Sledding With the Mouse Family Mrs. Mouse peered nervously out of the mousehole. "Where is he?" she muttered anxiously. "Dad'll be here," Samantha said. "He's always late. I wonder what he's going to bring us this time. I hope it's something yummy." "But that cat," Mrs. Mouse said. "It's not safe to get food with that beast running around. What if they got eaten!" She paced the floor. "Here we are!" Mr. Mouse exclaimed. He stumbled through the hole and collapsed on a little bench made out of yarn. John, Samantha's brother, came in after him. "Finally!" Mrs. Mouse said happily. "I was getting worried. Now then, what did you bring for supper?" John and Mr. Mouse looked at each other. "Well, there wasn't much," John said. "But we did manage to get some leftovers." He dropped three peas, a huge piece of brownie, a slice of tomato, and some lettuce. "Ah," Mrs. Mouse said slowly. "I think we'll have some refreshing salad for supper. I can make pea soup for lunch tomorrow, and the brownie can be for breakfast. Doesn't that sound good!" Everyone nodded and Mrs. Mouse busied herself with making the salad. "I hate pea soup," Samantha said to John. "Why did you have to bring back peas. Next time bring pieces of carrot. I like carrot soup. And maybe some grains of salt, too." John made a face at her. "All right then," he told her. "You can go hungry tomorrow. I like pea soup and there weren't any carrots. And salt is hard to get. You have to tip over the salt shaker and then they'll notice!" "You won't believe the weather outside," Mr. Mouse was telling his wife. "It was snowing really hard. I'm glad I have this warm hole to come home to. I feel sorry for them because they have to go out in it sometimes. I'm glad I'm not one of them!" "It's snowing!" Samantha cried. "Ooh, can I go see?" Mrs. Mouse shook her head and said," Of course not. It would be too dangerous." She handed everyone a walnut shell dish full of salad. "I think it'd be neat to go out in it," John commented. "Maybe in the night, when they're all asleep. We could sneak out and have a good time and then come back." Mr. Mouse looked at his wife excitedly. "I remember back in the old days, mice used to go sledding at night," he said. "I think it's a great idea. The experience would be good for them also." Mrs. Mouse bit into a bit of tomato. "All right," she said finally. "I'll permit them to go just as long as they're properly supervised. I don't want them getting hurt." "Aren't you coming?" asked Samantha. "No," Mrs. Mouse said. "I don't think I'd like it out there. Your father will take you." The rest of the evening was spent making the sled. They made it out of a matchbox. The kind that has the long wooden matches in it. They attached some yarn to it, so that the children could pull it and washed it off a bit. Soon they had a pretty good sled. That night, John, Samantha, and their father sneaked outside with their homemade sled. Outside, huge lacy snowflakes were still falling and there was a definite chill in the air. It was very peaceful. John and Samantha pulled their sled up to the top of a slope. Samantha got in front and John got in back. Mr. Mouse came up and pushed them off. "Wheee!" Samantha shouted in excitement as they sped down the slope, gathering speed. John whooped and held both his hands into the air. When they reached the bottom of the hill, the sled slowly came to a stop. Then John and Samantha hopped out and pulled it back up the hill. They went down again - and again and again. Each time was just as much fun as the first. When they were done sledding, they went back to the mousehole. Mrs. Mouse had a surprise for them. She had made hot chocolate. While they were sipping it, Samantha said," I think winter is my favorite season." Everyone agreed with her.