The Snake and The Mouse

Mr. Mouse was a clever mouse; he always found the juiciest berries, he always found the safest hiding spots, and he never got caught with his tail between his legs. He knew the island like the back of his paw and he was going to be the best mouse the island had ever seen!

Mr. Mouse liked to live dangerously, enjoying the thrill of the chase and outsmarting his pursuers. The birds were too clumsy, and the cats were too big, but the snakes were the perfect rivals. They were quiet, and they were sneaky, but they were never quiet or sneaky enough to catch Mr. Mouse!

There was one snake that was determined to catch Mr. Mouse, and his name was Mr. Snake. Mr. Snake had green scales and a brown belly, making him the sneakiest of all the snakes on the island. He laid the craftiest traps and had the fastest bite, but he could never bite Mr. Mouse.

-=-

One day, Mr. Snake was determined to catch that pesky Mr. Mouse, and made his trickiest trap yet. He left a pile of the juiciest berries in a small clearing, and he hid in the grass nearby, ready to pounce. No one could see him, not even Mr. Mouse! He was sure that his plan would work, and he waited for Mr. Mouse to come.

Mr. Mouse did come, because Mr. Mouse always found the juiciest berries on the whole island. He walked right up to those berries, not a care in the world, and began stuffing his face! Mr. Snake smiled; his plan was working! Mr. Mouse had no idea he was there. Mr. Snake lunged at Mr. Mouse…

and he missed! Mr. Snake’s fangs closed on air as Mr. Mouse climbed a nearby tree to safety. Mr. Mouse laughed at Mr. Snake and called down to him:

“Haha! You were really close this time Mr. Snake! If I hadn’t been the smartest mouse on the island, you may have caught me! Unfortunately, I am the smartest mouse on the island, and you’ll never catch me!”

“I let you get away Mr. Mouse! You know if I catch you, I won’t be able to practice my hunting skills because all the other mice are too scared to come near where I live!” replied Mr. Snake.

“Was that a compliment my forked-tongued friend? You flatter me, but I’m only as smart and quick as I am because you’re so sly!” Mr. Mouse shouted back. “Until next time!” And just like that, he scurried away into the forest.

-=-

Mr. Snake sighed and slithered back home; he was very upset. Mr. Snake was greeted by his partner, Mrs. Snake, and their two children. They were all very hungry.

“Sweetheart,” said Mrs. Snake, “did you not have any luck hunting today?”

“No sweetheart,” answered Mr. Snake, “that Mr. Mouse got the better of me again! I don’t know what to do!”

Mrs. Snake thought for a second, and then exclaimed; “I know! Why don’t you take some food from the human’s kitchen at the resort? They have plenty of food to spare, they won’t even know it’s gone!”

Mr. Snake looked worried; “You know why sweetheart; those humans are very scary, and I don’t think I would last ten seconds in there before they catch me. It’s too dangerous!”

“Please sweetheart, think of the children!”

Mr. Snake turned to look at his children, who had been hungry for many days. He looked into their eyes and he knew that he had to try. Maybe the humans wouldn’t notice him if he was quick enough?

Mr. Snake slithered away from his home, determined to get some food for his family.

-=-

Mr. Snake left the safety of the tall grass and wriggled along the stone path. When he got near the kitchen door, he poked his head round the corner - there was no one there! And better yet, he saw an entire leg of meat just lying on the counter just waiting for him! But he had to be quick, who knew when the humans would come back? There was another door to the kitchen, so he would have to be careful.

Mr. Snake quickly slid along the tiled floor and began to climb towards the meat; he was so close! He was just about to grab it, when all of a sudden…

BANG!

The other kitchen door flung wide open, and the chef marched in! He saw Mr. Snake, and he was angry! Mr. Snake was really scared, and he dashed towards the door to try and escape. He was fast, but the chef was fast too, and he stood on Mr. Snake’s tail! Mr. Snake yelped in pain, but he managed to wiggle free and run away into the grass, where the chef could not see him.

-=-

Mr. Snake slithered slowly through the forest; he was very hurt and could not move very fast. He did not know what to do; he could not hunt if he was injured but his family would not last much longer without food.

All of a sudden, he heard a rustle above him in the branches - it was Mr. Mouse.

