New Year's With the Mouse Family
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Samantha scurried through the small mousehole. "Mom!" she cried. "We got mail!" Mrs. Mouse, her husband, and her brother, John, came running from another room. "Mail?" John asked, doubtfully. "We never get mail. Is this some kind of stupid joke?" Samantha shook her head. She dropped a letter on the floor and said," No joke. We actually got mail. The mouse mail carrier just dropped it off. Open it, Mom." Mrs. Mouse opened it and read it. Her face lit up. "We're invited to a New Year's party!" she said. "It's from Tracy White. You know she lives on a farm. The humans have gone on vacation and the White's have the place to themselves. They're having a New Year's party in the barn!" John stared at her, open-mouthed. "Wow!" he said in astonishment. "Dave is always telling me what a big place they have. I can't wait to see it!" "And Meg is always bragging about that barn," Samantha said, making a face. "Their humans don't use the barn at all, so Meg gets to play in it." "I wonder how Anthony is getting on," Mr. Mouse said, almost to himself. "Knew him when we were kids. Used to be good friends, me and Anthony." "I don't know," Mrs. Mouse mused. "The White's live a long way from here. It's dangerous." Samantha seized the letter from her mother's hand and looked carefully at it. "This says that the party starts at 10:00 and ends at an hour after midnight. That's 1:00. It'd be dark when we left. Please, Mom!" "It's still dangerous," Mrs. Mouse said. "We'd have to be especially careful." "We will, Mom," John said. "But can we go? The party is tonight!" "It is?" asked Mr. Mouse. He looked over Samantha's shoulder at the letter. "Yes, it is tonight," he said in surprise. "What time is it?" asked Samantha. "Hold on," Mr. Mouse said. "I'll find out." He ran out of the mousehole. In a minute he was back, slightly panting from his run. "It's already 8:00," he said. "How time does fly. Well, we'd better start getting ready. If we're going, that is." He looked pleadingly at his wife. Mrs. Mouse looked at the expressions on John and Samantha's faces, and smiled. "All right," she said. "We can go." John and Samantha cheered. Then they started to get ready. An hour later, they were on their way. Each was dressed up for the party. Samantha had a strip of blue gauze tied around her neck. John and Mr. Mouse were each wearing homemade hats. They had holes where their ears stuck out. Mrs. Mouse was wearing a piece of green and yellow silk. It was tied around her neck, and the fabric flowed down her back like a cape. They all looked very festive. In 45 minutes, they arrived at the White's home. The whole family stared with awe at the size of the place. "Meg was right," Samantha said a little unhappily. "This place is huge!" John was at a loss for words, he simply stared. The house itself looked normal, but it was a two story. The barn was humongous, but the fenced land around the house was huge! It was big enough for a mouse to get lost in. The Mouse family had only a small garden. Meg and Dave White ran up to them. "Hi!" Dave said cheerfully. "Glad you could make it!" Meg smirked at Samantha. "Told you this place was big," she said triumphantly. Samantha nodded politely. Mr and Mrs. White ran up behind their children. "Hello Robert!" Mr. White boomed out. "Pleasure to see you again, old pal!" Mr. Mouse smiled. They went off, chatting. "Tracy!" Mrs. Mouse said. "Thank you for the invitation." "Glad you came, Alice," Mrs. White said. "Would you care for a tour?" Mrs. Mouse nodded and the two walked off, leaving the children together. John and Dave were talking about basketball. They had each seen a few games on television, when the humans were watching it, and were thinking of starting a mouse basketball team. Samantha and Meg glared coldly at each other. They had never been good friends. Samantha had always described Meg as a snob and a spoiled brat. Meg thought Samantha was common and ordinary. Soon other mice arrived. Samantha, relieved, spotted her friend Lucy Brown, and hurried away from Meg. John and Dave were joined by Roger and Andy and they decided to practice basketball right then. Meg's two best friends, Carrie and Rosa were sitting on a rock, listening to Meg brag about her big house. Rosa, Meg's best friend, actually looked interested in what Meg was saying. Carrie looked as if she was going to fall asleep. When everyone was there and it was almost midnight, Mr and Mrs. White handed out popcorn and brownie crumbs. Then he made a small speech. "Friends," he began. "I'm sure you all know that this is New Year's Eve. In honor of the new year, my family and I have decided to have this party. When the church clock strikes, that's midnight and the new year had begun. Then we will make New Year's Resolutions and a lot of noise. Thank you!" He scrambled down from the bale of moldy hay he was standing on while everyone clapped and cheered. A few minutes later, the mice heard the church clock strike twelve. When it was done, there was silence. Then Meg shouted," It's the new year!" Everyone exploded. Samantha screamed herself hoarse and banged on a box. John whistled loudly and stamped on the ground. Mr and Mrs. Mouse were yelling, too. Everybody was having a lot of fun. Samantha saw Lucy turning somersaults. Then it was time to make New Year's Resolutions. "Hmm," said Samantha. "I think I'll try to be nicer to Meg, Rosa, and Carrie." She made a face. "I won't tease Sam as much," John said as though it was paining him to say the words. Samantha kicked him in the ribs. "I won't eat as much," Mr. Mouse resolved. He looked at the piece of popcorn he was holding and threw it aside. He was a rather plump mouse, and a bit lazy at times. "I'll try to keep the mousehole cleaner," Mrs. Mouse said. "I'll start tonight." |