A Town and Country Mouse Christmas
by Kristi Wright
Snurt the Mouse lived a simple life. His hole in the forest was snug, and his diet consisted of seeds with the occasional fruit treat. He was content to spend his nights foraging and his days dozing.
With Christmas near, his cousin, Ely, arrived for a quick visit. Ely lived in a grand mansion in a bustling town.
“What a charming little hole,” he said, his nose sniff-sniffing. “It’s terribly refreshing to experience the simple life for a change.”
“I’ve never seen a mansion before,” said Snurt. “Is it different from a hole?”
“You have no idea. It’s absolutely huge. You could scurry for days without seeing it from end to end. And at Christmas, the decorations are magnificent with color and sparkle and greenery everywhere. It smells like a forest, only better. And the food! Cakes and cookies galore. The crumbs are positively divine.”
“Wow,” said Snurt.
Ely cocked his head and his eyes gleamed. “I’ve had the most delicious thought. We’ll return to my home—immediately. There you will experience a truly glorious Christmas.”
Though Snurt’s tummy felt awfully queasy at the thought of leaving his cozy home, he allowed himself to be swept off to the city for a Christmas adventure.
When they arrived, Snurt’s first thought was that cities were horribly noisy. Monstrous machines honked and screeched, and humans were everywhere, even at night when they should have been fast asleep. The mansion was amazing. It was hard to believe that anyone actually lived in such an extraordinary place, let alone a tiny, though elegant, mouse such as Ely.
Snurt’s head spun as he took in the strange wooden objects called furniture and the metal ones, called lights, that were as bright as the moon and hung from above. The delicious food was sweeter than fruit, but it also gave Snurt a tummy-ache. There was a huge tree in the middle of one of the rooms. It was covered in lights and funny balls of color.
“It grows in the middle of the mansion!” Snurt said.
“It’s not growing, silly!” said Ely. “Why, it’s not even real. The family’s allergic to real trees. This is a Christmas Tree, made from something called plastic, and they’ve scented the whole place with a fragrance called ‘Evergreen.’ It’s so much better than real tree scent!”
Snurt thought it smelled kind of stinky, not better at all, but he didn’t want to hurt his cousin’s feelings.
As he stared at the tree, he heard a growl and then a hiss.
Oh-no! A cat!
He jumped and ran as fast as he could. The cat gave chase. Snurt managed to climb the plastic tree and hide behind one of the colorful balls.
Then he heard barks, and three dogs charged into the room. He nearly fainted. He saw Ely up on one of the huge pieces of furniture, laughing and laughing.
“My dear Snurt, you aren’t scared are you? They’re only pets, easily outwitted.”
Snurt was very scared. This wasn’t his idea of a happy Christmas. He missed his snug little hole and his simple little life.
“I’m sorry, Ely, but this elegant life is not for me,” he said.
As soon as the cat and dogs lost interest in him, he scurried down the plastic tree, said his goodbyes to Ely and rushed home. Once he was back in his snug little hole, he gave thanks for his cozy and quiet life.
Christmas in the forest couldn’t have been sweeter that year.
Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.
Inspired by Aesop’s Fable The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse
