The Mouse Story by Suzanne
The Mouse Story contains language not suitable for young children. Parental Discretion is Advised.
Chapter Three
Morty Mouse kept quietly to himself for the remainder of the evening. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't stop thinking about the human baby, and the sick feeling that he had in the pit of his stomach. At supper, he sat there staring quietly at Father Mouse, as he slowly moved his food back and forth across his plate. For his entire life, Morty had always looked up to his father, and had always thought of his father as being a "strong" mouse. Yet today, things seemed different. Even though he really knew deep down that his father wasn't strong enough to stand up against that human father, he still couldn't get over the fact that his father did absolutely nothing to help the baby.
"Mortan... stop playing with your food and eat," instructed Mother Mouse.
"Why don't you just let the boy be! Can't you see that he's not feeling well tonight," Father Mouse replied in his most irritated voice.
"Morty... you can be excused from the table if you'd like," added Father Mouse.
Morty Mouse stood up and walked away from the table without saying a word. He scraped his plate into the waste basket, and quietly headed towards the bedroom.
"Goodnight Morty," Mother Mouse called out as he opened the bedroom door. "I hope you feel better soon!" But Morty didn't answer. He slipped away into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
"I'm really worried about him," whispered Mother Mouse. "It's not like Morty to pass up a meal."
"He'll be fine," replied Father Mouse. "He's just feeling a bit under the weather tonight. I'm sure it's nothing that a good nights sleep won't take care of"
Father Mouse could hardly wait for Mother Mouse to fall asleep that evening. He very carefully slipped out from under the covers and headed for the baby's bedroom. As he made his way across the kitchen, he paused for a brief moment underneath the highchair. "Poor Morty," he thought to himself. "Why did he have to see something so horrible on his first adventure out into the human world?" Father Mouse let out a huge sigh, and continued across the kitchen floor.
Just as he was about to make the turn into the hallway, Father Mouse heard a familiar growling noise very close behind him. He didn't even stop to take a look, he just took off running down the hallway as quickly as his tiny little legs would carry him. The angry dog was hot on his trail, snarling and growling, as he chased Father Mouse the entire length of the hallway. Father Mouse quickly slipped down onto his belly and slid underneath the bedroom door.
"That was close," he said as he sat down for a moment to catch his breath. "Very close!"
The dog was barking loudly, and frantically scratching at the outside of the bedroom door. Now that Father Mouse was safely on the opposite side of the door, he began feeling quite brave. Father Mouse grinned as he leaned forward and poked the end of his tiny little nose just underneath the door. "Shhhhhh.... Be Quiet You Big Furball! You're going to wake the the entire house!"
The dog whined and continued to scratch with all of his might. Father Mouse could feel the dogs warm breath on his face as he peered under the door. "Ha! I bet you actually thought you were going to catch me this time... didn't you," he teased.
Father Mouse shook his head and laughed as he walked over to the baby's bed. "Stupid dog... why don't you go pick on someone your own size for a change? Then we'll see how tough you really are."
The baby appeared to be sleeping quite peacefully, despite the fact that the dog was still carrying on right outside his bedroom door. Father Mouse knew from past experience that the dog would eventually get bored and walk away if he remained quiet, so he very carefully climbed up into the baby's bed and sat down beside him. As he sat there watching the baby sleep, his thoughts drifted off to the events of early morning, and the unfortunate incident with the baby's father.
Father Mouse had lived in many different homes throughout his years, and he knew that it just wasn't normal to hear so much yelling and screaming going on inside one home. Although he had obviously seen other humans get angry from time to time, and at times even heard them yell at one another... he had never before witnessed a human mother or father ever reach out and purposefully hurt their own child. At least... not until he moved into this home.
Father Mouse rubbed his brow, as his thoughts drifted back to the first few days that his family had moved into their new home. He and Mother Mouse had grown so tired of all of the screaming and crying, that they almost packed up their son and moved on to find a more peaceful place to live. So clearly, he also remembered the day that Mother Mouse had packed up all of their belongings and insisted that they were leaving. That was the night that the human father came home so angry... that he nearly destroyed the entire house. Yes, Father Mouse remembered it as if it were only yesterday... for that was the first day that Father Mouse ever met the human baby.
Father Mouse looked over at the bedroom door. "Hey Little One" he said smiling. "It appears as if the Big Furball has decided to call it a night."
Father Mouse stood up and moved in a little closer to the baby. He reached out his tiny hand and began to run his fingers across the top of the baby's forehead. "Little One... I need to tell you something very important... and I need you to listen closely."
Father Mouse paused for a brief moment before he began to speak again. "I know that your mother and father sometimes get very angry. I need you to know... that no matter how angry they get... and no matter what they do... none of this is your fault. Sometimes they tell you some really terrible things, Little One, things that they say out of anger... and things that are not true at all. Please don't ever believe the bad things that they say to you."
Father Mouse leaned down and kissed the baby on the cheek. " You don't deserve any of this, Little One. You don't deserve to be treated like this." Father Mouse's voice started to break as he continued on. "You're not a bad baby... and don't you ever even believe that for one minute. You're a good baby... and you deserve to be loved. If you were my baby... I would love you the way that you deserve to be loved."
"Little One... Oh how I wish you were my baby," Father Mouse said as the tears started rolling down his cheeks. "I wish I could take you home with me... and love you... and take good care of you. But I can't! I'm just a weak little Mouse that isn't even strong enough to protect you when you need me to."
"I'm sorry, Little One," cried Father Mouse. "I'm so sorry that I let him hurt you today." Father Mouse wrapped his tiny arms around the baby and hugged him closely. "Next time... I'll make him stop. Next time... I promise to help you... no matter how weak I am."
Father Mouse was startled as the hand reached out and touched him on his shoulder. "Father... I'm sorry too," Morty Mouse whispered from behind him. "Father... I love you!"
