Who There?

The morning sun was just starting to peek through the window blinds, casting long, striped shadows across the wooden floor. On top of the big wooden desk, a pink, striped cat stood frozen. His tail was puffed up like a bottle brush, and his big, round eyes were spinning with worry.

Scritch-scratch. Tap-tap-tap.

There it was again! The cat’s ears twitched. He looked left. He looked right. He looked behind the desk lamp. Nothing.

"It must be a shadow-monster," the cat whispered to himself, his paws trembling on the smooth desk. "A giant, invisible monster with ten legs and a hunger for pink cats!"

He crept to the very edge of the desk, peer-peer-peering down into the room. He was ready to leap out of his fur if the monster showed its face.

But if the cat had looked just a little bit lower, right by the leg of the desk chair, he would have seen the truth.

There, sitting on the floor, was a tiny, grey mouse with two huge front teeth and wide, innocent eyes. The mouse wasn't a monster at all. He was just trying to find his breakfast! Every time the mouse took a step, his little claws went tap-tap-tap on the hard wood.

The mouse looked up and saw the cat staring intensely at the wall.

"What is that big pink fellow looking at?" the mouse wondered, tilting his head. "He looks terrified. Oh no... what if there is a monster in here?!"

Suddenly, the mouse panicked too! He scurried in a quick circle, his feet scratching wildly against the floor.

SCRITCH-SCRATCH-SCRITCH!

Hearing the loud noise right below him, the cat let out a loud "MEOW-OW!" and did a massive backflip in the air, landing right back on the desk with a thud.

The thud scared the mouse so much that he let out a tiny "SQUEAK!" and jumped backward into a dusty corner.

For a whole minute, the room was completely quiet. The cat peeked over the desk. The mouse peeked out from the corner.

"Whew," muttered the cat, wiping his brow with a paw. "I think my brave jumping scared the monster away."

"Phew," whispered the mouse, hiding behind a chair leg. "Whatever that pink monster was jumping at, I'm glad it's gone!"

And so, the brave cat guarded the top of the desk, and the brave mouse guarded the bottom, both completely sure they had saved the day from a invisible monster.