Mouse in the House PDF

'I DON'T LIKE MICE,' said Amy, shuddering. 'Horrible little scuttling creatures.' 'Some people have a mouse as a pet,' said her brother, Hugo, who was looking at the tropical fish in the next aisle. 'Ugh! Imagine even* holding* a mouse.' Amy took a step back from the large wire cage full of furry...

'I DON'T LIKE MICE,' said Amy, shuddering. 'Horrible little scuttling creatures.' 'Some people have a mouse as a pet,' said her brother, Hugo, who was looking at the tropical fish in the next aisle. 'Ugh! Imagine even* holding* a mouse.' Amy took a step back from the large wire cage full of furry bodies scrambling over one another. Hugo crept up behind her. 'Imagine one scuttling up your arm!' he exclaimed, running his fingers up to her neck. Amy screamed. Everyone in the pet store turned to look at her. 'That's not funny!' she said crossly. 'Sorry,' said Hugo, not looking at all sorry. 'I just have to buy this fish food; then we can go home.' He went across to the counter, just as Corey, the shop assistant, came up. He smiled at Amy and then reached into the mice cage. He lifted out four or five mice by their tails and dropped them into a cardboard box with holes in the lid. 'Somebody really likes mice,' Amy said. 'Excuse me?' 'To buy so many as pets,' Amy said. Corey laughed. 'Not pets. These are snake food.' Amy let out a small 'Oooh' of revulsion. Even though she didn't like mice, she didn't like the idea of them being gobbled up by snakes either. 'How do you choose which mice to ... um, take?' she asked. Corey shrugged. 'Luck of the draw. They're all the same.' Well, that wasn't quite true. Amy noticed one mouse crouched at the back of the cage that was smaller, thinner and quieter than the others. She bent down for a better look. The mouse was grey with white patches, but was otherwise undistinguished. Two little black eyes looked back at her, but the mouse didn't move a whisker. *Clever*, thought Amy. *That's what I'd do, when a snake-meal selection was being made: hide away in a corner and keep very still.* 'Okay, let's go,' Hugo said, coming up. 'Changed your mind about mice? Thinking of having one as a pet?' 'No!' Amy said firmly. 'Anyway, these mice are snake food.' That night and all next morning, Amy couldn't stop thinking about the little mouse. How long before Corey would reach into the glass container and pluck it from its hiding place? He might have done so already. She would check on her way to school. 'Hold my bike for a moment?' she asked Hugo, outside the pet shop. 'I won't be long.' Hugo looked mystified, but did as she asked. Amy ran inside and up to the mice cage. Her eyes swept over the scuttling rodents. There it was, right at the back, its head poking out of a cardboard tube. Its little black eyes seemed to brighten when it caught sight of her, and its nose definitely twitched. 'Stay hidden,' Amy whispered. 'I'll come again after school.' True to her word, Amy was back in the pet store that afternoon. She was just in time to see Corey striding up to the mice cage with a cardboard box under his arm. She followed him and held her breath as his hand dipped in---once, twice, three times. She breathed again. But almost immediately Corey added three more mice to his catch. Now he was shaking the cardboard tube, the hiding place of her mouse! 'Not that one!' she said sharply, as his fingers reached for one particular tail. Corey's fingers halted in midair. 'Yeah, it *is* a bit undersized.' 'Exactly. It wouldn't be fair to your customer.' 'I guess I could throw it in for free.' He saw the expression on Amy's face. 'Unless you want it.' 'Well ... ' Amy said. 'Free of charge,' Corey said. 'It's skinny and not as cute as some of the others, but it'll make a good pet. Probably. Grab one of those boxes behind the cage.' Hardly stopping to think what she was agreeing to, Amy found a small box with holes in the lid. She gave it to Corey, who picked up her mouse by the tail and placed it inside. 'There you go,' he said cheerfully. 'Thank you,' Amy said. 'I'll call him Corey, after you.' Corey laughed. 'It's a female.' 'Cora, then. I'll call her Cora.' It seemed like a suitable name for a plain little mouse. Hugo thought the whole business very funny. 