Listen and read-along with this fun story by, Barb Held.

“I’m bored,” said Georgie sitting on his front step waiting for Petie. Mouse school had only been out a week. What could they do to pass the time?

“Georgie! Come look what I found!” Petie hollered.

“What is it?” asked Georgie. 

“Don’t know, but it’s totally awesome!” 

“Show me.” 

Petie raced down the alley with Georgie right behind him. They ran past Mr. Giovelli’s Italian restaurant. They ran past Pietro’s Pizzeria. Georgie saw a piece of cheese. 

“Wait! Cheese!” Yelled Georgie.

“No time,” replied Petie. “Hurry!” Petie kept running. 

“No time for cheese?”  

Petie turned a corner and stopped short. Georgie ran right up his back.

There was a big red thing right in front of them.

“What’s that?” Georgie asked. 

“I don’t know. But isn’t it something?” 

It looked like a big red ball.  

But it wasn’t. 

“What could it be?”  

Georgie and Petie crept closer. It didn’t look dangerous. It sure was big and red, though.

“We should hide it. For our very own secret, while we figure out what it is,” said Petie. 

“How are we going to hide it? It’s so big and RED.” 

They thought and thought and thought.  

“I know,” said Petie. “We’ll sell tickets to show it. Mice would come for blocks to see the Big Red Thing. It would be the most exciting event of the summer!”  

“It would be a lot of work,” moaned Georgie.  

“We can make signs. We’ll sell tickets for tomorrow at one o’clock. It’ll be incredible.” 

“It would be a lot of work,” repeated Georgie. 

“It’ll be lots of fun! We’ll sell tickets for one piece of cheese,” said Petie.

“Ok,” agreed Georgie. “But only If we get cheese.” 

Georgie and Petie worked all afternoon. They made signs and put them all around the block. They also walked up and down with sandwich boards, shouting, “Come see the Big Red Thing! It’s incredible! It’s awesome! Tickets are just one piece of cheese!” 

“Oh, no,” said Georgie. “It’s Moose Mouse. He’s always trouble.” 

“Hey guys. What are you doing?” asked Moose. “You look silly marching up and down.” He aimed his slingshot, fired a dried green pea and hit their sandwich board.  

“Stop it!” yelled Georgie. “Leave us alone.” 

“What is this big red thing you’re yelling about? I bet it’s a marble,” said Moose. 

“It’s not a marble. It’s way bigger than a marble,” replied Georgie. 

 “Ignore him,” said Petie. “He just wants to annoy you.” 

Moose continued to follow the friends, shooting peas at their sandwich boards.  

Georgie and Petie tried to ignore Moose.  

Mice came from all around to buy tickets. It was a very busy day. 

The next morning, Georgie and Petie got up early. They still had lots of work to do.  

They gathered things for the mice to sit on. They found match boxes, old cups, and tin cans that would work just right. They even found a piece of cloth to hang like a curtain to hide the Big Red Thing. 

By noon, Georgie and Petie were ready. They munched on cheese and waited. 

At noon-thirty, the mice started coming. They handed in their tickets and picked out their seats. 

By show time, there wasn’t an empty seat. 

Petie climbed on a coffee can to be seen and in a loud voice said,

“Ladies and Gentlemice! Welcome to our show. You are about to see an incredible Big Red Thing. 

You will be amazed! You will be astonished!” Georgie pulled down the curtain. 

The mice-audience gasped. “It’s soooo big!”  

They awed. “It’s soooo red!”  

More comments were heard throughout the audience. 

Petie was just about to announce that they had figured out one-hundred-percent-positively-for-sure-almost what the Big Red Thing was when Petie noticed Moose peeking out from an alley door. 

He took aim with his slingshot. But before Petie could holler “stop!” Moose let fly another dreaded green pea.   

Petie watched the pea fly toward the Big Red Thing. 

POW! 

The Big Red WATER BALLOON exploded before every mouse’s eyes. Water flooded the alley.

Mice in matchboxes, cups, and tin cans floated down the river created by the Big Red Water Balloon. 

At first, the mice were shocked. 

But then they were thrilled by the ride.  

WEEEEEEEEE!

They floated to the end of the alley where the water trickled away and the ride ended.  

“Wow. That was really awesome!” 

“Yeah. That’s best fun I’ve had all summer.”  

“Hey, Moose. Thanks for your help. Without you, we wouldn’t have had a water ride,” said Petie. 

“Sure,” said Moose. “Anytime.” He took aim at a tipped cup and let another green pea fly.

Georgie sighed. “I’m bored. What can we do now?”  

THE END

About the Author

Barb Held has written many children’s stories to share with family members. She has completed two courses with the Institute of Children’s Literature. She has had poems published as well as a chapter book for preteens entitled Mirror Image. She is currently a member of the Yarnspinners Writing Group and loves to volunteer time to Faith in Action. She is retired and lives with her husband in Northwest Wisconsin. Learn more on Amazon and barbheld.com.