Little Mouse in the Big City: Ch 3

As Sharon went to take a shower, Pipsqueak stayed in the corner of the open briefcase as Oliver ran around the table excitedly. Oliver was still a puppy, and Pipsqueak thought that he might rattle the table and send Pipsqueak tumbling to the floor. When Oliver heard the water shut off, he ran into Sharon’s room to see her. Pipsqueak was relieved that Oliver left him alone for the first time since they got home. Soon enough, Sharon and Oliver emerged and Sharon asked Pipsqueak if he was hungry for dinner. “Yes, but I don’t want to burden you. You’ve already been so nice to me, oh my goodness what with letting me stay here tonight and helping me get back home!” “Don’t worry about it, Pipsqueak! I’ll get you some grapes and walnuts. Oh, and I think I have some chocolate in here somewhere for dessert!” Sharon went rifling through her pantry and fridge to get Pipsqueak some food, and Oliver excitedly ran around her feet; he thought that she was getting food for him, too. As Sharon set the fruit and nuts on a plate inside the briefcase, Pipsqueak thanked her profusely. She went to put dog food in a bowl for Oliver, and then went to the stove to make dinner for herself. Eventually, Sharon and Oliver came over to the table and ate dinner with Pipsqueak. After the meal, Sharon went to wash the dishes, then she came back to Pipsqueak to ask him a question. “Pipsqueak, I know that you’ve been in my briefcase all day, I was wondering if you’d like to come down to the floor and play with Oliver? I’ll make sure that he doesn’t hurt you since he’s bigger than you are.” “Alright, Sharon, that sounds fun! As long as you make sure he doesn’t step on me or something!” Pipsqueak responded. “Don’t worry, Pipsqueak,” said Sharon, “I’ll set up a little pen and everything so that you guys are safe.”

As Sharon put together the final pieces of the plastic pen, Oliver was still running around excitedly while Pipsqueak sat nervously in the briefcase. Sharon went to the table and lifted Pipsqueak out of his little blanket nest, and held him in her hands while she sat down in the pen. She opened the doggy gate and Oliver came bumbling in, sniffing around the floor. As Oliver came closer to Sharon’s hands, Pipsqueak retracted more and more. Oliver stuck his tongue out and licked Pipsqueak’s head. “Yuck!” giggled Pipsqueak, as Sharon laughed as well. “See, Pipsqueak? He’s not that bad!” “Yeah, that kind of tickled!” said Pipsqueak. After that, Sharon let Pipsqueak onto the floor and watched as Oliver and Pipsqueak ran around. While Pipsqueak first was afraid of Oliver, now they were playing together like best friends! Sharon stepped out of the pen and supervised from farther away. After about 45 minutes, Sharon announced that it was time to get ready for bed.

After she put Oliver in his crate, she picked up Pipsqueak and carried him into the briefcase. “Pipsqueak, tomorrow I’m visiting the factory and that’s where I think your home is! If my research has been correct, I think that your family lives in one of our delivery trucks and it should be there tomorrow morning!” “Oh my goodness, that is the most exciting news I’ve heard all day! Wow, Sharon, I just can’t believe this! You’re the smartest lady I’ve ever met! Thank you so much for finding my home! I’ve had such a fun day with you but I’m so excited to go back home to my brothers and sisters!” Pipsqueak started running around the briefcase in excitement of the news. Sharon laughed and said goodnight to Pipsqueak, then went into her own room to go to bed.

Little Mouse in the Big City: Ch 2

The sudden bath of light was blinding. Sharon had set her briefcase on her desk and opened it to get out her files. When she saw Pipsqueak inside, she shrieked. Pipsqueak was scared and started running around the briefcase and onto Sharon’s desk. Trying to figure out what to do with the mouse on her desk, Sharon scooped Pipsqueak up in her hands and waited until he stopped wiggling. She held him firmly to calm him down and asked him who he was. “I’m Pipsqueak and I’m lost and I don’t know how to get home! Can you help me?” he squeaked nervously, still wiggling around. “Ok, Pipsqueak, I’ll help you. Can you tell me about where you live? Maybe I’m familiar with it.” Sharon responded.

               Pipsqueak explained to Sharon how he had seven brothers and sisters who all lived in a red house in a wooded forest. He told her how they all went to sleep together the night before but when he woke up, he was on cold concrete outside of a garage door and had seen Sharon walking and decided to follow her. Sharon wasn’t sure where the wooded forest that Pipsqueak had described was, but she knew that the Coca-Cola factory used red crates to ship their bottles. She thought that Pipsqueak might live in the factory somewhere, but didn’t want to give him any false hope. “Ok, Pipsqueak. I’m going to get to work on figuring out where you live. In the meantime, why don’t you stay in my briefcase. I’ll close the lid so it’s nice and dark and get you some cheese so you’re not hungry.”

               “Oh Sharon, thank you so much! That’s so nice of you! I knew you would be able to help me, I just knew it! Oh I’m so excited! You’re going to get me back home with my brothers and sisters!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. He was so happy that once Sharon placed him back in her briefcase, he started running around and clapping his little paws. Sharon smiled and chuckled as she walked to the kitchen to get her new mouse friend a snack.

