Alice by Ed Lindsey (best summer reads TXT) 📕

case may be. The door came into the living room and nothing was disturbed, as he whispered to the woman to find her location. She let out another war cry, and loudly proclaimed she was in the kitchen and now her bladder thanks to him gave loose and now was all over her new kitchen chair! Something he definitely was not going to tell the children about. He heard where the sound came from and moved with great care not to be heard by the animal. His footfalls were silent as he neared the doorway. He peeked around the corner of the doorway and almost fell backwards laughing at the sight he bestowed. A woman of great proportions was on this little kitchen chair armed with a broom, and a look on her face of complete disgust, and she was on guard against a little white mouse, in which was now drenched in this woman’s urine and the mouse was looking straight up at her with a lot of curiosity and shivering from being wet. The woman had to tip the scale of at least 380 lbs. and the mouse which was almost drowned a mere few ounces. Mr. Jenson told the woman to be very still so he could net the poor defenseless animal. He walked to the back side of the mouse and shortly the animal was netted and put in a cage. The woman paid him $50.00 for getting rid of the disgusting creature, and she did not know why the previous owners of the house did not take their pet with them, but she was going to find out. Mr. Jenson thought about giving the money back, because he thought he should be paying her for the show he just witnessed. But, the animal would need feed and bedding and medicines so he thanked the woman and was off. He took the animal back to his store and brought it out of the cage with his leather gloves on, and was washing and drying the poor creature off when he noticed something strange about the mouse. The mouse had no tail; he examined it closer thinking maybe it was born with no tail. He got his magnifying glass out of his drawer and upon closer inspection found a little scar on the little mouse's rear where it healed by itself. Well, whatever happened to you little fellow I certainly hope you have become faster in your travels. And that is when Mr. Jenson named him Pokey. Course this was nothing to tell the children and all he was going to say was he did not know and which he didn’t know, how this mouse lost its tail.

Chapter 6

The bell rang and the children all were herded back into the classroom. After a brief calamity over seating arrangements, the children settled down. Their big wide eyes were now focused on top of their teacher’s desk, and the covered cage. A strange looking man was standing beside the cage and he was thin with intense blue eyes as he tried to hold the children’s gaze as their eyes went back and forth from the cage to him. Miss Lawson then introduced him to the class, and he slipped the cloth off the cage. The children’s eyes were big as saucers, as they looked at the tiny creature that was inside the cage. Alice was completely captivated by the mouse as Mr. Jenson talked about the mouse and its many uses and benefits to man. Mr. Jenson asked if anyone would like to see it up close, and hold the mouse, and many hands went up. Mr. Jenson took the mouse out of the cage very carefully and went around to each child, and let them hold the squirming creature and pet it. They all heard the mouse’s name and the tail was not even mentioned by anyone. Alice got to hold the mouse, and pet it, and the mouse wiggled its whiskers with glee, and then it was Bobby’s turn and Mr. Jenson went to hand it to Bobby, and Bobby was in his seat holding his hand out when the mouse jumped. The mouse was on the floor, and in a hurry went between Mr. Jenson’s legs as fast as its little legs would carry it. It then slipped under the classroom door and was out to freedom with Mr. Jenson following it. After he searched for a little while he came back in and told the class not to worry that the mouse would show up again and he hoped that everyone enjoyed the mouse, and when he got the mouse back, that Bobby would be the first one to hold it, and pet it. Miss Lawson thanked Mr. Jenson for his show and tell and told him that she was sorry that he lost Pokey as Mr. Jenson picked up the empty cage and headed back to his truck. Mr. Jenson said not to worry that he would find Pokey, or someone would spot him and he would get him back again.
Miss Lawson went back into the classroom, and with her helper had each one of the children wash their hands in the bathroom. Miss Lawson and her helper, then brought out milk and cookies for each of the children; after she was done she sat behind her desk and was eating one of the cookies with them, and thinking about what each child would become when he or she grew up.
Chapter 7

