^{Photo by Marina Reich on Unsplash}

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The Mouse Farmer

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On the outskirts of Mosetin's kingdom, there lived a little peasant mouse who sang to her flowers every morning to see if they would change color. It changed from high-pitched to low-pitched, the flowers danced, but only that.

A little disappointed, she went back to her hut and drew some fresh water from the well on the silver hill, to see if that would work, but it didn't.

"Oh, I've used up all the water in the well." Said the distressed mouse. "It looks like it didn't work this method. Morly the cat lied to me." She tossed her canteen aside and headed back to her hut, but before she entered, she heard a rumbling sound that made her jump with fright.

"What happened?" the little mouse asked. She spotted to the side of her flowers and saw a messenger hummingbird lying on the ground.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She asked the bird, and upon closer inspection, noticed that it had a royal Mosetin badge.

"Oh, I'm in so much pain!" the hummingbird snorted.

"Don't worry, I'll get you help." Said the mouse, but before she left, the hummingbird stopped her.

"Please wait, I need you to do something very important for me! I am a royal messenger and I have something very important to deliver to His Majesty, but my wings are broken and I won't be able to fly for quite a while."

The hummingbird messenger takes out of one of his pockets a vial with a liquid content.

"This medicine..." explains the hummingbird "It will save His Majesty's wife, who is suffering from a serious illness. Please, you must take it today, I don't think she will resist until tomorrow."

The astonished mouse hesitated to take the jar.

"But that's a long way from here and I've already made a commitment to Sarah, the fox, to have afternoon tea together." Explained the mouse wanting to get out of the situation.

"This is more important" Refuted the hummingbird. "You are also Her Majesty's subject, you must fulfill this duty."

"But I have no transportation and the roads are full of stones and crooks."

"Never mind, in the end you will be a heroine and everyone will love you, don't you think it's a spectacular image?"

The mouse again objected.

"But my poor dancing flowers, they need water every season of the day, otherwise they won't be dancing and happy."

The hummingbird, already fed up with the mouse's excuses, made a face of few friends.

"Listen to me, mouse, if you don't do me this favor, I'm going to recover and bring a group of royal guards to evict you, and your flowers will be taken to a shabby place where they will dance for three mosetines an hour. Now, are you going to do me the favor or not?"

"Ouch!" Exclaimed the mouse with a start. "All right, I will. ush! Just stay here, I'll get someone to wait on you." The mouse grunted goodbye as she listened to the hummingbird's words of encouragement.

"Oh, brave mouse, kind and formidable! Best of luck in your feat, dear friend. This deed will never be forgotten by your king!" Cried the hummingbird with elation.

"Yes, aha, whatever you say." Said the mouse to herself sighing with courage.

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Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash

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After leaving the hummingbird in the hands of a doctor, the prepared mouse embarked on her journey to Mosetin's castle. She had only walked for half an hour and was already feeling tired. In the distance, she saw some miscreant crows harassing a poor lizard peasant. The mouse burned with rage and picked up some rocks from the ground to scare the crows away.

The poor lizard was lying on the ground, the mouse rushed to help him and asked him about his condition.

"Easy, I'm fine." He replied. "I just have a few small wounds, nothing serious. They wanted to steal what was in my wagon." The lizard points at her with one of his fingers. "Thank you for saving me, dear mouse. I'm heading to Coco's Village, the one right next to the castle, would you like a ride?"

"That would be great!" Mouse exclaimed. They both got into the wagon and continued their journey.

The little peasant mouse had never left her hut, she was always attached to her flowers, but when she saw what lay beyond, she was thrilled. She saw golden fields that danced to a rhythm much more lively than that of her flowers. Beyond, among the trees of a magical forest, lived several families of fairies who hung lanterns at the mouths of trees. They too danced and lost themselves among the green leaves, which changed shape according to the melody of the wind.

He could hear from his position, the beautiful tune that they emitted, caused him to stand up in the wagon and start dancing. After hours of travel, the lizard and the mouse stopped at a rest home for travelers. They ate a good lunch and chatted for a while.

