"Attention! Can I get everyone's attention?" Timothy, the colony leader, called through the his megaphone, which happened to be a leaf from the nearby pecan tree rolled into a cone shape.
The mice at this particular colony meeting quieted down and turned towards Timothy.
"Thank you," Timothy smiled, "I have called everyone here today to talk about a very important topic."
Timothy really hated to bring up this topic, but it had to be done. He worried what
it might do to Don, the colony's oldest resident, who had also fought in the
Great Mice and Cats War of 2008. Summoning up all of his leadership ability and
the most courage his five inch frame could muster, he plowed onwards with his
speech.
"You are all probably aware the Miller family has adopted a new...
well, a new cat."
Small gasps and frightened nods could be seen in the audience.
Timothy continued, "I think we need to do something about him. He has
learned he can taunt us by sleeping right outside of our hole. We are living in
fear at all moments! What suggestions do you have to help us vanquish the
cat?"
Suddenly there was an excited murmur of mouse voices. Timothy knew that this
had been a constant worry on all of their minds. He counted on the fact that at
least some of the mice had already been thinking of solutions.
Robert, the mouse in charge of colony food stores, raised his paw.
"Well, what if we slipped some sleeping medicine into the cat's
food?" Robert always came up with plans related to food.
There were immediate groans.
"No, Bob, the cat already sleeps enough!" "He'll wake up
eventually and we will be back to square one." “Wow, Robert, just wow.”
"Well, what if we were to open the door and lure the cat outside into
the great outdoors?” Winnie, the colony’s school teacher, suggested.
There was a moment while the colony considered this plan. Mice scratched
their heads as they considered every aspect of this idea.
“The cat can just ask the humans to be let back inside. This is not the long-term
solution we are needing,” someone in the back stated.
Timothy noticed a little paw that just barely made it past the shoulders of
the older mice. “Yes, Junior? Do you have an idea?”
The tiny mouse stepped forward and cleared his throat. “I think I have an
idea. What if we just put a bell on the cat’s neck? Then we would always hear
when the cat is around and we wouldn’t have to be afraid of the cat sneaking up
on us.”
All mice sat stunned by the idea and then cheered simultaneously. Timothy was amazed they had not thought of such a brilliant idea before today. He thought of a life without constant fear of the cat. Junior was beaming.
Suddenly, Timothy heard a mouse clearing his throat. Don, the Great War veteran, shuffled to the front and held out his paw for the megaphone. Timothy did not know what else to do, but he handed Don the megaphone.
"That is a great plan, Junior. Quite a nice plan, indeed. But I have to ask, who is going to put the bell on the cat's neck?"
Suddenly there were many excuses as mice began to make their exits from the meeting.
Don sighed and turned to Timothy to say,
"
It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it."
Author's Note: This is based one the Aesop's Fable called "Belling the Cat". My story follows the same plot, but I wanted to add more details to better paint the picture for readers to imagine a group of mice scheming to stop the cat. The original story can be found in
The Aesop for Children by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919).
