Mr. and Mrs. Mousel had three children and one on the way. The kids had three cousins who lived next door with their mother and father too. So, there they all were with almost eleven hungry mice to feed.
They all decided to branch out to find their daily bread.
Two went one way, two another and so on since it was better to go with a little help.
There were lots of other mice in the neighborhood, but the Mousels and their relations didn’t know much about them and steered pretty clear — they were pretty much all rather independent, looking out for themselves — the neighbors and the Mousels and the Mousels’ relations.
There hadn’t been much competition up to that point — but the houses they were used to going to for scraps and such, had all been razed to bring in a Giant Food Store. They all thought it might turn out better for them in the long run because there might just be a whole lot more scraps to find and maybe even a big giant dumpster to dive into.
As it turned out, there were guards at the doors not letting anybody in without a face mask. They certainly didn’t want any mice in because mice bring in germs — (or so the story was told) — so there was a brigade of mice stompers at the doors as well as the usual mask marshals.
On top of that, it also turned out that all the mask people couldn’t stay in the store for any great length of time and certainly weren’t allowed to sit, under any circumstance, to eat any meals they could buy at the deli. That meant fewer and fewer morsels for the Mousels and their neighbors to collect even if they could find a way just to get into the Giant Food Store to begin with.
Oh what trouble there seemed to be headed their way now.
Since all the houses had been razed and there was only one Giant Food Store in their vicinity to visit, the neighbors and the Mousels and the Mousels’ relations ended up congregating in one place and were a little bit forced to communicate.
There was a lot of squeaking going on for anyone who spoke mouse to hear because they were all trying to figure out what they were going to do next.
Someone from the Church mouse clan said, “We might have to go underground with our new plans because there is a lot of marshaling going on and lots of stomping up above and all the humans coming and going aren’t very caring or sharing and are being very hoardy. Underground are lots of roots and vegetables and we can start a line passing things along it until we got a giant pile that everyone can share in a pantry at the Churches’ church house.”
A lot of the humans were scared enough about the monster that their masks kept them safe from — (or so the story was told) — that there were many starting to try to garden so there were ever more roots and vegetables in the outlying areas where the Giant Food Store had pushed the people out to to live.
With all the mice together they could really get a big line going.
Suddenly the squeaking the Churches, the Mousels, and all the other clans were squeaking turned into screeching and utter panic as the mice, too, became a little fearful that their needs couldn’t be met or that they might get stomped on or stuck underground trying to harvest from the humans or they might run into some kind of poison or even snap traps. It was all so confusing, they just didn’t know what to do. They wondered if they could find someone to make little mice masks to protect them.
The Mousels headed off for home with their relations and the rest of the neighbors pretty much did too. A couple here or there stayed to try to get into the store because they were a little braver but they said if they did they might not share if no one else would care to try to be even just a little bit brave — maybe even just enough to stay to resuscitate them or drag them away if they did get stomped on.
On their way home, Mr. Mousel had what he thought was a very bright idea, “What if we pack our bags and head off to another country? Maybe another country wouldn’t have these silly rules.”
“That’s likely to be a long way to go,” Mrs. Mousel exclaimed, “And I’m pregnant, Mr. Mousel, in case you haven’t noticed. Not to mention, the young ones can’t travel very well and how did you plan to get there, if I might ask?”
Mr. Mousel hadn’t thought that far.
“It does sound like we have a chance of faring a little better somewhere else — but, who knows what we should expect. Maybe the new rules have traveled there before us or will follow close behind. There are no guarantees. Maybe we should stay were we are and come up with another idea?”
They thought and thought, “Maybe we should pray?” “Maybe we should get the hoards together and make a giant run on the store?” “Maybe we should wait and just eat what we’ve stored and hope for the best with the next election?” “Maybe we should just curl up together and die?”
Mr. Mousel finally decided, with the help of Mrs. Mousel and the kids, that they would learn to think better and read and write and start a YouTube channel to get the word out that the world might look like it’s ending except that there were lots of good vibes too that could just as easily change things for the better as bad vibes could change things for the worse — but that no one can speak well with a mask on and certainly can’t be sending out good vibes that way anyhow — it was simply an emblem of surrender after all.
The Mousels headed off to the library with their laptop. There was still a wifi signal they could access without going in since they didn’t have any mouse masks as it were.
The Mousels ended up becoming famous and had the most subscriptions on YouTube as well as the most views and likes — because, they put on a very homey show as well.
The world was so impressed that a little mouse family could learn to think better and read and write that they felt rather ashamed of themselves and bucked right up.
The whole world turned around for the better after that.
Mouse over matter was the answer.
After all, the Mousels said in their videos, “Mice play an important role in the bigger picture and if they go the whole house of cards could fall. You can imagine what might happen after that — the whole world could go into a tizzy.”
“It’s better,” they said, “to quit being fearful of a mouse or a germ, or some hidden monster that they didn’t really know. Take the mask off and trust in what can be learned if you’re learning the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, (which very often is not in schools). You can’t do that, if you don’t know how to think — so, thinking is the most important thing you can do and think as hard and as often and as hard as you can. There are a lot of magic tricks being played, (propaganda some call it). Sometimes it’s hard to see the con and it might take the help of a friend, but don’t ever think that you can’t do it too if you try hard enough. It’s an obligation as a matter of fact if you want to be free.”
The mighty Mousel mouse family went down in The Mouse Hall of Fame all because they learned how to think — and, that wasn’t easy for a mouse, (or so the story goes).
Subliminal message: Just say no.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Writing Spool 