bruce0293's Journal

Mouse Story 
A mouse 
looked through the crack 
in the wall 
to see the farmer and his wife 
open a package. 

"What food 
might this contain?" 
The mouse wondered - 
he was devastated 
to discover it was a mousetrap. 

Retreating to the farmyard, 
the mouse 
proclaimed the warning. 

"There is a mousetrap 
in the house! 
There is a mousetrap 
in the house!" 
The e chicken clucked 
and scratched, 
raised her head 
and said,
"Mr. Mouse, 
I can tell 
this is a grave concern to you 
but it is of no consequence to me. 
I cannot be bothered by it." 

The mouse 
turned to the pig 
and told him, 
"There is a mousetrap 
in the house! 
There is a mousetrap 
in the house!" 

The pig sympathized, 
but said, 
"I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, 
but there is nothing 
I can do about it but pray. 
Be assured you are in my prayers." 

The mouse turned to the cow and said, 
"There is a mousetrap 
in the house! 
There is a mousetrap 
in the house!" 

The cow said, 
"Wow, Mr. Mouse. 
I'm sorry for you, 
but it's no skin off my nose." 

So, the mouse 
returned to the house, 
head down and dejected, 
to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone. 

That very night 
a sound was heard 
throughout the house -- 
like the sound 
of a mousetrap 
catching its prey. 

The farmer's wife 
rushed to see 
what was caught. 
In the darkness, 
she did not see 
it was a venomous snake 
whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake 
bit the farmer's wife. 
The farmer 
rushed her to the hospital 
and she returned home 
with a fever. 
Everyone knows 
you treat a fever 
with fresh chicken soup, 
so the farmer took his hatchet 
to the farmyard 
for the soup's 
main ingredient. 

But his wife's sickness 
continued, 
so friends and neighbors 
came to sit with her
around the clock. 
To feed them, 
the farmer butchered the pig. 

The farmer's wife 
did not get well; 
she died. 
So many people came 
for her funeral; 
the farmer 
had the cow slaughtered 
to provide enough meat 
for all of them. 

The mouse looked upon it all 
from his crack in the wall 
with great sadness. 

So, the next time 
you hear someone 
is facing a problem 
and think it doesn't 
concern you, 
remember -- 
when one of us is threatened, 
we are all at risk. 

We are all involved 
in this journey 
called life. 
We must keep an eye out 
for one another
and make an extra effort to 
encourage one another. 

Let those who have HELPED YOU OUT