The Mouse Story by Suzanne
The Mouse Story contains language not suitable for young children. Parental Discretion is Advised.
Chapter Five
It was just one of those mornings when no matter how hard the Mouse family tried, they just couldn't block out the sounds of the screaming. Mother Mouse sat quietly on the couch trying to concentrate on her knitting, while Father Mouse stood nearby, nervously sipping away at his morning coffee. Morty Mouse paced back and forth across the livingroom floor, pausing briefly at the front door on each trip across the room.
"Morty... you're gonna wear a path in the floor if you don't stop all that pacing," Mother Mouse joked, as she tried to lighten the mood just a bit.
Father Mouse walked up to Morty and gently put his arm around him. "Why don't you go find something to do, son?"
Morty Mouse pulled away from his father and continued to pace.
"Morty, I'm serious," Father Mouse continued. "Pacing back and forth across the room all day isn't going to make them stop screaming at each other."
Morty Mouse turned for a moment and glared at his father. "Well... then maybe somebody oughta go out there and tell them to cut it out... because they're scaring the baby!"
Father Mouse walked over and knelt down beside his son. "Morty... as much as we always want to be there to help this baby, the reality is... we really can't do anything to stop his parents from fighting. Some people just yell and fight a lot."
"But... you and Mother Mouse don't scream at each other like that," Morty Mouse mumbled to himself as he began to pace back and forth again.
"No... but they do Morty," Father Mouse replied sadly. "and we can't change that, no matter how much we wish we could."
As the screams became louder and louder, Morty Mouse stopped pacing and put his ear to the door to listen. Suddenly their was a loud "BANG" and the screaming stopped. Morty looked sad as he glanced over at Mother Mouse. Mother Mouse was silently shaking her head back and forth... as she looked over at Father Mouse.
"SEE WHAT YOU DID NOW???, " the voice bellowed. "YOU JUST COULDN'T SHUT UP... COULD YOU???," the baby's mother screamed in a loud angry voice. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! IF YOU WOULDN'T GET INTO THINGS... AND CRY ALL THE TIME... HE WOULDN'T GET MAD AND LEAVE!"
The baby began to scream loudly. "SHUT UP!!! SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I GIVE YOU A REASON TO CRY! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT YOU'RE RUINING MY ENTIRE LIFE! I HATE YOU! I HATE BEING YOUR MOTHER!"
"NO....... DON'T SAY THAT," Morty Mouse screamed as he took off running out the front door. "IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!!!!!"
"MORTY...... STOP!!!!!! " His father yelled out as he quickly chased after him. "MORTY... COME BACK HERE!!!"
Mother Mouse threw her knitting needles down onto the floor and ran to the front door. "Both of you... if you know what's good for you.... YOU'LL GET YOURSELVES BACK IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" she screamed in her loudest voice. "MORTY.... FATHER... ARE YOU TWO LISTENING TO ME???"
Morty Mouse ran through the kitchen, and into the corner of the livingroom where he quickly hid himself behind the TV stand.
"WHY WON'T YOU STOP CRYING????," The voice screamed from the opposite side of the room.
Morty Mouse peered around the corner and watched in horror, as the mother began hitting the baby. "I CAN'T STAND ALL THIS CRYING! ALL YOU EVER DO IS CRY!," his mother screamed as she reached out to slap him again.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!," Morty Mouse screamed as he ran into the middle of the room. "STOOOPPPPPPP!!!!! STOP HURTING HIM!!!!! HE'S JUST A BABY!!!!!!!"
Father Mouse reached out and tried to pull Morty back to the corner of the livingroom, but Morty Mouse fought as hard as he could to break away from his grip. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!! LET ME GO!!!!! I NEED TO GO HELP HIM!!!!"
"Morty... calm down!," Father Mouse warned as he pushed him down onto the livingroom floor and sat on top of him.
"YOU LIED TO HIM!!!!! YOU LIED... FATHER!!!!! YOU PROMISED HIM THAT YOU WOULD NEVER LET THEM HURT HIM AGAIN! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A BIG FAT LIAR!!!"