“Mr. Snake! You are not looking so well, that’s a nasty looking bump on your tail! How ever will you catch me now?” jested Mr. Mouse.

Mr. Snake hung his head and spoke glumly, “Mr. Mouse, I need your help.”

Mr. Mouse’s jaw dropped - was he hearing him right? “Mr. Snake, what ever could I help you with? You’ve been trying to eat me our entire lives!”

“My family has no food.” replied Mr. Snake, “I tried to take some from the greedy human’s kitchen, but the chef saw me and stomped on my tail. Now I cannot hunt and my family will go hungry.”

Mr. Mouse was sceptical: “Everyone knows that snakes are liars and tricksters. How do I know you won’t trick me and eat me?”

“I am a trickster? You take great pride in your trickery when you have outsmarted me time and time again, does that make you a snake?” Mr. Snake retorted hotly. His eyes softened quickly: “Please, if not for me, then for my family, for my little children.”

Mr. Mouse thought long and hard about what Mr. Snake was saying. He was not a popular mouse by any means, he did not have any friends because he was so proud of his quickness and intelligence. In some ways, Mr. Snake was the closest thing to a friend he had; their rivalry pushed each other to outthink and move faster than each other. He knew the reputation that snakes had, that they would lie their heads off to lure you in so they could catch you. But Mr. Snake wasn’t like that; he wasn’t even sure that Mr. Snake would eat him if he ever got caught. He needed help: he was hurt and his family was at risk. Who would Mr. Mouse have if Mr. Snake was gone?

Mr. Mouse finally spoke: “Ok, Mr. Snake, I will help you take some food from the kitchen. I have a plan, I just need to get some berries.”

Mr. Mouse scampered off into the forest whilst Mr. Snake waited for him to return. He was grateful for Mr. Mouse’s promise to help, but was unsure if he would come back; he could not go back home empty-handed again.

Mr. Snake furrowed his brow in thought; despite their differences, he knew Mr. Mouse very well, and he knew that he was not a liar. He would be back.

-=-

The sun had moved from high in the sky to just above the ocean horizon by the time Mr. Mouse had returned.

“There you are Mr. Mouse, I was beginning to worry you weren’t coming back.” Mr. Snake called out.

“Not to worry Mr. Snake,” said Mr. Mouse, “I told you I had to get some berries didn’t I?”

“What are they for?” Mr. Snake had a puzzled look on his face, “You know I can’t eat these.”

“They’re not to be eaten, they’re for painting, specifically for painting you! You see, lots of animals, including snakes, make themselves very colourful to show that they are poisonous or venomous, so they don’t get eaten!” explained Mr. Mouse.

“But I’m not poisonous or venomous! What good would that do?”

“Well, we know that you’re not, but those humans won’t know the difference! One look at your colourful scales and they won’t come close!” Mr. Mouse rubbed his paws together; he loved a good plan.

“But what’s to stop them from stopping me from taking the meat?”

“I’m glad you asked: truth be told, I’ve been taking stuff from the kitchen for a long time. Sometimes berries get a bit boring, y’know? But this one time one of the chefs saw me, and I thought for sure I was a goner! But he was scared of me! Ran right out of the kitchen screaming with his hands in the air!” Mr. Mouse laughed, “I couldn’t believe it, I just walked right on out!”

Mr. Mouse then began to explain the plan whilst he was painting Mr. Snake: Mr. Mouse would scare away the chef who was scared of mice, whilst Mr. Snake grabbed the meat, and if the other chef came in, he would see a very colourful and “venomous” snake and not go anywhere near it, whilst Mr. Mouse ran away.

“It’s foolproof!” Mr. Mouse reassured Mr. Snake; “We’ll get that food in no time, and your family can eat.” He smiled at the now brilliantly coloured Mr. Snake, who gave him a sly smile back.

“Ok Mr. Mouse, let's do this!” smirked Mr. Snake.

And as the sun set lower, the most unlikely pair travelled back across the island towards the kitchen.

-=-

Mr. Mouse and Mr. Snake both heard a voice singing in the kitchen when they got closer to the door:

“That is the chef that’s scared of mice!” Mr. Mouse said when he poked his head round the doorframe, “He can’t really sing that well.” he chuckled.

