04-A MOST BIZARRE MOUSE

A MOST BIZARRE MOUSE The plane landed thirteen hours later. My stomach was in knots, and not nautical knots, if you know what I mean! Did I mention I'm AFRAID of flying? A small hydroplane was waiting to take us to a place called Loot Island. According to my guidebook, the island was small and totally uncivilized. That meant no lights. No running water. No cheese logs by the pool. I sighed. Oh, how I love a nice cheddar cheese log. My thoughts were interrupted by a most bizarre-looking rodent. He had lots of curly black hair and was dressed in PURPLE shorts and a neon YELLOW

shirt with RED hearts. Around his neck hung a huge gold medal with the word SCRAM printed on it. "Yo, Mousey Mouse!" he greeted me and stuck out one chubby paw. I noticed a shark -tooth bracelet dangling from his wrist. "The name's ROUGH RAT RICKY, but everyone calls me BOUNCER," he announced. He squeezed my paw so hard, my eyes nearly popped out of my fur. Rancid rat hairs! That mouse had some shake. He was crushing every bone in my paw! I wouldn't be able to write for weeks! I was about to complain when I noticed

his tattoos. On his left arm, there was a picture of a hideous dragon. On his right arm, there was a ferocious cat with blood dripping from its jaws. I gulped. Yes, they were only TATTOOS— but they looked so real! What kind of a mouse liked such terrifying tattoos? I stared up at Bouncer. That's when I saw his ear. It looked like it had been chewed by a CAT! No, I wasn't going to mess with this rodent. Just then, Bouncer smacked me hard on the back. My whiskers nearly flew off my snout. "Ready to leave, Mousey Mouse?" he chuckled. I tried to squeak, but no sound came out. Bouncer had knocked the wind out of me.