Third Prize Winner - Junior Category

“The Foolish Mouse” by Paul Romeo Eje Bobadilla, is the Third Prize winning story in the junior category of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2016.

The Foolish Mouse

One cloudy afternoon, while Mr. Mouse was walking home from the nearest food station which was the rubbish bin, he saw Mr. Snake slithering back to his hole.

“Hello Mr. Snake,” said Mr. Mouse almost feeling shy.

Mr. Snake turned back and slid towards Mr. Mouse. They talked for a while and Mr. Mouse got to know something about his new ‘friend’. Since then, they would always get together and mostly, eat together.

Mr. Mouse didn’t know that all the things that his companion said were a lie. In fact, Mr. Snake was just befriending him because he wanted to make him into a nice, juicy meal.

One day, Mr. Snake found an opportunity to devour his prey, which was Mr. Mouse, completely. He planned to bite him off for good, but eventually felt sorry for him because he was such a good friend and he had done nothing wrong to him. He was also very kind and caring. So, he decided not to eat him anyways.

But it all changed one day. Mr. Snake got less and less attention from Mr. Mouse because he had met someone special, which was Ms. Mouse. They eventually fell in love with one another and decided to get married. The began to live happily together.

A year passed, and Mr. Mouse and Mr. Snake seldom talked to each other because Mr. Mouse was always so busy with his family.

One sunny afternoon, the two friends coincidentally met at a carrot garden while looking for food. Mr. Snake was annoyed when Mr. Mouse walked right past him without even saying ‘hi’. He started to feel that Mr.Mouse was treating him as if he never existed.

Mr. Mouse was not the kind of mouse that would ignore someone he knew, but, he changed when he married Mrs. Mouse. He became arrogant, ill-mannered and very rude.

Eventually, Mr. Snake began to lose his conscientiousness about eating Mr. Mouse because he was no longer a friend to him but a prey that is waiting to be eaten up. He plotted a plan against him. He thought of going to Mr. Mouse’s house when his wife and child were not around, to eat him and if they came back early and interfered, he would eat them up too.

Although he was cunning and dangerous, he could not find an opportunity to carry out his plan. He became very impatient and so, he asked help from someone who hated Mr. Mouse for his boastfulness. Pat, the earthworm, came and told Mr. Snake about his experience with Mr. Mouse. “I had just accidentally touched Mr. Mouse, and then he shouted at me for touching his ‘fragile’ fur. I will help you, Mr. Snake. I will distract Mrs. Mouse while you carry out your plan.”

The next day, Mr. Snake and Pat went to Mr. Mouse’s house. The plan was going well and Mr. Snake found an opportunity to strike. He slithered as near as he could get to Mr. Mouse and struck him at the back. He didn’t know how, but somehow Mr. Mouse managed to escape his grip. Mr. Mouse got away and realized the biggest mistake he had made to his good old friend Mr. Snake.

Their lives were never the same since then, and no one knows where the mice family has gone, ,in order to escape another possible attack from Mr. Snake. Maybe, Mr. Snake and Pat are thinking that their plan had failed, but they don’t know that they succeeded in teaching Mr. Mouse a very important lesson.