Emoke Stories

Mona and Grubby

Chapter 1 : Grubby Takes a Bath

Mona lives in a big old house with her family. Also in this house, lives a little mouse called Grubby. Grubby, his mom, and his two older sisters live behind the dining room wall. Grubby’s real name is Trip but his sisters call him Grubby because he is always dirty.

At night, when Mona and her family are asleep, Grubby and his family come out from behind the wall and search the floors and counters for crumbs. They never come out during the day because they don’t want to disturb or scare Mona and her family.

One morning, Grubby’s mother said, “I am going with your sisters to your auntie’s house on the other side of town. You must stay here until we come back. You are not to go to the other side of the wall. And remember to stay quiet.”

So Grubby went to his room and lay down on his bed. Suddenly, he felt very grown up. It was the first time he was left by himself. He could do whatever he wanted.  So he  chewed bubble gum and played with a ball and listened to the sounds coming from the other side of the wall.  He wondered what the people were doing.

“Before you put on your shoes Mona don’t forget to go to the bathroom,” Mona’s mother said. They were going on a picnic. Mona went to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, washed her hands, and then put on her running shoes. With a big bag filled with toys, sandwiches and juice boxes, the family set off for the park.  

Grubby noticed that there were no more sounds coming from the other side. He  started to feel scared. He did not like being all by himself anymore.  He could not sit still. So he made his way to the small opening that led into the dining room and out he crawled. He could not see anyone in the dining room. The kitchen was also empty. The house was silent.

Next to the living room  was a door that Grubby had never noticed before. He went under the door and found himself in a small room. In this room, there was a big bowl but he couldn’t see what was in it.

Luckily, there was a stool next to it so he used it to get himself up to the top. Inside the bowl there was water.  Grubby could not believe his luck! He could finally take a bath and get rid of all the dirt that was stuck to his body. He dived right in and washed himself all over. When he was done, he reached for the paper towel that was hanging right next to the bowl. He tore off a piece of the paper towel and wiped himself dry. He threw the paper into the bowl and then made his way back to the small opening in the dining room.

Clean and shiny,  Grubby relaxed in his room and waited for his mother and sisters to come home. He was so excited for his family to see how clean he was that he even forgot he was alone. 

“Grubby? Is that you?” His sisters said when they saw him. They almost didn’t recognized him. That’s how clean he was. They hugged and kissed him, and tickled him until he begged them to stop. Grubby’s mother, though,  wasn’t happy. She knew Grubby had gone into the people’s house and this made her very upset. Grubby’s mother  explained to him that the big bowl in which he had washed himself was the people’s toilet. He should not have done this. The people could find out that mice were living in their house and then they would all be thrown out into the streets.  Grubby was very sorry to have almost caused his family to be without a home. He promised to never disobey her again.

Meanwhile, Mona and her family had come home from the picnic.
“I’m going upstairs to my room to add these rocks to my rock collection,” Mona said. She found some beautifully speckled rocks in the park. She also found others that were smooth and shiny.
“Just a minute Mona!” Her father said.  
“Yes, Dad,” Mona replied.

“How many times have I told you to flush the toilet. You’re five years old Mona,  you should remember to flush.” His voice was loud and could be clearly heard from the other side of the wall. 
Grubby, who had been admiring his clean self in the mirror,  moved closer to the wall so he could hear everything. 
“But Daddy, it wasn’t me. I promise. I flushed when I went to the toilet.” Mona replied. 
“I don’t want to hear it. Go to your room Mona, you’re punished.”

Grubby could then hear the little girl whimpering in her room. He had to find a way to make it up to the girl called Mona.   It was, after all, his fault that she got punished.

The next morning, Mona sat at the breakfast table eating pancakes and strawberries. 
“Your mom and I decided to get you a pet,” Mona’s father said.
“Yippee! I’m finally getting a cat,” Mona yelled. Every since she was very little, Mona has wanted a cat.
“Now go wash up because your friend Tim is coming over to play with you,” Mona’s mother said.
“I don’t’ want to play with him, Mom”, Mona said. “He always wants to scare me and play tricks on me.”
“He’s only four years old,” Mona’s mother replied. “Just play with him for a bit. Besides, there are no other kids in the neighborhood.”

That afternoon,  while her father was getting her a cat, Mona and Tim played in her backyard in the sand box. Together, they were building a castle. Mona was thinking how much fun she was having with Tim. He wasn’t so bad after all.

When Mona wasn’t looking, Tim pulled a jar from under his shirt. It was filled with bugs and worms. He emptied the contents of the jar right in front of Mona.  When she turned her head back and saw the bugs and worms, Mona screamed and fell backwards, out of the sand box.

“Mona’s scared of the nice bugs,” Tim laughed. “They are my friends and they are going to live in the castle.”
“You should have told me you were going to do that!” Mona scolded.
“Mona’s a cry baby,” Tim teased.
Mona was upset with Tim and was about to head into the house and leave Tim all by himself in the sand box, but Tim let out a great big cry and ran past Mona, with arms flailing high above his head,  into the house.
“What happened?” Mona asked after him. But Tim was already in the house hiding under the kitchen table.
Mona searched the backyard to find what had scared Tim. Just in time, she saw a small grey body with a long tail scurrying toward the house.
“A mouse!” Mona said. She ran after the mouse but he had already gone into the house through the basement window.

When Tim had gone home, Mona looked everywhere in her house to find the mouse. She searched every room and every closet and even looked behind the furniture. And there, behind the buffet in the dining room, she saw a small hole. She crouched down and peeked inside. She could not believe her eyes ! A mouse family, living right there behind the dining room wall. The mother was setting the table. Mona could tell it was the mother because she had an apron tied around her belly. Two other mice, with bows in their hair,

were playing cards. The mouse she had seen outside was leaning smugly against the wall, playing with a yoyo. Mona tried to grab his attention. She took her mother’s knitting needle and wrapped some red yarn around the end. She then poked it inside the hole and aimed it at the mouse in the blue shorts. 
“Come here,” Mona whispered when the mouse noticed the yarn.
When he didn’t come, she said softly,  “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. I want to tell you something.”
Carefully, without his sisters or mother noticing, Grubby scampered out of the hole.
“Hi,” Mona said. “I’m Mona.”
“I’m Trip, but  you can call me Grubby,” Grubby said shyly.
“I want to thank you for showing Tim what it feels like to be scared.”
“You’re welcome,” Grubby said proudly. “I saw what he did with the bugs. That wasn’t nice. Besides, I had to make it up to you.”
“What do you mean?” Mona was puzzled.
“It’s my fault you were punished yesterday,” Grubby explained.
“The toilet!” Mona exclaimed. “It was you! I knew it couldn’t have been me. I always flush the toilet.”
“I’m sorry,” Grubby said.
“That’s ok Grubby. We should play together, sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Grubby said happily.

Just then, Mona’s father came home and a ‘meow’ sound made its way to where Mona and Grubby were standing. The hairs on Grubby’s back stood up straight, like the quills on a porcupine.
“Oh, no, the cat,” Mona said.
“Oh. Oh. It’s my turn to be scared!” Grubby said trembling.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Mona said as Grubby quickly went back to the other side of the wall.

Later that day,  with the cat bundled in her arms, Mona made her way to Tim’s house.
“This is for you Tim,” Mona said, handing the cat over to Tim. “I’m sorry you got scared yesterday. Now you never have to worry about mice.”
“I’m sorry I scared you too. But why don’t you keep the cat?” Tim asked.
“Because I already have a pet. And his name is Grubby.”

"Mona and Grubby " Copyright © 2007 by Emoke
All Rights Reserved