Another early morning for Mr. Mouse. But of course he would need the extra time if he was going to get all his jobs done perfectly. If only he knew what time it was! However it’s kind of hard to tell the time when your watch is in the hands of hyperactive monkeys that are one 120 times bigger than you.
His jobs were easy (thankgoodness for that) but it was the getting to them that was the hard part. He had 3 main jobs (and no minor jobs). The first and foremost was feeding his family. This was the most fun.
Second on the list was an odd one. He had to be the gorilla’s conscinece for a couple of hours. This one was important because he decided ot take the day off once and the gorilla had a fit. Then after the fit he wouldn’t eat, and he refused to sleep. So Mr. Mouse ended up going out in the middle of the night to be his conscience. He learned his lesson that time.
His third job, though it was still important, he did mostly out of compassion rather than because he had to. This job was to keep the oldest elephant company, and scratch his head. The same day he didn’t do his job with the gorilla, he also didn’t do his third job and the poor elephant got sick and his head became so itchy it swelled up.
Besides his job, he knew only a couple of animals. The monkeys, these were the animals that gave him the hardest time, hence the loss of his watch. Then there was the polar bear. Because he lived so close to the elephants, Mr. Mouse began to get to know him as he made his way past every day.
His nest was in the lion’s cage, which was dangerous, but it was the most natural habitat for him and the lions didn’t know about it. However, today he would have to be extra careful because the male lion was sleeping two feet from the nest.
As Mr. Mouse tiptoed past the lion, he thought of how he was going to keep- the gorilla happy. There were usually only three things on his mind. Food, drink, and weird creatures that walked by staring at him. So Mr. Mouse’s job was to keep his mind on the weird creatures walking by until food came.
He safely made his way through the lion’s cage and out onto the sidewalk where all the weird creatures walked. The creatures wouldn’t come out until an hour from now so Mr. Mouse had safe passage to the gorilla. He passed a couple of birds and a weird rock-jumping animal. He was coming close to the escalator when he passed the sleeping wallabies. He hopped onto the escalator and rose quickly up to the monkey trail. Here he would have to be careful, because the monkeys still knew who he was. He passed an aviary and started out on the monkey trail. The first monkey cage was empty, and the next one the monkeys were fast asleep. The one after that, the one he had to go through, had lively and playing monkeys jumping around.
He crept through the bars and passed through a little bit of underbrush. Then he found himself on the edge of a large clearing right under the largest monkey. He would have to make a break for it. One, two, three! He sprinted (scurried) as fast as he could, but the monkey still caught sight of him. All three monkeys were chasing him now, swinging through the trees as he tried desperately to get to the other side of the cage. Just a little more. And just as one of the monkeys tried to jump him, he made it. Thank goodness.
Because he had run through the monkey cage, he was early for the gorilla and the gorilla was still asleep. So Mr. Mouse just sat and waited, watching the weird creatures slowly trickle in.
Once the gorilla showed signs of waking, Mr. Mouse quietly got up and climbed onto the gorilla’s left shoulder (his right ear was deaf). Obviously the first thing the gorilla said was, “Food?” But Mr. Mouse quietly and soothingly said,
“Food does not exist right now.” And the gorilla said,
“Conscience?” So Mr. Mouse said,
“Yes, your conscience is here like always. Here to lead you, to guide you, to where you want to go.”
“Where do I want to go?”Mr. Mouse almost said,
“I don’t know. Its not like I’m in your brain.” But then realized that technically speaking, he’s actaully a part of the gorilla’s brain. So instead he said,
“You want to go where your conscience will lead you.”
“Oh. So where does my conscience want to lead me?” Mr. Mouse had to think about that one.
“It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is how you feel.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Thats not possible. Hunger only exists when food exists, and food does not exist right now, so hunger cannot exist.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
“I’m thirsty.” the gorilla says. And so the conversation between the gorilla and Mr. Mouse just went on an on like that until finally food came and Mr. Mouse said,
“Your consciensce must go now. Goodbye.” But the gorilla didn’t hear him.
Next stop Mr. Mouse would have to find food for his family. Every day after the Gorilla, he would stop in the employees lunch room for the Janitor’s cheese which he had in his lunch every day. Thankfully the janitor had a low IQ which gave Mr. Mouse the advantage of being able to steal cheese without the Janitor realizing it was being stolen.
Like all his other jobs, getting to them was the hardest job. Sneaking all around made him feel like a detective. First animal he passed, the Zebra’s. Beautiful creatures but kind of boring to look at. Next animal with lots of the wierd creatures crowding around was the hippo. Big feller, but bad manners. And the only view you get is usually his backside. But they’re interesting animals and you could watch them all day. Then there were all sorts of deer.Some of them had wierd names, like the tiny little one called a dik dik. Kinda makes you wonder how he could’ve gotten a name like that.
After passing the quiet, pacing hyenas Mr. Mouse finally reached his second destination. He slipped through the door, scurried across the linoleum and climbed up onto the table where the Janitor’s lunch box sat waiting for him. He opened the latches, climbed in and… no cheese. How could that be?
He climbed out of the lunch box and looked around. There it was! Behind the lunch box with the container’s lid propped open. That must mean must mean the Janitor already started his lunch. Mr. Mouse had to hurry! He quickly grabbed enough pieces for everyone and made his way back down to the floor.
But just as he reached it he heard the sound of rushing water, a door closing and the heavy footsteps of the Janitor. He hurriedly hid behind the nearest garbage can, being careful not to drop any cheese. The Janitor sat down grabbed his crackers, and then saw the cheese.
“Oh no, Gracie forgot to pack me extra cheese.”
‘funny how that seems to happen everyday.’ Mr. Mouse thought. While the Janitor focused on his lunch, Mr. Mouse focused on getting out of the lunch room. once again he crossed the linoleum to the exit where he got back out into the main zoo.
His last job, the elephant. The elephant was really close to the lions, so he could deliver the cheese before his last job. On his way there he passed the reptile house. Ugh! Those green slithery things were creepy. But that was probably because he knew that each and every one of them saw him as a delicious meal. He came up to his friend the polar bear but decided against talking to him when he saw the shredded bone in his teath and blood on his fur.
He ran across the walkway just as one of the big honking tour buses came through. Those things were very loud, but the wierd creatures seemed to be having a good time. He just kept moving until he passed some wierd looking vulture-like birds, and after that he got to the lions where he dropped off his families dinner and enjoyed his own meal. His last job with the elephant would go on until the old guy decided to go to sleep. This could mean he would be home early or late. Recently the elephant had been sending him home quite late and Mr. Mouse hoped he could be home early today.
When finished with supper he said goodnight to his kids and found his way to the elephant. However when he got there he found the elephant on his side fast asleep! Thankgoodness! He quickly ran back home and went to bed. But as he reached up to take off his tie he discovered that it was missing! It must of come off in the monkey cage. Oh no! The monkeys had his tie and his watch now!
THE END
