Tiddlywink the Mouse
By Tom Lichtenberg
Smashwords Edition Copyright 2010 by Tom Lichtenberg
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Tiddlywink and the Blue and White Ball
Tiddlywink had a busy day, going to the beach and building sandcastles, playing in the playground with Jeremy the Squirrel and TreeTrunker the Elephant, and polishing off a huge spaghetti dinner with his friends Beauregard and Scooter, followed by three chocolate cupcakes. He was on his way back to the river, to sail home in his matchbox, when he saw a big blue and white striped basketball, and on the ball there was a spider. 
"What are you doing with that ball?" he asked the spider, and the spider said, 
"Why, I'm going to eat it". 
"That's silly", Tiddlywink replied, "Spiders don't eat basketballs". 
"Maybe so", said the spider, "but I'm going to eat it anyway", and he proceeded to take several big bites. 
Silly spider, Tiddlywink said to himself, and went on his way. He had almost reached the riverbank when BAM! He ran smack into a gigantic chocolate cloud! 
"Yuk!" he shouted, and the cloud just chuckled and said,
"Hey, everyone likes chocolate". 
"Eew", said Tiddlywink, for he was covered head to toe in gooey sticky melting chocolate. He jumped into the river and shook shook shook, and scraped scraped scraped, and shook shook shook, and then he got out and rolled in the grass until he was all clean again, and then he hopped into his matchbox and sailed home.
Tiddlywink dreamt all night about the spider and the ball, so the next morning he returned to the spot, and didn't see the basketball anywhere! He looked all around and high up in a tree he saw a big fat hairy spider. 
"Hey", he yelled, "are you the same spider I was talking to yesterday?"
The spider thought for a moment, and then replied, 
"Um, I don't really know, Yesterday was a long time ago." 
"Well", said Tiddlywink, "did you eat a big blue and white basketball?" The spider thought and thought, and finally said, 
"Um, I don't really know. I'm not very hungry today, so I must have eaten a lot yesterday, but that was a long time ago, and I just don't know anything about it". 
Tiddlywink shook his head and looked around some more for the ball, but as he didn't find it, he decided to head for home. He was just about the reach the riverbank when BAM! He ran smack into a gigantic chocolate cloud! 
"Yuk!" he shouted, and the cloud just laughed and said 
"What's the matter? Don't you like milk chocolate?"
"Eew", said Tiddlywink, for he was covered head to toe in gooey sticky melting chocolate. He jumped into the river and shook shook shook, and scraped scraped scraped, and shook shook shook, then he got out and rolled in the grass until he was all clean again, and then he hopped into his matchbox and sailed home.
The very next day Tiddlywink decided to put an end to the mystery once and for all, so he rushed back to the very spot and there, in the grass, was the blue and white basketball, right where he'd remembered it, looking as good as new. He searched and found a spider, but this was a tiny little guy. 
"Hey", asked Tiddlywink, "Are you the same spider I was talking to yesterday?"
The spider was slow to respond. 
"Could be", he finally replied, "yesterday was quite awhile ago. I can't say for certain". 
"Yes, it's you", said Tiddlywink, "You said you were going to eat this basketball." 
"Really?" asked the spider, "Maybe so. I can't say anything for certain. But it seems pretty silly. Spiders don't eat basketballs!"
"That's what I said" exclaimed Tiddlywink, and hurried off. 
He was going to head for home, but this time, he was very careful, for he didn’t want to bump into any clouds. He looked both ways and tiptoed about, and just as he was about to reach the riverbank - BAM! He ran smack into a gigantic chocolate cloud.
"Yuk!" he shouted, and the cloud just laughed and laughed and laughed. 
"Eew", said Tiddlywink, for he was covered head to toe in gooey sticky melting chocolate. He cloud kept laughing as he drifted on his way, but he hadn't gone very far when he ran right into TreeTrunker the Elephant, who LOVED chocolate, and declared "YUMMY!" as he ate the cloud right up.