Miss Lawson and her helper cleaned up the remains of the treats, and the helper went home, being she was needed no longer. Miss Lawson told the children to put their heads on their desks while she read them a story. Miss Lawson was taught that little minds do need a nap after learning and eating. So she was hoping that the children might enjoy a half hour nap before their rides came to pick them up. She picked out Sleeping Beauty and began to read out loud as she noticed little eyelids droop and fall off to sleep. Alice was listening to Miss Lawson’s voice and it was getting so it was fading and finally she heard nothing. Her then her eyes flew open and there was Pokey on her desk looking straight at her. Pokey was moving his mouth, and his whiskers were twitching, as if he was telling her something. She wished she knew what he was saying, and then suddenly his whiskers touched her face, and tickled her, and she was instantly as big as the mouse. She was not frightened as Pokey was speaking to her, and she was hearing every word he said. His voice got clear, and she no longer had to strain to catch his words. Pokey wanted her to play, and he wanted to show her where he lived before Mr. Jenson picked him up. She told him that it would be alright as long as they were back in a half hour and before her mother arrived to pick her up, after all the other kids were sleeping, and her teacher was busy taking down the coloring projects, and sorting them out, so the children could take them home with them. Alice asked Pokey how they were going to get off of this desk as Alice was peering over the edge and it looked like a mile drop. Pokey said; No problem Alice just jump on my back and hang onto my fur real tight. So Alice did as she was told and Pokey then first jumped from the desk to Alice’s seat and then on to the floor. And Alice looked around amazed and giddish, because when Pokey jumped, and they were in the air, it tickled her tummy and before she knew it Pokey and she were past Miss Lawson and under the crack in the classroom door. Alice was still on Pokey’s back when they reached the outside and the mouse said: I will take you to the place I use to live. It is only a couple houses down this street and it will be so much fun. Just stay on my back and I will give you a ride. No one saw them because Pokey stayed in the long grass as he slipped under the door of his old home. Pokey said to Alice We have to be very quiet the big woman who now lives here does not like mice. Pokey looked around the living room and went to a hole in the wall underneath a couch undetected. Pokey made this hole when his owners let him out to play, he never had an idea that he soon would be needing this when his owners left and forgot him! They both were now inside the hole in the wall but Alice could see very clearly, because Pokey went right through the opposite wall when he made the first hole and it let light in from the other hole. Alice got off Pokey’s back and was standing on the floor, with her nosed turn in the air, wondering were that wonderful smell was coming from. Alice peered through the other hole which led into the kitchen and she saw that the big woman must be out somewhere, because she was no where in sight. Alice stepped out of the hole, and looked around the kitchen until her eyes caught what was making that wonderful smell. Above the counter, and on a shelf, and sitting before an open window, the big woman had just made 2 apple pies, and she left the window open for them to cool. Alice’s stomach began to rumble and wanting a bite of that pie. Pokey came out of the hole to see where Alice went, he was very cautious because he did not want to get wet or screamed at by the big woman again. Alice was pretty far away from the hole, and letting the pies rule over her senses. Pokey got near Alice who now was 7 feet away from safety, and then he heard a slight thump and turned to see a cat covering his hole. Pokey screamed and Alice then broke out of her pie trance ,and turned to see what Pokey was screaming about. The cat came in through the open window earlier, and he saw that the woman left, and was walking to the grocery store after something she forgot to get. Pokey looked at the cat and recognized it as being the same cat that dismembered him. Pokey was quick that day and only lost his tail, but today the cat had them both dead to rights, both Pokey and Alice were under the kitchen table with no place to run. The cat inched forward with his bright green eyes on both of them. Pokey jumped out in front of Alice more to get eaten first and give Alice a chance to run an protecting her. The cat moved forward some more, and to them looked very huge as its shadow overpowered them. Pokey looked around to see if there was a way out of this situation, but gave up when he saw things helpless. The cat moved forward again, and it was close, and Pokey and Alice could see something protruding from the cat’s mouth. The cat was big and orange with a tinge of yellow on its fur and it had big green eyes just like in Alice’s coloring book page that she colored. They could both now smell the cat as the cat exhaled its breath on them, it was warm