SQUEAKY MOUSE

Squeaky was a little mouse. She lived with her mommy, her daddy, her brother and her aunt in a big house on Moonlight Drive. She had big brown eyes and curly brown hair and an ever-so-high squeaky little voice. She loved her big house because it had lots of rooms to play in and many secret hiding places she could go to whenever she wanted to be alone or when she got into trouble (which happened to be quite often).

Squeaky's mommy and daddy both had jobs and got up very early to go to work. That was why her Aunt Marie took care of her and her brother during the daytime. Every morning from Monday to Friday the kids got up, washed, and ate their breakfast. Then at 8 o'clock Chris went to school on a big yellow bus.

Oh how Squeaky wished she could go to school but she just wasn't old enough yet. So instead, she sat in her pyjamas by the window holding her little Fisher-Price lunch pail in her hand and watched Christopher, the other kids, and the big yellow bus go down the street and out of sight.

Then she walked over, turned on the television and climbed up on the big chair with her blanket to watch the Captain Kangaroo show for a while.

Not long afterwards, Squeaky went to her bedroom to fix some lunch for her Teddy. As she got out her dishes and sat Teddy at the table, she could hear Aunt Marie in the kitchen washing the breakfast dishes and sweeping the floor.

"All finished Teddy? Now it's time for your nap. Here you go. Let me help you cover up nice and warm. Go to sleep like a good boy," Squeaky said as she put her Teddy into his crib.

Then she too started to clean up her dishes like good mommies and helpers do. She sang a happy little song as she washed and dried and put her things away:

"Teddy had cheese and
Teddy had fishes
Now he's all finished and
I can do the dishes"

When she finished, she heard Aunt Marie in Christopher's bedroom. She turned her head and moved her ears to listen more carefully. She could hear the sheets and blankets being flapped in the air before they were smoothed out over the bed and the thump, thump as Marie patted the pillow into place. Then Marie was standing at Squeaky's doorway.

"Did you give Teddy his lunch and put him to bed for a nap?" Marie asked.

"Yes," replied Squeaky. "He really likes cheese and he went right to sleep. He was so tired."

"Good," said Marie," because today we're going to do something very special. Today we're going to ride the bus downtown and go shopping."

"Hurray!" shouted Squeaky, for she truly loved going out to special places and seeing new things.

"Alright, let's get you washed and changed, " said Marie, "Then we can go."

Squeaky was so excited she could hardly stand still. She skipped around the house and danced up and down as she sang:

"I love to go downtown
I love to go downtown
And look all around
And look all around"

Aunt Marie had a hard time getting her dressed. But, finally it was done and they were on their way.

It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm and Squeaky was very, very happy. She hopped up and down and kicked stones with her shoes as they walked to the bus stop.

They arrived just in time because when they got to the stop, the bus was turning the corner and coming down the street towards them. Aunt Marie helped her up the big steps and then gave her some coins to put into the change box. Squeaky loved to hear the sound of the coins clinking down into the metal box. She always asked to put the coins in herself because it made her feel all grown up and very important.

Together, they sat down on the seat behind the driver. Aunt Marie always chose this seat so Squeaky could see out the big windows at the front. That way she could watch the cars coming towards them and look at other things that were happening on the street.

Squeaky looked at herself in the driver's mirror. She saw a little mouse with brown eyes, brown hair and pink ears. She also saw Aunt Marie, the other passengers, and the bus driver. When the driver looked up and saw Squeaky watching him in the mirror, he smiled and winked at her. Squeaky was so embarrassed she hid her face in Aunt Marie's arm and kept it there for a long time.

When she finally decided to lift her face and look around again, they were already downtown. There were big buildings along both sides of the street and many people walking on the sidewalks and in and out of the stores.

At the next bus stop Aunt Marie reached out and took Squeaky's hand. Together they went down the steps and into the street.

