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| Image created in Ai Bing by Helen |
This is a story about one little mouses dream, and I will tell you it as it was told to me by my grandmother and her grandmother before her. Mice love to keep stories alive. So here is the one about Nobby.
Nobby Mouse had always dreampt of being a tight-rope walker ever since his first trip to the mouse circus. He kept this dream alive in his head and one day when he was not a baby any more he said to his mother.
"Mother, I want to join the Circus."
His mother, being a sensible mouse, replied, "Nobby, don't be ridiculous, you need to find yourself a job that will support you and any family in the future you might have."
Nobby did eventually find a job in the cheese distribution factory, but he never let his dream die. In his spare moments he would practice with whatever he could find. However the best tight-rope he could find was his mother's washing line. So, when she was not using it, he crept into the garden and stole away with it.
"Nobby, have you seen my washing line? It seems to have disappeared."
"No, mother. Perhaps the Badgers stole it."
"Why would they want my washing line," she said shaking her head.
"Perhaps they didn't have one of their own, you know to hang their smalls out to dry."
"This is all very upsetting, now I will have to get another." Mrs. Mouse busied herself with her home duties, all the time muttering to herself about the line. Nobby pretended not to hear.
Now whenever Nobby had a chance, he would sneak away into the woods to the trees he had tied the washing line to and practiced his walking upon it. As time went by he became more proficient at it, enough to have the confidence to advertise his debut event. He designed a poster on which the words were written,(in very scrawly mouse writing,)
At two in the afternoon tomorrow, (his shift at the Cheese centre finished at one,) Nobby the Wonder, Will perform for your delight the daring act of Tight-Rope Walking. At the Clearing in the Wood. Be There or Be Square!
He fastened these notices to the trees through the wood.
The Time arrived and Nobby waited at the clearing. Slowly his audience started to appear. They sat beneath the washing line tight-rope and gazed upwards expectantly.
Nobby opened the little umbrella he held in his hand and climbed up onto the tight-rope. Not a sound could be heard as the audience held its breath while Nobby took his first step along the rope. Everything was going smoothly until he reached the middle, then he placed his foot at the wrong angle and for a long moment wobbled back and forth. The crowd let out a gasp in unison and one or two even covered their eyes. When they uncovered them again, Nobby had regained his balance and finished the walk to the end of the rope, where upon he jumped down and took a bow.
The audience clapped and cheered, as he bowed again. When he came out of his bow and looked over to the side, he saw his mother standing there with her hands on her hips.
"So that's where my washing line got to. Come here, I'll give you tight-rope walking." Her cheeks were puffed up and her face red. The audience gasped again as they look back and forth from Nobby to his mother.
"Not likely, Mum," shouted Nobby, "I'm off to join the Circus."
He dashed off and all that could be seen was a cloud of dust in his wake.
I wonder if he is now performing in a silver suit on a high wire to the appreciation of the crowds. I guess we'll never know.
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