House Hunting with Wriggle and Squirm...To hear the sound click the green arrow on the control above...

It was dinner time with a big plate of stew on top of a thick , crusty slice of bread, laid out on the table ready for Wriggle and Squirm who were up in the attic playing Shuttle fairies.(An exciting game played indoors or out by batting dandelion heads back and forth with a young ash leaf- much the same as badminton, but more mouse sized). You could hear the squeals as far as the kitchen where Auntie was putting 3 cups of tea onto a tray. She turned, and called out very loudly, there being so much noise coming from above, " Come on you two, dinner is on the table"! "Coming", they both squealed in unison as they threw down their raquets, pushing each other aside in their rush to get to the table first.

The meal was almost finished when Squirm complained, " My feet are getting wet, Auntie, did you leave the kitchen tap on"? "No , dear", Auntie replied as she began to rise from the table. "Oh, my heavens we're being flooded out", she said while trying desperately to keep her balance as copious amounts of water rushed in through every crack available; under the door, through the window, even rising from beneath the floor boards. With water rising extremely rapidly ir was a major task for the three mice to carry anything at all, but between them they managed to salvage quite a lot of their possessions before the flooding made it impossible to enter the house any longer.

"Well, at least we got our bedding and clothes out in a nearly dry state", said Wriggle encouragingly. " That's all very well", Auntie answered him sobbing in a hiccupy way, "But where will we live now. Our home is ruined. We can't go back in even if the flooding goes down because it might happen again, and just think if we'd been asleep at the time, we would have been drowned in our beds." She started to cry even more at the thought...

So it was that while Auntie sat on top of a large, dry rock with their belongings piled all around her, those two brave little mice set off to find a new home for them all. They searched everywhere. Under logs, in drains, even under an old garden wheelbarrow which had been left to rot in the field years ago. Then, just as they were at their most despondent, they saw it. "Isn't it beautiful", said Squirm, pulling the weeds away from the door so they could get a better look inside. " Oh, yes it is absolutely perfect" his brother answered. " Tell you what, you go and fetch Aunty while I try to tidy it a bit before she sees it".

Off ran Squirm to tell Auntie the good news. Meanwhile Wriggle found a small twig from beneath the nearby pine tree to use as a brush, and he began sweeping out the old, mouldy leaves, rubbish, and the many earwigs hidden under it all.Naturally, there were a lot of complaints from the earwigs who had lived there for ma very long time, but, as Wriggle rightly informed them, his need was greater than theirs since they could live under almost anything. By now the voices of Squirm and Auntie could be heard a sthey headed his way. Wriggle hastily gave the new house a last sweep along the walls and ceiling, before hiding the broom behind the door, where he now stood ready to welcome Auntie to her new home. He was quite apprehensive in case she didn't like it, but felt sure she would since it was the lovliest of bird houses , with a perfect mouse sized door, a stained glass window which had once been unbroken, but was now only a small portion of red glass clinging precariously to the upper part of the frame. Above the door , hanging from one nail was a sign that read " Home Sweet Home".

Quickly wiping the sign with his sleeve bfore Aunty saw it Wriggle turned to greet them with a big grin. " Come on in Aunty, you'll just love what we have found". He stood back to usher Aunty and Squirm into the bird house. There were a great many OOOhs and AAAAhs to be heard as Aubty toured their new home. She was , in fact, absolutely thrilled. So much so that she gave both the children a big hug. " Why it's even nicer than our old home", she told them.

It did take quite a while to gather all their belongings together, but soon it was all carried into the house where all three of them pitched in to give the place a good, proper clean. Wriggle made them each a bed with bases of wood. For himself and his brother he used matchboxes into which he put feathers for their mattresses, but Aunty was bigger, so an old matchbox would not do for her. It took a while for Wriggle to think of something, but in the end he found the perfect solution. A nearly new wooden box with a slatted bottom. He turned this upside down , placing a bag filled with feathers on top of the slats so that Aunty would be really comfy, and she was.

Next morning she declared that it was the best sleep she had had in years!