Squeaky was surrounded by big people. They pushed her and bumped her as they hurried here and there. It made her feel very small and suddenly she was afraid. She was glad her aunt was holding onto her. She squeezed Marie's hand and held onto it tightly.

That day, they visited many stores downtown - a shoe store, a jewelry store, a grocery store. But Squeaky will always remember one store most of all - the clothing store!

Aunt Marie wanted a new skirt and blouse. She had already looked through the catalogue at home and couldn't find anything she liked. In the stores downtown she could try the clothes on, see how they looked, and find the right fit.

Squeaky had been to clothing stores with her mommy. They had tried on hats and shoes and pants and sweaters. One time Squeaky was even allowed to pick out her own clothes to try on. She liked dressing up. It was fun.

Today was different. Squeaky had a strange feeling deep inside as Marie pushed her around in the cart. It almost made her feel terrible. It was the kind of feeling she felt when she was going to do something mischievous and naughty.

No matter how hard she tried to get rid of that feeling, she couldn't make it go away. In fact, it grew. It grew so big she couldn't stop it. She stood up and began grabbing things off the shelves and putting them into the cart.

"No!" said Aunt Marie. "You can't have those things." Then she put everything back and warned Squeaky not to do that again.

Everything was fine for a while. Then Squeaky got restless. She just couldn't sit still.

"Would you like to push the cart?" asked Marie.

"Oh, yes!" Squeaky replied. But she got into trouble again because she bumped the cart into a mannequin, a display, and the lady in front of them.

When they got to the ladies clothing section Marie stopped. She gave Squeaky a cookie and told her to stay nearby. Then Marie started taking skirts off the rack. She looked at their sizes, felt the material, checked the stitching and also the price tags. She was so busy she didn't notice as Squeaky quietly slipped away.

"Now for some fun!" said the naughty feeling inside Squeaky. She began running as fast as she could up and down the aisles and turning quickly around corners. She raced toward mirrors and then stopped, seeing how close she could get without hitting or falling into them.

Whenever she saw a saleslady, Squeaky darted in between the rows of clothing on a rack. She stood there, ever so quietly, trying not to breathe, with only her feet showing at the bottom. She was certain no one would find her because grownups didn't bent down to look under the clothes on a rack. She knew they only pushed them back and forth on the metal bar and looked at the prices.

After awhile, when everything was safe again, Squeaky left her hiding place and went back to running. That's when she found the special clothing rack. It had ladders at the ends just like the monkey bars at the playground. She knew she shouldn't do it, but that terrible feeling inside her was so strong. She was all the way up to the fifth rung and almost at the top when there was a big crash. Suddenly Squeaky was lying on the floor. The clothing rack was on top of her and the clothes had spilled all over.

People came running from everywhere. Squeaky saw the serious look on their faces and she began to cry.

"Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" asked one of the men.

"Looks like she landed on a pile of clothes," stated another man. "I don't think any of the metal hit her."

"Look at this mess!" said one of the ladies.

Someone lifted the clothing rack. Then Aunt Marie was kneeling on the floor beside her, talking to her, helping her get up, and holding her in her arms.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

Squeaky shook her head, snuggled against her aunt, closed her eyes, and cried some more.

Marie talked to the store manager and when she finished she picked Squeaky up and carried her outside.

"See what happens to a little girl who doesn't do as she's told," said Aunt Marie. "She gets into trouble, doesn't she?”

Squeaky nodded. "I'm sorry," she said in a soft, little voice.

"Next time, listen carefully, and do what I ask," said Marie. "Now let's go home. We'll wake up Teddy and have a snack."

Later that night, Squeaky heard Aunt Marie telling her mommy and daddy what had happened. They laughed when Marie described how funny Squeaky looked as she lay on the floor with the rack upturned and clothes spread all over.

But Squeaky didn't think it was funny. She was still embarrassed when she thought about all those people standing there and looking at her. She knew she wouldn't do anything like that again. Well, maybe not for a while.