Don’t touch!

“Oh, kids never listen!” sighs Mrs. Mouse. She has her little paws full with all her little kids. There are no less than eight of them! They run around all over the place and turn the little house underneath the big old oak-tree topsy-turvy. “Do leave the flowers on the table alone!” Yesterday she received a small bunch of violets from Mr. Mouse. It is so pretty and smells incredibly lovely.

Micky pulls his little sister’s tail so that one can hear her squeak all over. “Don’t do that! She gets hurt!” Mommy yells. She plops down onto the nearest chair and starts to cry softly. She is so tired and can’t sleep at night. The kids are just never ever quiet.

Daddy gets home by five o’ clock. He feels very sorry for his wife. He calls all the mice kids. He lets them sit quietly at his feet. He starts telling them a story:

“Once upon a time long, long ago there was a Barn owl which flew around in the veld. She was looking for delicious little mice buttocks to feed on. Mrs. Owl’s eyes are very sharp, and she sees clearly in the night.

Daddy Mouse always explained to his kids what is going to happen if they don’t listen. But one little one, Jason, always thought he was a little bit smarter than the others. ‘Tonight I’m definitely going home later than what Daddy told us. Why must I always listen to what he tells me? I’m so much smarter than my daddy!’

Mommy Mouse also explained to her little kids that there are certain things that a little mouse may never touch. They must especially be careful of some types of herbs and veld foods. If it is too brightly coloured, they must stay away from it. But alas, Jason decided his mommy speaks utter nonsense. He is much cleverer than his mommy.

The specific evening Jason enjoys visiting Simon a lot. After a while Simon’s mommy asks him when he is going home. ‘Oh no, Aunty, my parents really don’t mind me walking home in the dark. I’ll play a little while longer!’

They climb and clamber up against a tree and suddenly see the prettiest orange berries on a little shrub. A small voice is telling Jason: ‘Don’t eat any brightly coloured berries. They are poisonous!’ but another small voice tells him: ‘What does Mommy really know!’ He grabs one of the berries and puts it in his pocket.

While running home, the berry starts to annoy him, and he takes it out of his trouser pocket and gobbles it down. Suddenly he experiences a terrible tummy ache and can’t even walk one step. He falls down and starts crying: ‘Had I only listened to my parents!’

Daddy and Mommy Mouse are becoming very anxious when Jason isn’t home by dark. Daddy immediately decides to look for him. He runs along all the known tracks and after a while he hears a familiar little voice. He picks Jason up and puts him on his back. He runs as swiftly as possible to get him home as quickly as possible.

Mommy instantly sees what’s wrong! She gives him a big mouthful of milk. He feels much better straight away. This could’ve been so much different! His parents reacted quickly and saved him immediately.”

This is the reason why one must always listen to one’s parents. If one doesn’t do this, one can end up in life endangering situations.