COVER
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
COMMUNITY STANDS UP TO CAT: LOCAL MOUSE'S TAIL RETURNED
MISSING MOUSE FOUND ALIVE
INTRODUCTION
COMMUNITY STANDS UP TO CAT: LOCAL MOUSE'S TAIL RETURNED
MISSING MOUSE FOUND ALIVE
Council Leads to No Real Resolution for Cat Problem
The final meeting of CAT, or Council of Anti-Terrorism, fostered no
real solution to the recent cat attacks that are gripping the city in
fear.
"We are facing an enemy who is bigger and stronger than ourselves with no known home to attack. Our attempts to find a quick resolution to this problem have failed. With a heavy heart, we, the CAT Council, ask the citizens of this city to please hold on for the blockades into the city to reach completion later this month," announced Stanley Klink, head of CAT, in a press conference this morning.
The emergency task force was commissioned a week ago by Mayor George Shrub, who has been heavily criticized for his late handling of the situation that has been going on for months now, leaving several mice injured. The announcement of the council's lack of results has compounded the disdain of the public for the mayor as his approval rating dropped another fifteen points this morning.
Sam Autumn, who has recently lost his tail in the attacks, is calling for the mayor's resignation.
"The mayor has given up on our city!" he said. "If we can't trust our elected officials to save us, then who will?! Mighty Mouse?! I guess we're just supposed to stay inside for a month while they build that big brick monstrosity at the end of our city."
The announcement of no plan at all has come to quite a shock to everyone, especially after hearing comments from sources inside the council just this morning.
"We are very close to what we feel is a daring and unprecedented solution to the cat problem," one council member said. "We should be ready to make our announcement later this morning."
According to Klink, the council did indeed have a plan mapped out over the course of the week, but the meeting fell apart when discussions began about who would actually carry out the act. It called for an early warning system in the form of a bell that would be tied around the cat's neck. The council had already commissioned the construction of the bell and harness. According to city records, $20,000 was spent in materials and labor for the bell.
The council apparently brooded all morning about candidates to attach to the bell to the cat. Among those named were star running back for the New York Dwarfs, Joe Joust, who was obviously picked for his quickness. The meeting allegedly came to a halt when a conference call to the football star only ended with the hysterical laughter of Joust as he hung up the phone. Joust was unavailable for questioning this morning.
Shrub admitted his embarrassment when asked about why they neglected to discuss who would actually "bell the cat" until the end of the meetings and offered no good reason why.
"It's frustrating to hammer out what you think is a great plan in a week, only to realize that no one is crazy enough to carry it out at the end. I mean, I'm not going to do it. Are you? I didn't think so," said Mayor Shrub. "Honestly, we were always grasping for straws on this one. He's a big cat! I don't know what to do. Call me when you figure it out, smart guy."
Author's note: The original story I was working with was very short on this one. In fact, it is literally three sentences. It could have served as a synopsis of mine, so I didn't have to make any changes to it fundamentally. I just gave it a setting, characters and dialogue. Honestly, that made it easier for me to write. I was only constrained by my desire to not make it too dark so it still fits the tone of the other stories I'm writing. Speaking of the other stories, I alluded to the next story in the series with Sam Autumn, the mouse who lost his tail. The next story is about him. Also, the construction of this big wall to keep the cat out could explain why the search party from the introduction couldn't find this little mouse city (for those of you who want it to be real). I left out any reference to death and destruction and took out a protesting segment in which the city was calling for the mayor's resignation. Even so, this story is on the darker side, which is fine, but I do want to retain the cuteness of mice in later stories. I think that's a good thing I've got going for me.
Original Story: "The Mice in Council" by George Tyler Townsend, from Aesop's Fables (1887). Web Source: Sacred Texts Archive
Image Information: Mouse with Bell. Web Source: Proverbs from Aesop's Fables
"We are facing an enemy who is bigger and stronger than ourselves with no known home to attack. Our attempts to find a quick resolution to this problem have failed. With a heavy heart, we, the CAT Council, ask the citizens of this city to please hold on for the blockades into the city to reach completion later this month," announced Stanley Klink, head of CAT, in a press conference this morning.
The emergency task force was commissioned a week ago by Mayor George Shrub, who has been heavily criticized for his late handling of the situation that has been going on for months now, leaving several mice injured. The announcement of the council's lack of results has compounded the disdain of the public for the mayor as his approval rating dropped another fifteen points this morning.
Sam Autumn, who has recently lost his tail in the attacks, is calling for the mayor's resignation.
"The mayor has given up on our city!" he said. "If we can't trust our elected officials to save us, then who will?! Mighty Mouse?! I guess we're just supposed to stay inside for a month while they build that big brick monstrosity at the end of our city."
The announcement of no plan at all has come to quite a shock to everyone, especially after hearing comments from sources inside the council just this morning.
"We are very close to what we feel is a daring and unprecedented solution to the cat problem," one council member said. "We should be ready to make our announcement later this morning."
According to Klink, the council did indeed have a plan mapped out over the course of the week, but the meeting fell apart when discussions began about who would actually carry out the act. It called for an early warning system in the form of a bell that would be tied around the cat's neck. The council had already commissioned the construction of the bell and harness. According to city records, $20,000 was spent in materials and labor for the bell.
The council apparently brooded all morning about candidates to attach to the bell to the cat. Among those named were star running back for the New York Dwarfs, Joe Joust, who was obviously picked for his quickness. The meeting allegedly came to a halt when a conference call to the football star only ended with the hysterical laughter of Joust as he hung up the phone. Joust was unavailable for questioning this morning.
Shrub admitted his embarrassment when asked about why they neglected to discuss who would actually "bell the cat" until the end of the meetings and offered no good reason why.
"It's frustrating to hammer out what you think is a great plan in a week, only to realize that no one is crazy enough to carry it out at the end. I mean, I'm not going to do it. Are you? I didn't think so," said Mayor Shrub. "Honestly, we were always grasping for straws on this one. He's a big cat! I don't know what to do. Call me when you figure it out, smart guy."
Author's note: The original story I was working with was very short on this one. In fact, it is literally three sentences. It could have served as a synopsis of mine, so I didn't have to make any changes to it fundamentally. I just gave it a setting, characters and dialogue. Honestly, that made it easier for me to write. I was only constrained by my desire to not make it too dark so it still fits the tone of the other stories I'm writing. Speaking of the other stories, I alluded to the next story in the series with Sam Autumn, the mouse who lost his tail. The next story is about him. Also, the construction of this big wall to keep the cat out could explain why the search party from the introduction couldn't find this little mouse city (for those of you who want it to be real). I left out any reference to death and destruction and took out a protesting segment in which the city was calling for the mayor's resignation. Even so, this story is on the darker side, which is fine, but I do want to retain the cuteness of mice in later stories. I think that's a good thing I've got going for me.
Original Story: "The Mice in Council" by George Tyler Townsend, from Aesop's Fables (1887). Web Source: Sacred Texts Archive
Image Information: Mouse with Bell. Web Source: Proverbs from Aesop's Fables