02-TROUBLE AT THE NIBBLER

TROUBLE AT THE NIBBLER I headed toward the SUBWAY. At the station, I ran into a friend of mine. His name is Benny Bluewhiskers, but most rodents call him the Big Cheese. That's because he knows everything there is to know about CHEESES — COLOR, size, shape, texture. He even invented Mouse Island's famous cheese measurer. And his nose is the most famous sniffer on all of Mouse Island. He can smell a cheese danish baking a mile away. What a schnoz! What a gift! As soon as he saw me, Benny frowned. "Some friend you are, Geronimo!" he cried. "How could you do that to me last night?"

I looked at him, confused. "Last night?" I repeated. What had I done last night? Oh, yes, I had spent the evening watching television. I am not usually a real TV mouse, but sometimes I like Tales of Rodents Past. Last night, I saw this episode about cave mice. It was fascinating. I started to tell Benny about the show, but he didn't seem interested. "Nice try, Geronimo," he SNorted. "But you weren't watching TV last night. You were making fun of me down at The Nibbler." Now I was really confused, The Nibbler is a popular diner in town. Sometimes we

mice go there for coffee and to shoot the cheese. But I hadn't been there in months. "I know I'm not the thinnest rodent in town, but you didn't have to call me a furry whale with a tail!" Benny shrieked. "You really hurt my feelings, Geronimo. After all these years, I thought we were friends." I looked at him in shock. Cheese niblets! "But I wasn't at The Nibbler last night," I tried to explain. That seemed to make Benny even madder. "So now you're calling me a liar!" he squeaked. "Well, that's it! No more free cheese for you! And you can forget my holiday cheddar log this year, too!" I didn't know what to say. My head was spinning faster than the cyclone at the Mouseyland Amusement Park. Un-be-liev-a-ble!