Tiddlywink and the Mud Pies
Tiddlywink and his friends Grufus and Jeremy wanted to make mud pies, so they started looking around for just the right mud. Anyone can tell you that it has to be the right kind, not too mushy, not too soft, not too dusty, not too thick. They scoured the riverbank and finally found a good spot, but the mud was inhabited by a whole waffle of frogs. Tiddlywink asked if they would mind moving over a bit so he and his friends could scoop up some of this perfectly delicious mud, but the frogs said "no". 
Just like that, they said "no". 
Tiddlywink and his friends talked it over. 
"Maybe we could push them out of the way”, suggested Grufus, who was always ready to fight. 
"Maybe we could find another spot”, suggested Jeremy, who was always ready to run away. 
"Maybe we could make a deal with them", Tiddlywink said, and the friends agreed it was worth a try. 
Tiddlywink went over to the Top Frog and asked him if there was anything the friends could give them in return for some of the wonderful mud they were occupying. The Top Frog thought about it for a minute, and then replied that he and his friends were very fond of Rice Pudding, and if they brought some Rice Pudding, then they could have some mud. Tiddlywink asked if maybe there was something else, but the Top Frog said no, it had to be Rice Pudding or nothing at all.
Tiddlywink was sad when he returned to his friends and explained the situation, but Jeremy jumped up and down and declared that his mother was making some Rice Puddings that very day, so they hurried off to Jeremy's house, where indeed his mother was just finishing up some yummy smelling Rice Puddings. Jeremy breathlessly explained their quandary to his patient mother, who then replied. 
"Let me get this straight. You want ME to give YOU some of my delicious Rice Puddings, which I have just spent all day making, and in return YOU are going to give ME a Clump of Mud? Why would I do that?"
"Please, mom , please" begged Jeremy, "I won't ever ask for anything ever again I swear", and after much begging Jeremy's mom agreed to give the friends One Small Rice Pudding, Jeremy's own dessert, and they rushed back to the mud spot and presented the pie to the Top Frog. All the frogs were very happy to smell the Rice Pudding, and each one got a taste, and in return, the Top Frog made them move out of the way, and Tiddlywink and his friends got to make mud pies after all.

Tiddlywink and the Clouds
One day Tiddlywink had gone to visit his friend Jeremy the Squirrel, and they had a big feast of acorn stew and chocolate cake. In fact they ate so much chocolate cake that Tiddlywink said he would never eat chocolate again. On the way home, after scampering over the hills and across the fields, Tiddlywink was just about to reach the riverbank when BAM! He ran smack into a big green cloud.
"Hey", watch where you're going!" Tiddlywink yelled, and the cloud said, in a very sad voice, 
"Oh me, oh my, I am soooo sorry. I didn't see you there. Please don't hurt me".
"Of course I won't hurt you" Tiddlywink said, "just watch it".
"I will”, promised the green cloud.
Tiddlywink climbed into his matchbox and set sail for home.
The next day, Tiddlywink went to visit his friends Beauregaard and Scooter, and they polished off several plates of spaghetti, followed by a dozen chocolate cupcakes. Tiddlywink had forgotten his promise to never eat chocolate again, but after eating all those cupcakes, he made the same promise one more time. On his way home, after scampering along the beach and across the fields, he was just about the reach the riverbank when BAM! He ran smack into a big blue cloud.
"Hey", Tiddlywink shouted, "watch where you're going"
"Oh", said the big cloud, "I didn't see you there."
"I didn't see you either", Tiddlywink replied, and wondered how anyone could ever see a blue cloud. It seemed impossible.
"I'll be more careful next time", promised the cloud.
"Okay", said Tiddlywink, "me too", and he climbed into his matchbox and set sail for home.
The very next day Tiddlywink visited his friends TreeTrunker the Elephant and Grufus the Mouse. Ever since they had a big fight the first day they met, when they both thought the other was a bad guy, Grufus and Tiddlywink had become good friends. It turned out they were both heroes and good guys after all. It was Grufus' birthday, he was turning five years old, and TreeTrunker had a party for him with five chocolate cakes, and each chocolate cake was five layers high, so all the friends had to eat a lot of chocolate cake. Twenty-five layers of cake! My goodness! 