'Only twenty-four hours ago,' he pointed out, 'you called this a horrible little scuttling creature. Now it's a pet called Cora.' 'This one doesn't scuttle,' Amy said. 'And she's not really a pet. I just saved her from being a snake's dinner.' 'I hope she's suitably grateful,' Hugo said. 'You can have my old fish tank, if you like. Needs a bit of a scrub, but I don't expect Cora's too fussy.' 'I don't mind cleaning it,' Amy said. When the glass was sparkling, she placed the tank on the desk in her bedroom. She covered the bottom with shredded newspaper and bits of clean rag. What else? Mice liked hiding places. Amy went to the bathroom and carefully removed the tube from the roll of paper hanging next to the toilet. She placed it in the fish tank, along with a container of water. She held out the box to Hugo. 'Will you put Cora inside, please?' 'You do it,' Hugo said. 'She's your pet.' 'She's not a pet. I'm scared she might bite me.' Hugo picked up the toilet roll tube. 'Hold this in front of her and when she goes inside, lower it into the tank very gently.' The trick worked perfectly and Cora was safely deposited in her glass tank. 'You should handle her every day,' Hugo said. 'One of the ways she'll recognise and trust you is by smell. Start by encouraging her to walk onto your palm.' 'I don't think I want to do that,' Amy said, alarmed. 'She's not a pet, you know.' 'Right,' said Hugo. 'Still, you've got to feed her.' 'What kind of food?' 'Little bits of fruit and veggies. Celery, carrots, apples.' That night, Amy was kept awake by the noise of rustling and squeaking coming from the tank. Cora, so quiet during the day, certainly made up for it at night. The days went by, and gradually Amy and Cora grew used to each other. When Amy placed her hand into the tank, palm up and very close to Cora's quivering pink nose, the little creature would scamper onto it. Amy would stroke her silky fur and talk to her. 'What a pretty little mouse you are,' she would say. 'How curious you are!' she would exclaim as Cora ran up her arm. When she was at school, she wondered what Cora was doing almost every minute of the day. One day Hugo came back from cricket practice and rapped on his sister's door. 'Hey, Amy! Problem solved. Nate will take Cora off your hands.' Nate was Hugo's best friend. Amy opened her door. 'What do you mean?' 'I told him how you'd saved Cora from certain death but that you didn't really like mice. Nate said he'd have her. He'll come over tomorrow and get her.' Amy frowned. She shut the door and went over to the tank. Cora, who was looking plumper and sleeker these days, darted up to greet her. Her eyes were big and shiny, and her long white whiskers quivered. Amy lifted her carefully from the tank and allowed her to run up her arm and across her shoulder. Amy reached into a bag near the tank and offered a small piece of carrot. Cora held it in her tiny paws and munched on it delicately. Amy returned Cora to the tank and went into Hugo's bedroom. Her brother was lying on the floor, reading a cricket magazine. 'Did you promise Nate he could have Cora?' she asked. 'Not exactly. I just said you didn't want her.' 'But I do.' Hugo sat up. 'You're sure? Because there are a couple of things you should probably know about pet mice.' 'Like what?' 'Female mice need company. Cora needs a girlfriend.' Amy nodded. 'When I'm at school, she's all alone.' 'Mice get old very quickly, and they don't live long.' Amy bit her lip. 'How long?' 'A year or so.' 'That's not very long.' Amy knew she would love Cora heaps in twelve months---and then Cora would die. Amy felt her heart twist. 'But,' said Hugo, 'you would have given her a very happy life before that day. And a year is probably a long time to a mouse.' 'That's true,' said Amy, feeling better. He grinned. 'I guess I'll have to tell Nate you've changed your mind.' Something in his expression made Amy suspicious. She turned at the door. 'You're telling the truth, aren't you? About Nate? You didn't make it up?' 'Would I do that?' *Yes, you would,* Amy thought. It was the perfect way to make her realise how dear Cora had become to her. She went into her bedroom and stroked her pet mouse. 'Saved for the second time,' she murmured. 'You're staying here with me. For the rest of your life.' Cora's nose twitched---no doubt from sheer contentment.