07-HOW DO YOU DO？I'M DANIEL E. DEADFUR!

How Do You Do? I'M DANIEL E. DEADFUR! The plane took off with a sputter and a cough. For the next two hours, we sailed along without a problem. Then, all of a sudden, the plane began shaking. No, I don't mean a polite little trembly kind of shaking. I'm talking about violent, jerky shaking. It reminded me of the time I got locked in my great uncle Coldpaw's walk-in freezer overnight. I was shaking so hard from the cold I was seeing double! By the time they found me, I looked like a furry Fudge Pop! Miss Skinnyfur's voice interrupted my

thoughts. "Passengers are kindly requested to hold their passports between their teeth," she instructed. "This way, your fur will be easily identified in case we crash." I gripped my wicker chair tightly Maybe if I tried humming a tune I would feel better, I decided. Yes, a happy little jingle might do the trick. But before I could think of one, the mouse behind me beat me to it. Only he wasn't humming a happy tune. He was humming a song that made grown mice cry. It was called "Good-bye, Sweet Cheese, Good-bye." I turned around. I was snout-to-snout with a very odd- looking mouse. He wore a black wig and was dressed

all in purple from his tail to his whiskers. His mustache drooped sadly over his snout. He wore a very unusual watch on his paw. It had a picture of an open coffin with a smiling mouse lying inside! He was reading a book with a dusty cover. It was called A Rodent's Guide to the World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries. I gulped. I wouldn't want to run into this mouse in a dark alley. He was creepier than a GHOST cat on Halloween! "Allow me to introduce myself," the sad mouse said in a gloomy tone. "My name is Daniel E. Deadfur. I'm an undertaker."

I nodded. Now I knew why old Deadfur was so depressed. He spent his days staring at stiffs! With a heavy sigh, the unhappy mouse stared out the window. "Looks like we might crash," he predicted. "Oh, well, I guess you win some, you lose some." My whiskers stood on end. "HOLEY CHEESE!" I croaked. The undertaker blinked. "You sound surprised," he said, startled. "You must know air travel is very, very, very dangerous. Plus, we're sitting right on top of the wing. Did you know the wing is the most DANGEROUS place to be when a plane goes down?" By now, I felt faint. I tried taking deep breaths, but my lungs didn't seem to be working. nkledc. Spots swam before my eyes.

"No!" I screamed. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO GO! I HAVEN'T CLIMBED MOUSE EVEREST YET! I haven't trekked through the Great Mousewood Forest! And besides, I still have a whole unopened package of cheddar cheese bars at home in my fridge!" Too bad no one heard me. I was so scared, I had completely lost my squeak!