Afterwards, Tiddlywink vowed to never eat chocolate again. On his way home, after trodding through the jungle and skipping across the fields, he was just about to reach the riverbank when BAM! He ran smack into a big red cloud.
"Hey", Tiddlywink yelled, "Watch where you're going!"
"You watch where you're going, little mouse" shouted the angry red cloud. "Or I'll drop down and cover you in redness".
"Oh my", said Tiddlywink, "never mind", and he leaped into his matchbox and set sail for home, leaving the angry red cloud behind him on the shore. 
Next time, Tiddlywink told himself, I'll be a little more careful about clouds.

Tiddlywink and the Mushrooms
One hot summer day, Tiddlywink decided it was a time to find some mushrooms. So he sailed across the river in his matchbox, scrambled onto the bank, scampered across the fields and over the hills, into the forest. There he began to search very carefully. Fortunately he brought his binoculars, so it wasn't very long before he spotted them - a whole gaggle of mushrooms which were congregating around a walnut tree. Tiddlywink tiptoed up behind them and then said,
"Knock knock". 
The mushrooms said,
"Who's there", and he replied,
"Tiddlywink".
"Tiddlywink who?" asked the mushrooms.
"Tiddlywink the Mouse" he said, and the mushrooms screamed,
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!", and ran away as fast as their little stems could carry them. They ran and ran until they came to a bakery, where they jumped into a pie, and told each other to hush.
Tiddlywink had some training as a detective, so he knew the mushrooms would most likely try and hide inside a food establishment of some sort, considering that they themselves were considered a food item by some. Having established this theory, he reasoned that the best place to look would be a bakery, because he was hungry and liked chocolate very much. It was fortunate that he brought along his microscope, because that made it much easier to spot the mushrooms, which were hiding in the bottom of a mushroom pie. But first Tiddlywink ate several chocolate cupcakes and even a brownie or two. Then he scooped into the pie and said
"Aha!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" yelled the mushrooms, and they leaped out of the pie and zoomed across the road as fast as their little stems could zoom.
The mushrooms dashed into the first place they came to, which turned out to be a Chinese restaurant, and they hid in the bottom of a barrel full of bean sprouts. This turned out to be a good choice, because even though Tiddlywink brought his telescope, it did not occur to him that mushrooms would consider a bucket of sprouts. He was pretty sure that mushrooms and bean sprouts did not like each other very much and would not be able to hide together, especially in a barrel. Too bad. 
He looked all around the restaurant and did not notice when the Monster Mushroom Truck came by and picked up the barrel of bean sprouts and carried them away. Tiddlywink finally gave up looking for them, and headed for home, but just as he got to the riverbank, BAM! He ran smack into a chocolate cloud. Now he was covered from head to toe in gooey, slimy, yummy, sticky chocolate. He had to jump in the river and shake shake shake, and scrub scrub scrub, and shake shake shake some more, then finally roll around in the grass until he was all nice and clean. Then he boarded his matchbox and sailed for home.

The Dream of the Red Bush
One day Tiddlywink the Mouse decided he wanted to find a red bush, and as soon as he thought of it, he realized he had had a dream about that very thing. In his dream, he was in a hat, sailing down a river, in the company of a cricket, a grasshopper, and a frog. The cricket was talking about a game where you swung a stick at clouds. The grasshopper was talking about sweet green juice and butterflies. The frog was talking about a job where you roll as far as you can. Tiddlywink asked where they were going.
"Do we have to tell you everything?" asked the cricket.
"Well, okay then", said the grasshopper, "we are going to find a red bush."
"A red bush?" said Tiddlywink. "That's amazing! I had a dream where I was trying to find a red bush!"
"Don't be silly”, said the frog. "This is the dream."
