That’s My Cheese

Author and Illustrator:Elizabeth Anne Dukeman

Finn was a sweet field mouse. He was the kind of mouse

that everyone would have wanted as a pet.

He didn’t actually belong in the Duke House, but they

never asked him to leave, so he lived in their wall.

Finn would run out of his hole, grab the crumbs that Mom and Dad Duke would drop on the floor, and

then head back to his little home.

He thought they didn’t mind,

because he was their little broom.

There was also one time, when Finn thought he heard Mom Duke talking to Dad Duke about him. Maybe

she wasn’t, it didn’t really matter; he knew he was their friend.

One day, Mom and Dad Duke were gone for a long time,

and Finn was getting hungry. There were no crumbs on the

floor left to be eaten. He did have a piece of cheese, but he

was saving it for a special occasion. Then, finally, they walked

in the door – thank goodness!

But, to Finn’s amazement, in Dad Duke’s hands was a cat. It

was a gold and dark brown cat with quiet eyes. He was

cuddling onto Dad Duke, and Mom Duke was whispering to

him as they closed the front door.

Finn started hearing them both call him “Charlie” and

welcoming him to his new home. He purred at them and began

exploring with his nose around the floor.

He started sniffing toward Finn! So Finn swiftly headed back to

his hole. Peeking around the corner, he saw Charlie coming in

his direction.

Charlie walked over to the quiet hole Finn calls home and

stuck his nose inside. Finn was scared. This was not a

comfortable emotion he was feeling. Charlie reached inside

and nibbled on Finn’s special cheese.

Finn was astonished! Who did Charlie think he was? This has

been such a safe place and now it seems like there is some

kind of danger. Would Mom and Dad Duke help Finn if he

needed it?

Charlie continued to come back to Finn’s hole throughout the course

of the long, first week in the house. He nibbled on all of Finn’s cheese.

The poor little mouse was starving.

Finn was so afraid to stand up to Charlie. Mom and Dad Duke always

talked about how sweet he was. Did they even know that Charlie was

putting fear into Finn?

One day, Finn could not take it any more. Charlie snuck his head

into his hole, grabbed the whole piece of cheese, and sped into the

living room. He parked himself right under Mom Duke’s legs.

He was safe, and Finn was mad.

Finn ran right into the room, plopped himself in the center of the

carpet and yelled at the top of his little mouse lungs,

“THAT’S MY CHEESE!”

He was nervous to see the reaction of Charlie, Mom and Dad Duke,

but he felt so good about his courage.

He was proud of standing up against the new house pet.

Finn had turned Dad Duke’s attention from his newspaper over to Charlie.

He leaned down and took the cheese from Charlie’s two front paws.

Finn was so happy at what he saw happen between Charlie and Dad Duke.

Dad Duke patted Charlie on the head and quietly spoke,

“Charlie, this is Finn’s. He is part of our family, too.”

Dad Duke got up from the couch, and Finn watched him take the cheese

and place it back inside the small hole on the wall.

Charlie came over to Finn with a smile of apology for his actions.

Finn felt safe in the Duke House once again.