Tommy Tittlemouse
What a day it has been! No one could believe the stories I was telling them at school. Some of the other girls thought I was making it all up, but Peter and his wife told their story to OPRAH! It had to be true! I was finding so much information on these Mother Goose characters! I knew something special was going to happen tonight too!
I finished brushing my teeth as fast as I could and hopped straight into my bed. It felt like there were a million butterflies in my stomach because I was so excited to hear more about the Mother Goose characters.
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Will you PLLLLLLEEEAASE hurry up? I need my bedtime story!"
A few minutes later she walked through the door of my bedroom. "Well, my dear, I cannot believe how excited you are AGAIN!" my mom said. "You must really like these stories!"
"I LOVE these stories!" I replied. "None of the girls at school can believe what I am finding out! My dreams are making these stories so much clearer!"
"I see..." my mom said. "So what story do you have in mind tonight?"
"Well, I was looking through the book, and I stumbled on this Tommy character. He looks very interesting!" I said.
"Well, Tommy Tittlemouse it is then!" my mom said as she began flipping through the book's pages.
"Little Tommy Tittlemouse
Lived in a little house;
He caught fishes
In other men's ditches."
"Hmmmm... Why did he need these fish, and I wonder if he got into trouble with these men!" I said.
"Well, I am sure you will come up with those answers tonight!" my mom said. "Let me know what happens in the morning."
Julie's mind began to wander, and before she knew it she had fallen asleep. Let's check in on her dream again.
I began to hear a river flowing from underneath my feet. I knew I was not in my bed anymore, but this dream was a little different from the last. There was no television show to compare this to. I opened my eyes and saw a tiny wooden house sitting on the banks of a large river. I was standing right on top of an old bridge with a young boy to my right. The boy was holding a basket with several fish inside and in the other hand was an old fashioned fishing pole.
"Where are we at?" I asked.
"We are in Gatesville of course!" the boy replied. "What is your name?"
"My name is Julie.... Is your name Tommy Tittlemouse by any chance?" I said.
"Why yes it is! How did you know that?" he said. "Did Mr. Man tell on me again?"
"No... I do not know a Mr. Man. What is he like? Are you friends?" I said.
"We are not friends by any means! That man cannot stand me! He is always complaining about my fishing habits. I own that little house right over there, and he is my neighbor to the north. There is this tiny ditch right in between our properties, but he claims it as his own. The truth is, though, that I own that land. He has no right to it at all! My father owned that land, as did my grandfather..." he said with a sigh. "I am sorry to be ranting like this! You do not even know me or Mr. Man! Why would you care about my story?"
"Oh, but I do care! You see, I read these stories every night and then dream about what really happens. That is how I knew you! You were in my story tonight! Now I will be able to tell all my friends about your fishing ditch on the river! They will never believe it!"
"Well, I am glad to help you out!" Tommy said, but in the distance I could hear a beeping sound.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" My alarm clock was in full blast. I finally hit the snooze button, and yet another day of school began.
Author's Note: This story is a little different from the first two stories. The storytelling method is still the dreams of Julie, but like in the last two stories, there is a storytelling method within the story. The idea behind this dream is the back story of Tommy. In this story, Julie actually talks directly to the character involved in the rhyme. When I read the rhyme at first it sound like Tommy should not have been fishing in these other men's ditches, so I wanted to share his side of the story. Mr. Man represents all the men in the rhyme. The ditch does not belong to Mr. Man, and Tommy thinks the ditch completely belongs to his family. There is no real proof in this story, but it does tell us that Tommy is not being a bad kid; he is just fishing where he thinks he can. He believes the property belongs in his family, but Mr. Man thinks differently. He is constantly getting after Tommy for being on his land and using his river ditch. This is not as highlighted in the story, but I think readers will understand this by Tommy's statement about Mr. Man and his personality.
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