Pinkies in Trouble

Once upon a time... A long, long, long, long, long, long, long time ago... There was a tiny, little mouse called.... Percy Pink.

Now Percy was a very good little mouse but he was also a very bored little mouse because all he ever had to do was look after his even tinier, little brother Pedro.

Percy and Pedro lived with their mom and dad in a tiny little hole inside a really big house. All around the house were other tiny little holes with other tiny little mouse families. There were the Dips, the Dops, the Meeps and the Mops. But there was also someone else who lived in the big house... Carlos the Cat.

Every day, all the mommies and daddies went out to try and gather food, leaving all the little pinky mice to play. They all played really nicely together but had to be careful in case Carlos came wondering around. Luckily, the mommies and daddies had set up a warning signal. They had tied a piece of string across the door with a little tiny bell that would ring if Carlos came in.

One day, all the pinky mice were playing in the big mousey room together. All except Percy. 'I'm bored' he said to his little pinky friend Dippy Dip. 'We need some excitement in here. It's always the same old game.. Chase the Cheese.'

Chase the Cheese was a bit like tag but with one little pinky mouse being the cheese and has a 10 second start to get away. All the other pinky mice have to then try and catch the 'cheese' and the first one to tag gets to be 'cheese' next.

Amazingly, Pedro managed to become cheese for the next game. Percy looked at Dippy, Dippy looked at Percy. 'Watch this' said Percy and ran over to the doorway.

'Hey, Pedro! This way' called Percy. Pedro ran with all his might towards Percy with his head down. Faster and faster, he ran as fast as he could. Percy moved out of the way just as Pedro got close and Pedro ran straight through the string.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling, went the bell.

All the pinkie mice looked so scared, they all ran back to their homes. All the mommies and daddies heard too and came running back as fast as they could.

'Where is he?' shouted Daddy Pink. 'Where are the pinkies?'

All the pinky mice poked their heads out and looked straight at Pedro. 'It was him' they all said together.

Pedro tried to explain but Daddy Pink wouldn't listen. 'You could have been gobbled up' Daddy Pink said, 'now get in there and no more playing for you.'

The next day, all the pinky mice were out playing again. Pedro was playing ball with Floppy Mop. Percy and Dippy were sat in the corner again being bored. 'Watch this!' Percy said to Dippy.

'Can I play?' asked Percy as he walked up to the boys.

'Only if you promise you won't get me into trouble again like you did yesterday.' replied Pedro.

So Pedro, Floppy and Percy all stood together playing catch. Little by little, Percy kept moving and throwing the ball so that Pedro ended up standing by the door without even realising then with one almighty throw, Percy threw the ball over Pedro's head. Pedro, without even thinking, turned and ran to try and catch the ball.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling, went the bell.

All the pinky mice were terrified. They hadn't seen what had happened so they all thought Carlos the Cat was coming. They all ran as fast as they could back to their homes. Seconds later, all the mommies and daddies came running back too.

'Where is he?' shouted Daddy Pink. 'Where are the pinkies?'

All the pinky mice poked their heads out and looked straight at Pedro. 'It was him' they all said together again.

Pedro tried to explain, just like the day before, but Daddy Pink wouldn't listen. 'You could have been gobbled up!' Daddy Pink said, 'now get in there and no more playing for you. One day, Carlos will actually come in here and everyone will just think that the bell is you.'

Pedro went to his little room and cried. It really wasn't his fault that he had knocked the bell twice and everyone had seen what had happened but no one would say anything. Why was Percy being so mean? And why wouldn't he tell the truth about how and why the bell rang?

A few days passed with everyone playing nicely again. Even Percy seemed to be in a good mood and had been joining in again and playing like he used to. They were all running around playing chase the cheese or playing catch with the ball and no one noticed the big white cat staring at them from across the hallway.

Carlos had been watching for a few days. He knew that Percy had been making Pedro cross the string and he knew it was only a matter of time before Percy got bored and did it again and this time, he would be ready.

Carlos crept across the hallway as quietly as he could and hid just behind the door, waiting for Pedro to run out.

Sure enough, Percy did get bored again and tried everything he could to make Pedro run out, but Pedro had become wise to his brother's tricks and wouldn't go anywhere near the door, as much as Percy tried. Percy tried chasing him, he tried throwing the ball over but nothing could catch Pedro out.

Percy stomped back over to where Dippy was sitting and sulked. 'That little pinky knows all my tricks. I'm never going to be able to make him cross again now.' Percy said.

'Maybe you shouldn't then' said Dippy. 'You heard what your dad said. He said that one day, that bell would ring for real and no one would think it was Carlos because you kept sending Pedro over.'

'Yeah, yeah' said Percy, 'of course they'll come. They always do. Watch this!' Percy ran right up to the string. He looked across the hall but didn't see that Carlos was hiding right behind the door. Percy reached out and started pulling at the string.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Went the bell. Ding-a-ling-a-ling..

All the pinkies looked and saw Percy ringing the bell without a care in the world. Percy looked back 'You watch,' he called to Dippy, 'any minute...'

'MEOW' shreaked Carlos as his paw came crashing down on Percy's tail. Percy tried to get away but Carlos had him stuck tight. He lifted him high up in the air and was just about to drop him into his mouth when BANG, Pedro jumped right on Carlos's tail. 'MEOW' Carlos cried out in pain and dropped Percy back to the floor. Everyone ran for it. Carlos gave chase but the little pinkies were so fast. They darted here and there, backwards and forwards, Carlos didn't know where to go or which pinky to go for first. Before he knew it, all the little pinkies had managed to run back to their holes, leaving Carlos sitting in the big room all alone and very out of breath.

Just then, all the mommies and daddies came back and saw Carlos sitting in the middle of the room. 'CHARGE!' Mr Pink shouted as they all ran into the room and chased poor Carlos back out into the hallway and up the stairs.

'What happened? Where were you?' cried Percy when they all came back out. 'Carlos got me and would have eaten me if Pedro hadn't saved me!'

'I told you all that no one would come because no one would believe that the bell was real and that's exactly what happened.' said Mr Pink.

'But it was real this time, this time I didn't make Pedro .... I mean, Pedro... I mean, I...'

'What do you mean, you didn't make Pedro? You didn't make Pedro, what?!' Mr Pink interrupted.

Percy hung his head. 'It was all my fault' said Percy. 'I tricked Pedro into running through the string then I threw the ball over so Pedro had to get it and then when Pedro wouldn't fall for my tricks, I was ringing the bell when I got caught. I'm so sorry' he cried.

'Who else knew about this?' asked Mr Pink. All the little pinkies lowered their heads. 'You all knew and you all let Pedro take the blame? You should all be very ashamed of yourselves. I suggest you all apologise and head home. Your own parents can deal with you.'

'We're sorry Pedro!' they all cried and scarpered back to their homes.

'As for you, Percy. You will not be playing for a very long time. Your new job will be to sit by that door watching out for that cat and if I ever hear once that you call out for no reason, you will be grounded until you're old enough to come on the food run' Mr Pink said 'and believe me, that cat will be the least of your worries.'

'I'm so sorry' Percy cried again and went crying off to bed.

Since that day, Percy sits quietly by the door every day looking out for that big white cat because next time, they might not be so lucky.

The End.