CHLOE: Hello, it's Chloe here . . .
MUM: And it's also Chloe's Mum . . . we've agreed to tell this story together . . .
CHLOE: . . . only because I'm not quite sure what happened in the middle . . .
MUM: . . . and I remember it all too clearly!
CHLOE: But I'm going to be the one to start.
I don't want to preen my whiskers, but everyone knows that I'm a very observant cat. Nothing escapes my attention. When we go into the garden for our walks I notice all the things my Mum doesn't . . . like outsize flies . . . and exciting rustlings in the bushes . . . and squirrels way up in the trees . . .
MUM: Come on, Chloe . . . get to the point . . .
CHLOE: This IS the point . . . the other day, when we went for our usual morning walk, I jumped up on the old iron chair to get a good look at everything. Speaking as the official garden cat, I believe it's my duty to keep a keen eye on all that's going on.
Well, peering down from the chair, I heard these very loud rustlings way below me in the thick ivy.
It was worth going down to ground level to investigate.
I stayed very quiet . . . which is difficult for me . . . but these noises kept moving about. What's more, they were growing louder and louder. . . so what could any resourceful and intelligent cat be expected to do other than to pounce . . .?
But . . . well, after that I'm afraid that everything gets a bit of a blur . . .
MUM: Don't worry, I remember it only too well!
You leaped into the ivy and I was a little perturbed when some bees came buzzing out.
I was afraid you'd been stung, so I pulled hard on your lead and dragged you away.
At first you seemed absolutely fine. But then I looked closer . . . something wasn't quite right, you were gazing into space in a rather stunned fashion. Even more puzzling, your eyes were bulging in a very peculiar way.
It was all rather strange. I'd never seen your eyes bulge like that before and I started to feel worried.
CHLOE: You weren't the only one!
MUM: I thought a bee might have stung your nose, so I lifted you up in my arms to get a better look.
Do you remember what happened next?
CHLOE: How could I forget!
MUM: Your mouth burst open and what should leap out but . . .
CHLOE: That mouse!
MUM: Exactly! A very damp, bedraggled and startled mouse . . . which tumbled to the ground before scampering off into the ivy . . . doubtless to tell its family of its narrow escape!
I don't know who was the more startled . . . you, me or the mouse!
CHLOE: Well . . . I must admit that sniffing noses with the mouse wasn't quite what I'd expected.
I just wanted to be friendly, but he seemed to want to sniff everything, including my back teeth! And it did feel odd . . . very odd . . . sort of full-up to overflowing . . . and very wriggly, and furry, and peculiar.
But, wasn't I clever to find him . . . shall we go out and find him again?
MUM: Chloe, that's not a good idea! Now that you've shared your exciting story, it's really time for a rest.
You dream about your adventure . . . I'm sure the mouse could do with a rest, too!