"No", said Tiddlywink, "In my dream I was climbing a ladder, and I kept going up and up and up. It seemed the ladder was not attached to anything. As I was climbing, I met a bumblebee (named Bruce) who asked me why I was climbing the ladder to infinity.”
"Doesn't it go anywhere?" I asked him, and he said,
"Well, some people say that at the end of the ladder to infinity, there is a red bush".
"That's astounding!" declared Tiddlywink. "I recently had a dream about a red bush".
"Certainly", replied the bee, "this is the dream."
"No, it's not”, said Tiddlywink. "In the dream I was driving a pink truck and I was heading west. The sun was setting and the glare was in my eyes. Behind me was a red car, driving too close (a BMW, I think), and his lights were on and they were also bothering my eyes. Suddenly in front of me I saw a red bush."
"In the dream?" asked the bee.
"In the dream?" asked the frog.
"In the dream?" asked the butterfly
"No" Tiddlywink said as he sipped on the sweet green juice. "It was right there in front of me. At least I think it was."

Tiddlywink and the Horizon
Tiddlywink decided that he would like to visit the end of the world, the place where the sky meets the ground, so he set sail in his matchbox for the other side of the river. There, he scampered across the fields and over the hills and into the woods, and through the heart of the jungle, but he got no closer to the horizon. Aha, he thought, the horizon sees me coming and is running away. I will hide from it. So he crept behind trees and kept close to the ground and sneaked as best he could, but still he got no closer. 
This is taking too long, he thought. I must find a better way. He decided he should fly to the horizon, but not on a bird, because birds are often not nice to mice. I know, he thought, I will fly on a cloud. So he ran to the top of the highest hill and climbed to the top of the tallest tree, and waited for a cloud to fly on. Finally, after a very long wait, a green cloud came by and Tiddlywink asked if he could go for a ride. 
"Sure", said the cloud, "hop on", but when Tiddlywink tried to hop on, he fell right through and back onto the tree. He tried and tried many times, but the cloud had nothing to hang on to, so he had to give up. 
"Try a blue cloud", the cloud suggested, "they often have handles on them".
Tiddlywink waited and waited for a blue cloud. These are very hard to see, especially on a nice sunny day when the sky is blue, because the blue clouds are usually the same color as the sky. After a long time, he thought he saw one, and he yelled out to it 
"Hey, Mr. Cloud. Can I fly with you to the end of the world?”
"Sure" replied the cloud, "hop on and grab on to my handle". 
So Tiddlywink hopped on and grabbed a hold of the handle, and off they flew towards the horizon. It took a very long time to get there, and when they finally arrived, it was nighttime. The sky was black and the cloud was black and the horizon was black as well. Tiddlywink thanked the cloud and hopped off. He was surprised to find that the end of the world was very much like his home, with fields and streams and trees and hills. 
Tiddlywink had to find a way home from the end of the world, but in the dark he couldn't see any clouds. He called out, over and over, to any cloud that might be passing by, but no one answered for a long time. Then he heard a voice saying, 
"Is that you, Tiddlywink? What are you doing here at the end of the world?" 
"I'm having an adventure", the mouse replied, "but who are you?"
"Ah", the voice replied, "I am the chocolate cloud who always bams you at the riverbank, just when you are about to climb aboard your matchbox. I was just on my way to see you there. Do you want a ride?" 
"Yes, thank you very much", said Tiddlywink, and off they rode through the night on the long journey back to the riverbank. Tiddlywink had to sink deep into the gooey, sticky, creamy chocolate and by the time they got to the river he had to jump right in, and shake shake shake, and scrub scrub scrub, and shake shake shake some more, and jump out of the river and roll into the grass until he was all nice and clean again. 
Then he waved to the chocolate cloud and thanked him for the ride. After that he went home, and had two plates of spaghetti, four chocolate cupcakes, and two glasses of milk, and then he went to sleep.

Tiddlywink and the Sea Monster Attack
One day Tiddlywink and Jeremy were sailing on the sea. They sailed all day and into the dusk, when Jeremy mentioned he was sorry they hadn't found any peanuts and hot sauce yet. 
