The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Eight

Almost as soon as he had this revelation, Gracie blacked out, and then woke up again.

But this time, however, he wasn't in a hole-in-the-wall mice tavern. He was in a small white room, in a small white bed...and there were people standing around him. Humans.

He yelped in surprise when he realized all of this--it was all very overwhelming.

"Welcome back," said a doctor, peering at him from behind his spectacles. "Seems you had a nasty fall. But lucky for you, you weren't all that high up, and someone else broke your fall."

Gracie blinked. "Someone else?" he asked rather stupidly.

The doctor chuckled. "Yes, someone else. A man named Harry Hawkins, I believe."

Gracie's eyes widened. Hawkins? Really? he thought.

"Unfortunately, this man you landed on wasn't as lucky as you were, my boy," continued the doctor. "He's dead."

"Mouse," corrected Gracie.

"Pardon?"

"He was a mouse," insisted Gracie. "A much beloved mouse, and a hero to all mousekind. And I killed him by accident."

"I think that fall must have addled your brain a little," said the doctor. "Don't worry, though, you'll be back to normal soon, and by then you'll have learned the difference between a man and a mouse."

"I think I already have," Gracie replied.

~fin~

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Seven

After the funeral services were over, Gracie turned to Peyton, silently conveying to him all of the emotions that he'd been keeping inside for so long.

Peyton gave him a bone-crushing hug.

And after he had recovered from said hug, Gracie finally realized that the people--er, mice--here had it a lot worse than he did. This mouse had died a most painful death, and everyone was hit very hard by it. True, he didn't have anyone very close to him, but...at least he didn't have to live in constant fear.

And having a name that everyone made fun of seemed to be the dumbest reason to end it all, now that he thought about it. He decided to make the best of his situation and try to make things better for these mice in any way he could.

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Six

Inside was what appeared to be the bloody, foul-smelling remains of what appeared to have once been a mouse; however, these remains were so mangled that the gender and features were hardly recognizable.

He closed the bag and shuddered. The sight and smell was enough to make him gag.

"Who--" started the older lady mouse, but the newly arrived lady mouse silenced her with one paw.

"Hawkins," she said quietly. "Muricide."

"Oh, dearie..." cooed the older lady mouse, hugging her tightly, her eyes welling up with tears. "Sophie, sweetheart....I'm so sorry."

The bartender handed her a drink. "Here, this one's on the house."

Sophie held the drink to her lips with one trembling paw, drinking deeply, trying to forget herself and all that had happened.

The barkeep smiled sadly and handed her another as soon as she had downed the first.

"I know how you feel, Soph," said the barkeep sympathetically. "He was close to me, too. He was family to each and every one of us."

The older lady mouse walked to the other end of the bar and motioned for him to follow, so he did. "Please keep an eye on our Sophie, will you, Shanks? I'm a bit worried for her," she whispered.

He nodded. "I'm sure we all are, Mrs. Scroggins."

Mrs. Scroggins got up onto the counter. All eyes turned to face her. The room was deathly silent.

"Everyone..." she addressed them solemnly. "A great tragedy has befallen us. We have lost one of our own...a part of our family. I ask that all of you bow your heads for a moment of silence."

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Five

...to reveal a sopping wet mouse.

Said sopping wet mouse was bitterly dragging a smelly, bloodstained sack. Kicking the door shut behind her, she continued to drag the smelly sack into the room until she was where everyone could plainly see it.

Wiping the sweat, blood, and rain off her brow, she dropped the sack and sat down at the bar.

"I need a stiff drink," she muttered tiredly.

Gracie peeked inside the bag and immediately wished he hadn't.

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Four

Which was, quite literally, a hole in the wall.

It was dimly lit, small, and very cramped. There were barrels of cheese and breadcrumbs, and a few tables and chairs with mouse-like creatures at them, playing cards and eating snacks. There were also a few beds, a mirror, and a small kitchen area where some of the female mice were making cheese sandwiches.

