Fetters Mouse and the Storm

by Sage Lucinda BugBug Milliken

Fetters Mouse lived in a little old house with a very old man, who was his human. It was a cute little house, all made of wood, and there were lots of little nooks and crannies where Fetters Mouse could make himself quite comfortable. There was one very little cabinet in the old man's bedroom, where there were lots of old paperback books, which the old man had seeminly forgotten. Fetters Mouse had made this his main house, and had dragged in old pieces of cloth, and other odds and ends, and made himself quite a comfortable little nest. One day the old man was rushed off to the hospital, and never came back. The people who came to clean up the house took out all the furniture and everything, but as the little cabinet was hidden behind the bedroom door, they missed it completely, so Fetters Mouse just decided to stay.

Not too long after that, a young couple moved into the house, and they brought with them something that Fetters Mouse had heard of, and had dreaded meeting all of is life. A cat! Now, this cat was quite large, and fluffy. She was a black and white Persian, with a pink nose, and great green eyes, which peered into dark corners and never missed a thing. Fetters Mouse was terrified. He didn't know what to do, and he had no place else to which to go. Finally, after almost a week, driven by a terrible hunger and thirst, he ventured out one night and into the kitchen to look for some food. He jumped up on the table, and then onto the counter, hoping to find some crumb, but in the dark, he accidentally knocked a spoon into the sink. Of course, the cat, whose name was Ariadne, heard that, and came rushing right in.

Now Ariadne was a very unusual cat. She was sleek and well fed, and quite spoiled, but she felt it was her duty to take care of her humans. But she had never seen a mouse before, and had never heard of eating one. Of course, Fetters did not know this. But Ariadne just looked at him, and said "What are you doing?".

"Looking for some food," Fetters Mouse answered. "Well look more quietly", Ariadne said, "you will wake up my humans," and she plodded back to bed.

After this, Fetters Mouse and Ariadne called a truce. He kept to his part of the house, and she kept to hers, and for the most part, they didn't bother each other. Fetters Mouse was still terribly afraid of being eaten, but he never brought the subject up to her.

Then one fine winter's day, Ariadne accompanied her mistress down to the pier where she worked. And Fetters Mouse decided to tag along too. He snuck into the humans pocket, where he snuggled, safe, warm and unseen.

Evening came, and clouds filled the sky, and a fierce wind began to blow, but the adventuresome Ariadne decided to explore the other end of the pier. Fetters Mouse tagged along just a little behind her, just to see what she was up to. They had just reached the end of the pier, when behind them they heard a loud, fierce barking. Ariadne turned around to see a huge and ferocious dog coming straight at her, yowling and trailing a broken chain behind him. She froze for the instant of a second while she took in the scene. Then she yelled "Fetters, Jump on my back!"

Fetters Mouse didn't wait for a second invitation. He jumped onto Ariadne's back and dug his four paws into her thick fur, grabbed her collar between his teeth and hung on for dear life.

Ariadne raced across the pier and ran up the steps of the big Naval research vessel. She race along the 220 foot deck and made a flying leap onto the Coast Guard Cutter tied up at the dock. By now the wind was howling almost as loud as the dog, and rain was coming down in sheets. The dog was right on their paws, but coming to the end of the Navy ship, he found he was too heavy to make the jump. He ran down the back steps of the Navy ship and raced along the pier, as Ariadne, with Fetters Mouse raced along the 76 foot length of the Coast Guard Cutter. She raced around the wheelhouse, and through the galley, and down the very back of the cutter, and barely made the jump onto the little Army Q-boat. Then she raced down the stairs and into the cabin on the dock, where he mommie worked, and slammed the door shut right in the dog's face.

Fetters Mouse finding himself safe from the dog, jumped off Ariadne's back and into a corner, where he stood shivering from cold and fright. "You ou ouu, aren't going to eat me are r rrr r you?" he stuttered.

"Well of course I am not going to eat you," Ariadne replied. "I couldn't eat you now that I have saved your life."

Fetters Mouse was very happy to hear that, and the two decided to call it pax. After that they became very good friends, and had very many more interesting adventures together. But that is a story for another time.