly in her condition, simply dropped to the ground and curled into a ball because she thought she was going to be pecked to death by all of these chickens with their sharp beaks!  

Just when she thought the end had come, she felt a soft wing across her shoulder.  She slowly peeked up and looked into the faces of the hen and her friends.  They were making very soft clucking sounds.  Michi managed a small smile and stood up slowly.

"Mouse, you are looking for a home, yes, yes, yes?" clucked the hen.  Michi nodded and looked at the other hens around her.  She cleared her throat and finally gathered the nerve to speak.   

"It's not going to be much longer, I'm afraid," replied Michi. "I must find a nice quiet place which is safe for me and my baby.  Do you think you will able to help me?" At this point, Michi felt like crying, and didn't really know why.  A thinner hen stepped up and said. "I know of a place which you might like, yes, yes, yes!" she clucked.  She put a wing around Michi's shoulder and the hens walked her to their henhouse.  

It was very nice as compared to where she used to live.  It was a large henhouse and housed maybe fifty or more chickens! She could smell the fresh straw which was inside the hen's nesting boxes.  She looked all around but couldn't see where she could possibly live.  Then the thin hen showed her a quiet corner of the henhouse.  It was a very large old wooden box which might have been used for storage, but looked like it hadn't been used for a long time.  When she opened the latch and stepped in, it was cozy. She had enough room to move around. With a little sweeping, it would be nice and clean in no time!  She turned to all the hens around her and said happily, "Yes, yes, YES!"

For the rest of the afternoon, Michi and the hens cleaned out the box and later dined on corn and seeds.   But whenever a human would come close by, she hid and peeked out at them.  The hens would giggle at her timidity.  The cows and the other farm animals met Michi and were happy to tell her where the humans put some of the extra milk before taking it into their house. The farm's cat was not pleased to meet Michi, though but the cows told him that if he harmed one hair on Michi's head, he would never get another drop of milk.

By the time the sun set, Michi had her nest all done and was very comfortable when she went to sleep that night. Her sister would be proud of her.