“So you remember the plan? As soon as the scaredy-chef is out of the kitchen, you’ve got to grab the meat and run for it!” asked Mr. Mouse?

“Got it!” said the rainbow-coloured Mr. Snake, looking around cautiously; he did not want to get stepped on again.

Mr. Mouse sprang into the kitchen at full sprint, running around the chef’s ankles and generally trying to make himself as imposing as possible - or as imposing as a mouse can seem to a human.

“AIIIEEE” screamed the chef, leaping a full foot into the air upon lying eyes upon Mr. Mouse before fleeing from the kitchen.

Mr. Mouse was doubled over laughing, “I can’t believe it! How can anything that big be scared of little old me?” He wiped his eyes before looking over to Mr. Snake,

“Quickly Mr. Snake!” called Mr. Mouse. “We won’t have much time before the other chef comes, and we need to be gone before then!”

It was Mr. Snake’s turn to get busy; he glided across the polished kitchen tiles and wriggled his way up the kitchen counter. Wrapping himself around the meat, he jumped down and bolted for the door, with Mr. Mouse not far behind…

BAM! The kitchen door burst open, and the other chef - the one that stepped on Mr. Snake - angrily marched in and cornered Mr. Mouse with a giant net! Mr. Mouse seemed to shrink against the enormity of the chef. For the first time in his life he had been caught, and he was very scared.

Mr. Snake had dragged the meat to the door, and looked back to see Mr. Mouse cowering in the corner; it was the first time he had seen Mr. Mouse be afraid. Mr. Snake hesitated; his family were starving and this meat would keep them fed for a long time. But upon deeper thought, Mr. Snake realised that he did not want to see Mr. Mouse go; they were friends, and he was putting himself in danger to help Mr. Snake and his family.

With lightning fast precision, Mr. Snake lunged across the kitchen tiles and bit the angry chef right in the leg!

“OW!” yelled the angry chef, until he saw the very colourful Mr. Snake coiled below him, at which he began to panic: “AIIIEEE! I’ve been bitten by a venomous snake!” before he promptly fled the kitchen just like scaredy-chef.

“Come on Mr. Mouse! We have to go!” shouted Mr. Snake as he re-wrapped himself around the meat.

“Y-Yeah, right behind you!” replied Mr. Mouse, still in shock at the events that had occurred. He scampered after Mr. Snake as they both disappeared back into the safety of the jungle.

-=-

The pair stopped close to Mr. Snake’s house where they both collapsed from exhaustion, and tried to catch their breath. The colours on Mr. Snake’s scales had rubbed off in their escape, so he had returned to his natural green and brown scales.

“Why did you come back?” Mr. Mouse asked in between heavy breaths, “You had the food, you risked yourself to save me; why did you do it?”

“Friends don’t leave each other behind.” replied Mr. Snake. “You had proven the nature of our friendship in helping me get food for my family, and I felt it was only right to look out for you the way you were doing for me.”

Mr. Mouse was taken aback, “We’re… friends?”

“Well, what else would you call it?” Mr. Snake said with a smile. “I can go back to hunting you if you’d rather.”

Mr. Mouse thought for a moment; he had never had a friend before. Despite the fact that Mr. Snake was his natural predator, their previous rivalry had surpassed just trying to outsmart each other, he saw that now.

He smiled at Mr. Snake, “Yeah, I think I would prefer friends.”

“Well I’m glad you want to be, because I have something for you.” said Mr. Snake. He reached under the meat he was wrapped around and produced the most yellow, most scrumptious, most perfect slice of cheese that Mr. Mouse had laid eyes on. He passed it over to Mr. Mouse, whose eyes were practically bulging out his head.

“Thank you so much!”

“No, thank you for your help Mr. Mouse. I’ll see you soon.”

“It’s no worries Mr. Snake, you take care of yourself.” replied Mr. Mouse.

After they had exchanged farewells, Mr. Snake dragged himself and his food back into his home where he was met with the squeals of delight from his children and relief from Mrs. Snake that he was home. Meanwhile, Mr. Mouse climbed to the top of the tallest tree on the island and feasted upon the most glorious slice of cheese ever to be eaten, happy that at last he had a friend.