Page 150 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

And so, Reggie dithered and dallied and duped himself into believing – that doing nothing – was the best plan of action.
Now, it is universally known that most Mothers know almost nothing about their children. But even the worst Mothers know something. For most children, the fact that their mothers know anything is generally cause for consternation. But when their mothers know something, it is astounding.
And so it was for Reggie. He lay curled in a tight ball on the floor of the clock – passing the time by turning his head back and forth with the pendulum, and singing a “tick- tock” song in his head, and allowing himself to be hypnotized by repetition, stillness and not thinking. As he lay in a half-stupor (which if he only realized was his modus operandi – which is a fancy way of saying ‘habit’) he realized he heard the scamper and stomp of a dozen mousey feet.
For what Reggie didn’t realize was that even his Mother, the worst mother of all, knew something about her son.
And what she knew was that he was worthless when things went wrong. And so, just in case things had gone wrong, the Mouse Queen had sent Reggie reinforcements. And these reinforcements now spilled into the clock, stomping and tromping all over Reggie. And as soon as Reggie could get the reinforcements off his chest – and arms and stomach and draw a deep breath – Reggie squeaked out a surprised yelp of happiness.
For he knew these were the biggest bullies in the pack, and with them protecting him – he could take any doll away from a mere girl.
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