"What do you mean?" asked Tiddlywink. 
"Well", Jeremy explained, "the last time I went sailing on the sea I had some peanuts and hot sauce and they were delicious. I was hoping we would find some more today."
"I don't know what you're talking about", said Tiddlywink, "there are no peanuts or hot sauce in the ocean. What were you doing the last time you were sailing?"
"Nothing", said Jeremy, "I was just out here with my mom and when I got hungry she gave me some peanuts and hot sauce".
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Tiddlywink, "those were just your mother's snacks."
"Oh", said Jeremy, "I guess that explains it".
Just then the sea began to churn and they heard what sounded like an underwater roar. It sounded something like "mmmmdmdmdmdmmbmbmbmmb". 
Actually it sounded like a herd of cows swimming in milk. 
The waves got choppy and suddenly, a sea monster popped out of the ocean. He was green and blue and had yellow eyes and orange teeth. He looked right at the friends and said,
"I too would enjoy some peanuts and hot sauce. Give them to me now."
"Oh no", said Tiddlywink, "we don't have any."
"I heard you talking”,  said the sea monster.
"Yes", said Tiddlywink, "I was explaining to my friend that his mom is the one with the peanuts and hot sauce."
"I want some peanuts and hot sauce now" declared the sea monster.
Tiddlywink had an idea.
"I know", he said, "just follow us and we'll get you some"
"Okay," said the monster, "but no tricks or else I'll gobble you up".
So Tiddlywink and Jeremy sailed back to the harbor, tied up their boat, and clambered onto the pier and began to walk away.
"Hey" shouted the sea monster, whose name was Bill, "what about my snack?”
"Just follow us", said Tiddlywink.
"That's not fair" Bill roared, "I can't follow you on land, I'm a sea monster, remember?"
"Gee, I guess that's too bad" said Tiddlywink, "because the snacks are over this way".
"You better bring me some peanuts and hot sauce" Bill declared, "or else the next time you go sailing out to sea I will find you and I will gobble you up".
"Okay", said Tiddlywink, "you wait right there and I'll bring them to you. Promise".
So Tiddlywink and Jeremy ran to Jeremy's tree and rushed up to his mother and Jeremy breathlessly let out 
"Mom, mom, you have to give us some peanuts and hot sauce now there's a sea monster and we promised". 
Jeremy's mom thought it over for a moment, and then she said,
"Let me get this straight. You want ME to give you MY peanuts and hot sauce, and then you're going to give them to some silly sea monster? Why would I do that?"
"Because", Tiddlywink exclaimed, "Because if you don't, he's going to gobble us up".
"Oh" said Jeremy's mom, "well, in that case, here you go", and she handed them a bag of freshly roasted peanuts and hot sauce. 
They ran back to the pier and gave them to Bill, who was very happy, and promised, if they were ever in any trouble out at sea, he would come and help them at once. Tiddlywink and Jeremy waved goodbye and were very glad to see the monster go away.

Tiddlywink and the Orange Ball
One day Tiddlywink lost his orange ball, and had no idea where to look for it. He decided to start in the heart of the jungle, so he scampered across the fields and over the hills and through the woods until at last he came to the heart of the jungle, but he didn't see his orange ball anywhere. After awhile he noticed a spider dangling from a tree, and said, 
"Excuse me, Mr. Spider, but have you seen an orange ball?" The spider appeared to frown, and thought for a moment, and finally replied, 
"What kind of spider do you think I am, an orange-ball-seeing spider? Of all the nerve!"
"I only thought ..." began Tiddlywink
"Enough!” shouted the spider. "I will not listen to another word. Now leave me alone or I will scoot over there and bite your nose!"
Tiddlywink wasted no time, but ran away from the very unfriendly spider, although he couldn't understand why the spider was so upset. He stopped to catch his breath, and then he heard a bumblebee buzzing about, so he said,
"Excuse me, Mr. Bumblebee, but I was just wondering, with all your flying about here in the heart of the jungle, whether you might have seen a little orange ball".
