William Wednesday

OK so when my kids were smaller they had a hard time getting to sleep. I came up with a couple of stories about a mouse and his friends. About a year ago one of my boys asked me to tell them a William the mouse story, which I did, and when I was done my youngest says, "Daddy you need to write them down so you can become an author and have them printed in a book. Not sure that will really happen ever but I decided to share them here and see what folks thought. Again please excuse the spelling and grammar. Every Wednesday for the next few weeks I will post a William story. Let me know what you think and if you really like them feel free to tell them to young ones that you know.


William the Mouse and A New Friend
By
Mark Krawczyk


In the really old house,
on top of the very large hill,
just outside of town lives William.

William is a mouse and this is a his tail…I mean tale.

William was just your average mouse. He had a short smooth tail and light gray fur that covered his body from back to front. His dark eyes were just in front of his little pink ears and looked like little black spots. He had five and a half white whiskers that stuck out from the tip of his long nose. You may ask how William lost his half of a whisker, that is a tale for another time.

Now William lived in a small hole in the kitchen wall of the really old house. In the hole is where he slept on a bed of shredded paper he made himself and it kept him very warm at night. During the day William explored the really old house and visited with his friends. William was a very friendly mouse who had made all kinds of friends with all kinds of animals and today he was about to make a new friend but he did not know it yet.

William had enjoyed the warm spring day running around the inside and the outside of the really old house, eating crumbs he found along the way and talking to the various animals he met. He could tell by the orange colored sky and long shadows on the ground that the sun was beginning to set. It was his favorite time of the day. William grabbed a piece of salty cracker he had found on the floor and headed for the attic of the really old house.

Being a mouse, the stairs were too big for him to take so to get to the attic William crawled up the pipes and boards that were in the walls of the house. It took a bit of time but soon William arrived in the attic.

No humans had lived in the really old house for years but there were still a few old boxes and pieces of furniture left in the attic. William made little mouse footprints in the dust where ever he went. He scurried across the floor of the attic and made his way to a small old table that was in front of a very large window, all the while he carried the cracker piece in his little teeth. William had just found his favorite sun set watching spot when he heard a ‘THUD’ behind him. The sound made him jump and turn around to see what had made the noise. That’s when he saw a box in the corner move.

William did not remember seeing another animal in the attic. His friend Bart the Bat was still sleeping so it could not have been him. Or could it? William just had to see who was in the box so he jumped down from the small table and hurried over to the moving cardboard box. William slowed down to a crawl as he got close to the box. He didn’t know what type of animal could be in the box and had to be careful. Though William was a friendly mouse, he was still a mouse and there were many animals that liked to eat mice.

When William got close enough to the box, he put his small paper thin ear against the side of the it. He could hear something moving inside, then he heard a voice.
“Hello is anyone out there? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Could someone please help me!!” the female voice yelled.

“I think I can help you. Are you hurt?” William asked.

“Oh thank you, thank you. No I am not hurt, at least I don’t think I am hurt. No I am not hurt but I am trapped. Could you get me out?” the voice from the box answered.

“Just minute and I will get you out.”

William looked at the window and he could tell that the sun was setting. He knew if he helped whoever was in the box he might miss the sunset, but helping the person was more important and besides there would be another sunset tomorrow. William immediately began to chew on the corner of the box. His teeth were sharp and the cardboard was weak. In no time at all he had chewed a large enough hole in the box to crawl through and that is when he met the owner of the voice inside the box.

The voice came from a little white mouse that was almost as big as William but thinner. The mouse’s fur was completely white and it had a short pink tail. Its eyes were bright red and its ears were the same color as William’s.

“Hello, I am William.”
“Oh thank you William, thank you. I am Wendy.” The mouse replied as it slowly stepped toward William, “ I was trying to get to that small crumb on the shelf when I slipped and fell into this box. I am ever so hungry and now I don’t know how I will ever get up there.”

“Well I have a large piece of cracker, I would be happy to share it with you.” William offered as he got closer to her. Their noses touched and Wendy giggled.

“You are too kind William. Yes I would love a piece of cracker if it’s not too much trouble.”

William smiled “Good then follow me.”

William ran through the hole in the box with Wendy right behind him. They raced across the floor and up the leg of the small table. William looked out the window and was happy to see that the sun had just started to disappear behind the trees. HE had not missed the sunset. He broke the cracker piece in half and pushed one piece over to Wendy.

“Thank you again for your kindness. How can I ever repay you?” Wendy asked as she took a bite of cracker.

“No need to Wendy. Enjoying the sunset with a new friend is good enough for me.” William replied as he took a bite of his piece of cracker. They smiled at each other and sat quietly as the sun disappeared while the night washed over the sky.