               After getting to some work that she needed to finish, Sharon decided to take a break by looking in to Pipsqueak’s situation. He said that he lived in a red house in a wooded forest, so what could that mean to a mouse-baby? The red house most likely meant the red shipping crates, so where would there be enough empty crates for a family of mice to live? “I’ve got it!” thought Sharon. “We keep the surplus crates in the back of the truck in a big wooden box! That must be the forest he’s talking about!” Sharon opened the lid of her briefcase and lifted up Pipsqueak. “Pipsqueak, I think I know where you live!” she told him excitedly. “Oh my goodness, that’s so great! Sharon you are the nicest lady I’ve ever met I’m so happy that you know where my family is! You’re so smart and nice and helpful and –“ Pipsqueak was so excited by the news that he ran up and down Sharon’s arms while she laughed.

Once Sharon caught Pipsqueak again, she had to tell him how she would get him back home to his family. “I have a meeting with the factory manager tomorrow morning, so I can take you home tonight and bring you to the factory tomorrow. Hopefully the truck will be there so that you can return to your brothers and sisters.” Pipsqueak was so excited by the plan; he couldn’t wait to see his family again but he was also excited to spend more time with Sharon. He went back into the briefcase for the rest of the business day so that Sharon could work.

At 5 pm, Sharon told him that it was time to go home. She closed the briefcase lid, carefully carried it to the car, and drove to her apartment in NoDa. As she turned the handle to open the door, her puppy Oliver jumped up on her legs. Oliver was so excited to see Sharon after a long day at work. Pipsqueak, however, was spooked by the new sound and energy. He didn’t know what was barking and making the briefcase shake like that. Sharon set the briefcase down on her kitchen table and opened the lid. “Pipsqueak, I’d like you to meet my puppy, Oliver. He’s very sweet so you don’t have to be scared.”

Little Mouse in the Big City: Ch 1

              One warm December day, mouse-baby Pipsqueak opened his eyes to a surprise. The night before, he had fallen asleep in his warm bed, but when he awoke the next morning, he was not in his warm bed anymore. No, Pipsqueak was on a city sidewalk, cars and people rushing past him. Pipsqueak had a lot of questions: where was he, how did he get here, how will he get home? Putting on a brave face, Pipsqueak folded his mouse blanked into his mouse backpack and started following the crowd.

               He decided to follow a tall woman in a business suit. She was carrying a briefcase and talking on her phone to someone named Ronald, so Pipsqueak figured she knew where she was going and might be able to help him get home. After quickly walking for about 15 minutes, Pipsqueak looked up and saw that they were standing right outside the Duke Energy building. “Wow” thought Pipsqueak, “That is the biggest building I’ve ever seen! Hopefully someone in there knows how I can get home.” The woman started going into the revolving doors and Pipsqueak scurried behind her into the building. Still talking on the phone, she went straight into the elevators. Pipsqueak’s little legs couldn’t go as fast as she was walking, but luckily a man was rushing to get into the elevator and the woman held the door for him. The man and Pipsqueak made it into the elevator in time. “What floor?” asked the woman. “21^st, please” replied the man. “Alright!” she said, pressing the buttons for floors 21 and 48. “Wow!” thought Pipsqueak, “48 floors? I’ve never been that high up before!”

               After a seemingly quick ride in the elevator, the doors opened and the woman stepped out. Pipsqueak scurried behind her and was flabbergasted. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the entire city of Charlotte: Pipsqueak couldn’t believe where he was! When he looked around again, the woman was gone! Pipsqueak was scared, but then he saw her walking into a conference room in the corner. Running to catch up to her, he made it into the room just before the doors shut. “Hello gentlemen, sorry for my delay. Ronald here was talking my ear off and I guess I lost track of time.” The room laughed and a man, it must have been Ronald, stood up to speak.

               “Good morning everyone, I’d like to introduce our speaker today. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the current head of production for Coca-Cola, here is Sharon Stillman. Her professional focus is streamlining manufacturing in the factories and facilities, and this morning she will be speaking about factory productions and hygiene.”

               “Thank you, Ronald, for the lovely introduction. I’m very excited to have been invited here this morning, so let’s get stated.”

               As Sharon presented, Pipsqueak staying in the back of the room listening. She started talking about cleanliness in the factories and on the screen up popped a picture of a mouse! Upon further inspection, Pipsqueak saw that it was his brother, Whiskers! Pipsqueak was shocked! He didn’t know what to do, so when he saw that Sharon started walking around the rom, he ran to the podium and inside Sharon’s briefcase. In he dark and warm space, Pipsqueak quickly fell asleep. After what felt like a few seconds but must have been 30 minutes, Pipsqueak woke up to being shaken and tumbling around. The meeting was over, and Sharon was carrying her briefcase out of the room, back into the elevator, down the building and out onto the street.

15 minutes back and the shaking finally stopped. Sharon had reached her car and began to drive back to her own office. Now Pipsqueak really didn’t’ know where he was, but he hoped that Sharon would be able to help him get back home.