The Adventures of Bruno

Once upon a time there was a little white mouse named Bruno. He had a loving family, especially a boy named Josiah who loved Bruno with all his heart. He played with the little mouse all the time, bought it yummy treats and toys, and even gave him dust baths to keep him clean.

Late one night Bruno was sitting in his cage looking through the bars out into the world beyond. He said to himself, "I wish I could get out of this cage and explore the world, I'm so cooped up!" So he tried and tried to get out, biting the metal bars of his cage and looking for every little nook and cranny until he found a way to squeeze his little mousey body out. Sweet freedom! He ran around on top of the dining room table enjoying himself. He found a box of cheerios and decided to have a snack, he was hungry after his escape! He munched on a few more things before the lure of exploration caught him again.

Scurrying down the legs of the table to a chair, and then a big jump to the floor and he was off! All night and all the next morning he explored all the hidey holes in the house. He found the doggy door and decided a look outside would be grand. Out he went, but it was a big, scary world out there. He hid close to the house and looked out at the marvelous but frightening jungle in front of him? All of a sudden, there was a loud BARK and Buster ran by, scaring the poor mouse. He tried to climb through a hole under the house but his side got scraped and he began to bleed.

He hid in the little hole for hours it seemed, wishing he was back in his nice, safe house with lots of goodies to eat, a wheel to run in, and a warm little house to sleep in. This wasn't fun at all anymore! It was scary and he was hurt. Then, all of a sudden Bruno heard the voice of his boy Josiah playing in the yard. He blinked back tears of joy and made a run across the frightening jungle of the backyard towards the laughter of his boy. They were playing in the water hose so it was sooooo wet, but that didn't deter him at all! With a squeek, he ran across their feet and waited to be picked up and returned to the love and warmth and safety of his little home.

Worn out and worse for the wear, he was so happy when he got back in his cage he just curled up in the little house and took a long nap. The moral of the story is that the grass often looks greener on the other side of the cage, but once you're out of the cage you usually wish you were back home!