The Mouse Story
by Suzanne and TLP
The Mouse Story contains language not suitable for young children. Parental Discretion is Advised.
Chapter Nineteen
“Just put it in the back room with all of the others. We can sort through them later.”
Morty Mouse recognized her voice as soon as he heard it. And, although he didn’t really like Little One’s Mother all that much, he had to admit that there was still a bit of comfort in knowing that she was somewhere nearby. If nothing more, it meant that he was in the right place, and that maybe… just maybe he was a little bit closer to finding his way back to his own mother.
It was beginning to get very hot inside the box, and Morty could feel little beads of sweat beginning to form above his brow.
“I really need to get out of here,” he whined to himself. “I need to get out of here and find something to drink.”
Morty took a deep breath before poking his head out of the small hole in the bottom of the cardboard box. He listened closely… and after a few moments, he decided that it should be safe for him to leave his hiding place.
“Where is everyone?” he thought to himself. “Wow… it sure is quiet in this house.”
Morty stood up straight and yawned, stretching his arms far above his head. Then he blinked his eyes a few times to help them adjust to the light.
“Oh, it feels soooooooooooooooooo good to be out of that stuffy old box. But, where am I… and where did everybody go?”
Morty slowly began tiptoeing around the room, and with each step that he took… he could feel his tiny little legs shaking beneath him.
“Stop it,” he scolded, as he slapped at one of his legs. “Stop being such a scaredy baby and just WALK.”
There were boxes everywhere. Large boxes… and small boxes… and they were stacked way up high on top of one another. Morty reached out and held onto one of the boxes for support as he started to make his way across the room.
“Hmmmmmm… ,” he said as he approached the hallway. “I wonder where everyone went?”
Morty cautiously moved from room to room, as his little legs continued to fight him every step of the way. As he moved along, he could hear his stomach beginning to rumble.
“Oh…. I’m sooooooooooooooooo hungry,” Morty whined. “I wonder where the kitchen is?”
Morty knelt down low and crept underneath the closed door. As he made his way down the long hallway, he could hear the distant sounds of voices… and laughter… and music.
“Ahhhhhhhhh,” he whispered to himself. “They are still here.”
Morty walked… and walked… and walked, but for some reason he couldn’t seem to find the kitchen. “Wow,” he said in amazement. “This house is really BIG.”
As he walked along, he couldn’t help but notice that the music and voices were getting louder and louder. Every now and then he found himself startled by the shrill sound of a woman’s laughter. Morty covered his ears with both of his hands and continued on in search of food.
“Not even a crumb,” Morty moaned to himself under his breathe. “How can such a huge house have absolutely no food?”
Morty sat down for a moment and rested his tired little legs. As he thought, he found himself thinking about his old house… the one that always had lots of food for the taking. He wasn’t all that sure that he was going to like this new big house. In fact, he almost had himself convinced that he was soon going to die of starvation in this new house.
Morty rested his head in both of his hands, and listened to the low groaning sound that his tiny belly was beginning to make.
“Knock it off,” he said as he reached down and patted his stomach.
“There’s no food here. No food at all. Not even one measly old crumb.”
Morty sat and tried to think for a few minutes, but his thoughts were always interrupted by the sounds of the laughter and music.
“That’s it,” Morty said as he jumped up to his feet. "I have to find the humans, because wherever there are humans... there's bound to be food."
Morty started walking faster and faster, as he followed the sound of the music.
“I’m getting closer,” he said as he smiled. “Getting closer to finding some breakfast.”
As he walked along, his mind ran wild with the thought of what kind of feast might await him.
“Oh…. what I would give to have just one little crumb of a chocolate chip cookie… or one tiny taste of peanut butter… or even one itsy bitsy nibble off of a Cheerio.”
Morty’s stomach began to rumble again and he found himself walking faster and faster towards the noise. It was then that he saw it. A light! The bright yellow light that was shining right in front of him.
“Yes,” Morty shrieked as he took off running as fast as he could.
“Foooooooooooooooooooood!”
But when Morty got to the door, he was running far too fast. In fact, he was running so fast that he was unable to stop himself. Before he knew what was happening, Morty was on his back… and he was sliding… and sliding… and sliding. He slid right underneath the door, and with a plop… plop… plop… Morty had fallen to the very bottom of a long staircase.
“Owwwwwww,” Morty moaned as he tried to stand up. “My leg…. Owwwwwww…. Owwwwwww.”
As Morty’s head began to clear, he realized that he was in serious trouble. He happened to be lying in plain sight, and right in the middle of an entire room full of humans. The music was loud and people were laughing. It was so loud that Morty could barely even think.
“I need to get up,” he moaned loudly. “But… my leg… owwwww… owwwww… owwwww.
By now, Morty could feel the tears trickling down his tiny little face. He was hurt… but he also knew that he needed to get up very quickly and move. He knew that if he stayed where he was, it was only going to be a matter of time before somebody looked over and saw him lying there… and then it would be all over for him.
Morty gritted his teeth and tried again to pull himself up into a standing position.
“Owwwww… owwwww…. Owwwwwwwwwy,” Morty sobbed as his leg buckled beneath him and he fell backwards onto the hard cement floor.
“Mother….. Mother where are you? I need your help!!!!!”
It was then that Morty realized just how truly alone he really was. It was then that the terrible truth finally hit him right where it hurts. He might not ever see his mother again.
Morty’s tears began to pour out, and no matter how hard he tried to stop them… they continued to fall and fall and fall. He knew that he must have looked like the most pitiful sight on earth… but at that very moment… he didn’t even care. He didn’t care about anything. He didn’t care that his eyes were burning. He didn’t care that his stomach was hurting . He didn’t care that his mouth was so dry that if felt like sandpaper, and he didn’t even care anymore that his leg was hurting. All he knew was that he needed his mother very badly… and she wasn’t there to help him. Morty was hurting. He was hurting everywhere. He wasn’t just hurting because he fell down the staircase, he was hurting because he had lost his mother… and his father… and even Little One.
“Little One!!!!!!!!!! ,”
Morty screamed his name right through the giant sobs that were now escaping through the back of his throat.
“Oh no………….. Little One!!!!! If I die…. who’s going to be there to protect you?”
Morty let out a huge groan as he quickly rolled over onto his belly. Then, using every amount of strength that he had left… he used his arms to pull… and pull… and pull his little body across the floor, around the corner, and into an opening behind the staircase.
It was then that Morty’s entire world went completely dark.
