5 Children’s Stories
Copyright 2011 Edna Curry
All rights reserved.
All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to a person or persons living or dead is purely a coincidence.
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A Scratch in Time...
by Edna Curry
Henry Mouse sat happily eating corn in his cozy hole behind a broken board in the granary on the McKerry Farm.
"Here, dear, have some of this ground oats, too," he coaxed Mrs. Mouse. "It's delicious!"
Mrs. Mouse took some and munched it daintily. Then she fed some to her children.
"MMM, it's very good," she squeaked. "Where did you find it?"
"I chewed a hole in one of the new sacks of grain that Mr. McKerry brought in this morning." Henry said proudly.
"This granary is certainly a wonderful place to live," said Mrs. Mouse. "We're always warm and dry and safe. And there is always lots of food."
Soon the little mice had eaten their fill and Mrs. Mouse settled them down for a nap in their warm, safe hole.
Mr. Mouse was still chewing on an ear of corn when he saw a strange sight. A big white tomcat was coming in the door of his granary.
Henry dashed into his hole just in time.
"There's a cat out there!" Henry told Mrs. Mouse.
"A cat! There's no cat on this farm."
"There is now," said Henry. "See for yourself."
Mrs. Mouse peeked out. Thomas the cat was still there, waiting for them to come out.
They waited, shivering with fright. Finally the tomcat left.
By then the babies were crying to come out to eat. But Mrs. Mouse was afraid to let them come out of their safe hole. "That Tomcat will eat my babies!" she cried.
"Oh, no, I'll stand guard," said Henry. "If the cat comes back, I'll warn you."
After that day, whenever the mice came out to eat, the cat would appear to chase them. He caught and ate some of Henry's mouse friends. Henry was frightened for himself as well as for his family.
Everyday he peeked carefully out of his hole before he came out to eat. When Mrs. Mouse or any of the little mice came out to eat, Henry stood guard. He kept his eyes and ears open. If the cat came in sight, Henry quickly warned his family and got them safely back into their hole.
But the granary was now a very dangerous place to live.
So Henry set out to look for a new home for his family. He looked in the tool shed. There were several nice places to build a house there. But there was no food. Whatever would they eat?
So Henry went on.
He looked in the chicken house. His cousin Ben Mouse had a home there.
"Do you like living here?" Henry asked Cousin Ben.
"Oh, yes," said Cousin Ben. "There is a lot of delicious food here. The farmer fills the feeders and the water fountains for the chickens every day. And there is lots of fluffy yellow straw to hide in.
"To hide in?" asked Henry. "Hide from what?"
"That!" answered Cousin Ben. Henry looked. It was the big white tomcat, Thomas!
"Quick! Over here! Behind this big pile of straw in the corner," whispered Cousin Ben. His fuzzy gray skin quivered with fright.
"Squawk! Squawk!" screamed the chickens as they flapped their wings and scattered. Dust and feathers flew about the chicken house.
The tomcat's fluffy tail swung slowly from side to side. He came closer and closer, sniffing in the straw.
"Thomas!" scolded a deep voice. "Get out of here! You're scaring all my hens. Tomorrow I won't get very many eggs. Scat!"
Henry peeked out and saw a tall, thin man standing in the doorway of the chicken house.
"Saved by Mr. McKerry!" whispered Cousin Ben.
"Yes," answered Henry. "But this is no safer than the granary. Goodbye, Cousin Ben."
Henry went on. The next building he came to was the house. He slipped in through an open basement window.
The basement was cool and clean with plenty of shadowy corners. "This would make a nice home," thought Henry. "And those boxes and old furniture would be nice to hide behind when people come near. Henry sniffed about, searching for food. His pointed little nose twitched excitedly. "That's funny," he thought. "I can smell food, but I can't find any."
Then he saw a tiny hole in the ceiling. He climbed up the wall and squeezed through it. He was in a tiny room with kitchen sink pipes and drawers in it. "Ah, there is the food!" he said. In the drawers were crackers and cookies and - oh, oh! The drawer moved!
Quickly Henry jumped out and hid behind the bottom drawer. Mrs. McKerry opened the drawer, and then closed it again. Henry waited a minute, then climbed back in. But now the cookies were gone. Then the drawer moved again. Henry jumped out barely in time.
But this time Mrs. McKerry saw him.
"A mouse!" she screamed. She pulled the doors below the sink open and tried to hit him with her broom. Henry slipped down through the hole barely soon enough. He ran across the basement.
Mrs. McKerry was already coming down the stairs with her broom as Henry ducked behind the furnace. She looked all around the basement, moving the boxes and old folding chairs. Whenever she came near, Henry scooted to a new hiding place.
At last he was near the open window. He dashed up the wall and out the window. He was safe at last! His heart pounded so hard he had to stop under a rose bush to rest.
"Whew!" he thought to himself. "That house may be clean and smell nicely of food, but it would certainly be too dangerous a place for my family. I must keep looking!"