"I want to help him Morty... but how can I try to help him when you're continually putting yourself in danger. NOW... GET OVER THERE BEHIND THAT CHAIR RIGHT NOW," Father Mouse demanded.
Morty Mouse turned just in time to see Mother Mouse poke her head out from behind the chair. "Over here Morty," she called out. "Listen to your father... and get over here before you get yourself hurt."
Father Mouse ran over to the baby's Mother and tugged at her shoe. "LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE'S JUST A BABY! Father Mouse yelled out in his loudest voice.
I'M SO TIRED OF THIS! SO TIRED OF ALL OF YOUR CRYING! SHUT UP!! SHUT THE HELL UP!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?," the baby's mother cried out as she raised her hand to strike him again.
Father Mouse bent down and quickly sunk his two front teeth right into the mother's ankle as hard as he could.
"OUCH!!!!!!! What the hell was that,"... she yelled as she bent down to inspect her bleeding ankle.
Father Mouse quickly ducked under a footstool and ran as fast as he could over to the baby. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh"..... he whispered as he rubbed his tiny hand along the side of the baby's face. "Please stop crying, Little One. Everything is going to be okay."
The baby's mother limped away to the bathroom... leaving a small trail of blood on the light colored carpeting.
Morty Mouse jumped up and ran over to his father. "You did it Father! You made her stop," he said smiling.
Mother Mouse came out from her hiding place behind the chair. "Is the baby okay," she asked as she approached them.
"I think he'll be okay," Father Mouse answered as he continued to rub the side of the baby's face. "Now... now... shhhhhhhhhh... you're okay, Little One. Everything is going to be okay now."
Mother Mouse moved in closer to the baby. "It's okay, Little One. Mother Mouse is here. I'm not going to let her hurt you anymore," she whispered in a soft voice.
"I'll be right back," Father Mouse said as he scampered across the livingroom and into the hallway.
"Father... where are you going," Morty Mouse called out.
"I'm just going to go check on the baby's mother. I'm afraid that I may have hurt her pretty bad. I just want to make sure that she's okay," he said as he disappeared from sight.
"Shhhhhhhh.... don't cry, Little One," Mother Mouse said as she ran her tiny fingers through his dark curls. "I'm going to take really good care of you."
"He's scared, Mother! He's so scared," Morty whispered from behind her.
"I know," Mother Mouse whispered back. " Morty... why don't you leave me alone here with the baby... and go check on your father. Make sure that he's not getting himself into any more trouble... okay?"
"Okay Mother," Morty Mouse said as he scooted off down the hallway.
Mother Mouse cuddled up closely to the baby as she tried to comfort him. "Shhhhhhh... don't cry sweet child," she said softly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. Mother Mouse will keep you safe."
The bathroom door swung open. The baby's mother stood in the hallway and listened for a few minutes before disappearing into her bedroom.
"Is she okay?" Morty Mouse whispered.
"Yes... I think she'll be just fine," answered Father Mouse. "She was able to get the bleeding to stop. I don't think I hurt her too badly."
"She deserves to be hurt," Morty Mouse replied in a rather nasty tone of voice.
"Morty... nobody EVER deserves to be hurt," said Father Mouse in a quiet voice. " Morty... I didn't want to hurt the baby's mother, but I felt I had no other choice. I feel very bad about what I did tonight... but I needed to make her stop hurting the baby. Do you understand that?"
Morty Mouse nodded. "I understand," he said. "Father... LISTEN.... the baby's not crying anymore."
Father Mouse turned and slowly led the way back to the livingroom. Just as they were about to enter the room... Father Mouse reached out his hand and held his son back.
The words were so beautiful... and so calming. Morty Mouse looked up at his father and smiled. He had almost forgotten just how beautiful his mother's voice was. The two mice very quietly sat down in the corner of the room and listened...
Hush, little baby, don't say a word...
Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird...
and if that mockingbird won't sing...
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