"A what?”, asked the bee, "An orange ball? Did you really ask me if I had seen an orange ball? Do I look like the kind of bee that goes around seeing orange balls? Is that what you think I am? An orange-ball-spotting-bee?"
"No, no", cried Tiddlywink, "I meant no offense, I'm just looking for an orange ball I lost somewhere, and I ...."
"Not another word" declared the bee, "I won't hear any more of this nonsense. Go away or I will have to come down there and sting you on the nose."
Tiddlywink ran away from the bee as he had from the spider, and now he was very confused. It seemed like such a simple question, after all, and he still hadn't found his ball. As he stopped to rest by a honey bush, he heard a mosquito zeeing about, and he said,
"Excuse me, Mr. Mosquito, but I couldn't help but wonder whether you had seen an orange ball here in the heart of the jungle". The mosquito stopped its whining, and flew closer to Tiddlywink. He said
"Am I hearing things, or did you just ask me if I had seen an orange ball?"
"Yes", said Tiddlywink, "that's what I asked. You see, I lost my ...", but he didn't get to finish his sentence, because the mosquito flew right up and bit him on the nose.
"Maybe that will teach you some manners" said the mosquito, as he flew away.
"Ouch" cried Tiddlywink, "that hurts!", and he ran off to the river to soak his poor little nose. That's it, he told himself, I won't ask anyone else about that orange ball, and I don't even care if I never find it again. 
After he was done swimming and dunking his poor bitten nose, he resumed his search, quietly this time. As he neared a clump of sugar trees, he saw his friend, TreeTrunker the Elephant, who said
"Hello, Tiddlywink, how are you this fine hot sticky day?"
"Okay, I guess", said Tiddlywink, determined not to bring up the subject of the orange ball.
"Are you looking for something?" asked TreeTrunker.
"Oh, no", replied Tiddlywink, "No, no. Nothing at all. Not me."
"Oh", said TreeTrunker, "because I thought you might be looking for your orange ball. You left it at my house and I was going to bring it back to you."
"Really?" said Tiddlywink, "You have my orange ball?"
"Yes", said TreeTrunker, "Do you want to go and play with it?"
"Yes" cried Tiddlywink, and they both went back to TreeTrunker's house, where they played with the orange ball the rest of the day and into the night.

Tiddlywink and the Four Treasures
One day Tiddlywink decided to go on a treasure hunt. I won't come home until I have four treasures, he declared, so he set out early in the morning. He scampered across the fields and certainly noticed the red clovers, which the bees were busily buzzing around, and he thought they were quite beautiful, but the day had just begun and he had treasures to find. 
Next he skipped through the forest and notices all sorts of pinecones and acorns scattered around the forest floor. Each time he stopped to pick one up, he saw another which was just as interesting, and soon he realized he could never find the best since they are all unique and wonderful in their own way, so he put down the pinecones and acorns he'd collected, and continued on his way. 
Next he climbed up the side of a steep hill, and here he noticed all variety of colored rocks and gems. He had to stop to admire a new one every few feet so it took him quite some time to get to the top of the hill and by the time he reached it he realized he was loaded down with rocks and still had far to go, so he emptied his pockets and continued on his way. 
Now he had to climb to the top of a snowy peak, and here too he found all sorts of beautiful things, in particular some clumps of violet blue flowers, each one special and gorgeous in its own way. Tiddlywink did his best NOT to pick any of the flowers since he could never decide which ones were the nicest. 
Well, Tiddlywink was very tired when he reached the top of the mountain, and then he realized the day was growing short and he still had a long way to get back home, and after all his finding and collecting and putting down, he had NO TREASURES at all and he needed four to complete his task. 
Then he realized this would be easy.
 On the way home he could pick one blue flower, one rock or gem, one pinecone or acorn, and one clover, and any one he picked would be okay, because they were all, each and every one of them, beautiful and wonderful treasures.