Tiny Hero

TINY HERO

by

DJ McKenzie

(age 12)

There once was a tiny field mouse, whose name was Nibbles. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. In other words… he was a runt. He always got picked on, and was left out of the games. His dad was the leader of the field mouse kingdom, which was the only way Nibbles was popular. But he still didn’t get much attention. Every time he was in line for breakfast lunch or dinner, other mice would cut in front of him.

 Nibbles would often take walks in the field, where there was no one to pick on him. One day when he was bouncing along in the field, he noticed a building. He wanted to get a closer look, so he crept up quietly and hid behind a box on a driveway. Just then he remembered that his father wanted him back by dinner time which was coming up soon. But before he could move he heard something coming. He started to run but it was too late. A big moving van was starting to creep over him. He froze as it suddenly became dark. He waited and watched as two humans stepped out of the van. As they did, a car drove into the driveway. A man and a woman stepped out. The man looked very old. Nibbles remembered that his father had taught him a lot about humans and said that most men that looked that old were most likely crippled. The old man shuffled across the driveway with the woman helping him. Nibbles was so frightened he forgot that it was past dinner time. He waited and waited, fearing someone would see him if he ran out. He hoped that the van would leave soon.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 *******

Nibbles’s dad walked out the door to find his son. He was hoping that he hadn’t gotten snatched up by an owl, or gulped down by a bobcat. But he tried to put those thoughts behind him. He took six warrior mice with him in case there was danger. They set off in the same direction Nibbles had gone. They didn’t know exactly the way he had gone, so they had to take a wild guess. At first, they went the wrong way, so they went a different way and kept on looking.

*******

Nibbles had fallen asleep. He opened his eyes to a loud roaring engine. He didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he figured it was a long time for it was almost dark. He saw that the van had now gone and there were no humans in sight. So he ran back the direction he had come and nearly ran into his dad.

“Nibbles there you are!” His dad exclaimed. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine, “Nibbles replied.

“Come at once. Your mother is very worried, and she will most likely ground you,” his dad said. “And you missed dinner.”

“But Dad I –“. 

“No buts” his dad interrupted.

So Nibbles followed his father and the warriors back to the field mouse village. After a week of lying in his room Nibbles was allowed to go on walks again. He was very happy because he really wanted to explore around that house more. But someone had to go with him, this he was not happy about.

 One of the warriors volunteered to go with him. They were walking one day and Nibbles knew the warrior wouldn’t let him go to the house, so he had to think of a plan. First he grabbed a long sturdy stick. Then he pretended to trip and fall with the stick in his hand. He yelled out, “OW!”

 The warrior turned around and saw Nibbles on the ground. He went to help him, and as soon as he was close enough, Nibbles tripped him with the stick, got up and started running. He knew he could outrun the warrior because he was much lighter than him.

 He soon reached the house, but before he went any farther, he looked back to see if the warrior was still there. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so Nibbles went up to the house and saw the crippled man sitting on his porch. He had a pair of binoculars hanging from his neck, and Nibbles assumed he was watching birds. Then Nibbles remembered the whole reason the warrior was with him. The wood was full of predators.

 Just then an owl swooped down towards him. Nibbles started to run, and then he heard a yell. “Get out of here you owl! Don’t go eating mice on my property.” The man threw a rock at the owl and missed, but it was enough to scare the owl away.

Nibbles stopped and looked over towards him.

 ”Hello, little mouse,” the man yelled.

Nibbles automatically liked the man because he had saved him, so he ran up the stairs on the porch and walked up to the man.

 The man looked down at Nibbles and picked him up. “My name is Wally,” the man said.

Nibbles wanted to tell him his name, but he knew he wouldn’t understand him.

 “That sure was a close call,” Wally said. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“No, I’m fine,” Nibbles tried to say, but to Wally it was only squeaks.

“My, you’re a bit small for a field mouse, aren’t you?” Wally questioned. “Oh my, I must be stupid! You can’t talk, yet I’m asking you questions. Oh well, you’d better be getting back to where you belong, I have to get to bed myself. Well bye bye, little mouse. Come back any time!” Wally went inside the house and disappeared.

Nibbles had totally forgotten that it was starting to get dark. He ran back the way he came and half way there he heard voices. It was his Dad and three other mice. One of the mice was the one he had tripped. He was limping a little but otherwise he looked ok. Nibbles popped out from a bush and nearly gave his dad a heart attack.

When they got home, the first thing that happened was… his mom grounded him again! Another week passed, and this time no one had to go with him on his walks because he wasn’t allowed to go on walks.

(to be continued)

(assignment for Lesson #3 - Verbs)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog