Page 101 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

The Mouse Queen was so excited to vent her anger that she actually stood up – an exercise she had not done without help since coming to power and gorging non-stop. The entire mouse population cowered in fear and trembling as she walked, on her own two legs, across the room to the poor mouse – whom they all thought was sure to get the ax, suffer the consequences, and generally get stomped on.
Here’s where being a coward became very useful, for Reggie had learned early on how to turn his mummy’s fury into someone else’s worry. And, so, he burst out about Clara! Drosselmeir was going to give the Nutcracker to Clara. And Clara would break the spell. It was all Clara’s fault!
In less than a swish of her tail, the Mouse Queen had grabbed Reggie by the scruff of his neck and, holding him tight, propelled him through the clock and back to the Stahlbaums’. That’s when Reggie realized exactly how much bigger his momma had gotten, for he was now crushed flat inside the clock by her layers and layers of fat.
From the clock, the Mouse Queen observed the party and saw Drosselmeir pressed back from Clara by all the suitors clamoring to be introduced. She realized there was still time to destroy that particular piece of annoying wood, which in essence was Franz. But she needed to keep Clara occupied, to give the spell she’d laid on the boys time to goad them on to its utter destruction. As her sugar-charged brain bounced around for ideas, her watery eyes landed on Reggie.
Reggie thought he’d throw up, when he saw the Mouse Queen’s eyes land on him; he felt he was cornered by the butcher’s cat. Whatever she had planned was going to land
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