Peyton gestured for him to sit down at one of the chairs, so he did. Glancing over, he saw himself in the mirror and yelped.

What he saw was not a pretty sight--he was a mouse!

He was light brown with beady black eyes, whiskers, big ears, paws, and a tail--all the physical traits of a common mouse.

He looked down, inspecting his paws to see if they were real. He grabbed his tail and whimpered, and began to sob. I'm so ugly! he thought. What has happened to me?!

"Close the door, Peyton dearie--it's a bit drafty," said one of the older female mice.

Peyton closed the oddly-shaped door and sat down beside Gracie.

"Wha's the matter?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm a bloody mouse, Peyton! That's what's the matter!" he replied angrily, standing up.
The older female mouse chuckled. "Well, I'm a mouse, too, but you don't see me getting all emotional."
"But I'm a mouse!" he cried, jumping up and down. "I'm a filthy, cheese-eating, crumb-stealing mouse!"

Everyone in the room got quiet and stared at him. "What's so wrong with that?" one of them demanded.

He calmed a bit, tugging at his whiskers nervously. "Nothing at all," he replied, sitting back down. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Peyton, dearie...who's your guest?" asked the older lady mouse.
"Oh, tha's jus'--err--what did ye say yer name was again?" inquired Peyton.
"Gracie," he mumbled.
"What did you say, sweetheart?" she asked.
"Gracie," he replied again, still too hard for them to hear.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you--you need to speak up."

Gracie stood up, climbed onto the table, and shouted, "My name is Gracie, alright?!"

Everyone grew silent and stared at him as he sat down. Then:

"Haha! His name is Gracie?! That's a girl's name!" someone shouted.

Everyone except Gracie's table roared with laughter.

Just then, there was a loud pounding at the door. Everyone became quiet again.

Then the door swung open...

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Three

A largish paw reached over the edge of the curb and pulled him up onto it just as he was about to be washed away.

Looking up at his rescuer, he saw a very large rat creature staring back at him. It winked.

He shivered.

"Uhm....hi?" he said dumbly. He laughed nervously. "Thanks for saving me, err...."
"Name's Peyton," said the creature.
"Pleased to meet you, Peyton," he replied with a gulp.
It grinned. "The pleasure's all mine."

There was an awkward silence. Then he cleared his throat.

"Well...I'd best be off, then. Thanks for the rescue, err--Peyton," he said.
"Naw, don't be silly. A skinny little bloke like you'd get blown away in this storm. I can't let that 'appen, now can I?" it replied. "Anyway, what's your name?"
He sighed. "Gracie," he grumbled.
The creature laughed. "Gracie? A girl's name? Fancy that. I ain't never met a bloke named Gracie before. But that's jus' as well, I 'ave a cousin named Kevin--no one laughs at 'er, 'cause she could wipe the floor with 'em."

Peyton grinned, and started walking, gesturing for Gracie to follow. Gracie hesitated at first, then decided that it would be best to just go along with it, since he hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on, and the rat creature seemed to be nice enough.

So, Gracie followed him into a little hole in a wall.

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part Two

As the ground drew ever-closer, he braced himself for a nasty impact.

Nothing happened.

He found himself wet, and floating through dark mist--unaware of where, when, or why he was.
He didn't really care about the first two. He only wondered why he wasn't a nasty mess on the pavement yet.

And then came the realization that he was tiny, and that it was dark and raining, and he was actually floating in a large stream of rainwater that would eventually lead him to a sewer drain.

Frantically, he flailed about, hoping for rescue, or a miracle.

The Man Who Became a Mouse: Part One

Once upon a time, there was a man. He was a stockbroker in London, and quite successful--but everyone he knew laughed at him, because his name was Gracie.

Every year, on his birthday, they would pull a "hilarious" prank on him.

So along came his twenty-eighth birthday--and by then he was tired of it, and jumped from his apartment balcony.