There, almost next to them, a stork was talking loudly, telling how he had hurt the wings of a messenger hummingbird. The mouse stood up in a rage after what she had heard, glared at the stork with her eyes and stood in front of him.

"So it was you!" Claimed the mouse pointing her finger at the stork. "Because of you a messenger hummingbird fell in my garden, now I have to go to Mosetin to deliver his errand, just because you like to bother! You really deserve the worst!" The mouse raised her fist forcefully, the stork looked at her with wild eyes, practically did nothing.

The mouse, with all her might, hit the stork's beak and bent it a little. Everyone was stunned. The peasant lizard, picked up the mouse and carried her to the wagon.

"So that you will never do the same thing again!" shouted the mouse to the stork before getting on the cart. The young lizard sped up as fast as he could and looked at the mouse in amazement.

"What?" the mouse asked. "I'm sorry, I'm still very upset."

"It's okay," the lizard replied, "you have a lot of energy, I like that." The mouse smiled at the lizard a little ruefully and then looked forward again.

"What a comment you say." Said the mouse still flashing that smile.

They finally reached Coconut Village, but traffic was slow as the Grapefruit Festival was in progress, where everything was made with grapefruit; food, clothing, commercial establishments, even the facades of the houses were made with grapefruit peels. A rich, citrusy smell dominated the atmosphere, accompanied by lively folk music played by musicians with instruments made of grapefruit.

The peasant lizard invited the mouse to dance and they both enjoyed a short dance, but at that moment the stork that had hurt the hummingbird appeared to take revenge for what the mouse had done to him.

The lizard tried to protect her, but the stork with a blow made her move away. The people were stunned by what they saw, but the mouse maintained her defiant attitude, showing her stalker that she was not afraid of him. Before the stork could attempt a move, royal guards arrived and arrested him for disturbing the peace.

They handcuffed him and quickly took him to a police station. One of the guards, who was a possum with an imposing presence, raised his hands and shouted addressing everyone.

"Calm down, everything is fine! Please continue with the festival! The tradition must not stop!" The music started playing again and the dances were resumed.

Sergeant Possum stared at the mouse with intrigue.

"You're not from around here, are you?" He asked the mouse, she was taken aback and transfixed, for the possum had a very serious expression and a very serious, masculine tone of voice.

"N... No. I come from a small village somewhat far from here to bring something very important for His Majesty." The mouse takes out of her bag the package with an identifying stamp and a letter. The opossum reads it carefully and her eyes widen in amazement.

"Oh, the concoction for the queen! Quick, escort this girl to the castle and take her to the doctors!" The guards hurried and took the mouse girl away on their fastest horses. They were so swift, that the little peasant girl could not admire the majesty of the place.

Finally she delivered her package, the doctors took over from then on. The mouse returned with the young lizard, who was waiting for her in the main square of Villa de Coco. They ate grapefruit cake and danced their fill. The next day, news spread that the queen's health was improving. The whole kingdom celebrated with more euphoria this time.

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Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash

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As they returned, the mouse commented to the lizard that she wanted her flowers to change color, she had tried several methods, but none had any effect.

"Why didn't you tell me this before? I'm in the business of selling flower coloring." The lizard took some out of one of the bags he carried in his cart. The mouse got excited, she wanted to kiss him, but that would be unwise.

After dropping her off at her house, the lizard in a flirtatious tone asked her if he could see her again. She, responding to his wooing said yes, and then walked away happy and smiling.

Finally, the mouse was going to change the color of her beloved flowers. She sprinkled the dye on them and then poured water on them. They all changed color instantly as they danced, to a very bright lavender hue. The mouse wrinkled her face and pouted her lips.

"Ugh! What a horrible color..."

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THE END

Other publications of my authorship

The Muddiest Trip
[ENG-ESP] My Top Body Horror Movies That Most kept Me Awake At Night
[ESP-ENG] El Reencuentro Fortuito