Page 225 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

“Bring me my Nut! My Krakatuk!”
Pirlipat did not want to listen, but she couldn’t stop the commands from getting inside her brain. She tried to dance a jig of victory, but her feet, which so recently could not stop dancing, now could not start dancing. Her feet shuffled and finally froze. She tried to sing the victory song, but all her lips kept forming were, “Yes, your Majesty.” So, she clamped them tight and refused to open her mouth.
And all the while the Mouse Queen’s eyes bore into her brain.
Pirlipat now began to look a bit more like coffee – the hot drink, not the Sweetie. She was hot and steamy, and a little froth skimmed the corners of her mouth, as she fought the urge to obey the Queen and bring Krakatuk – and lay it at her feet.
At that moment, Clara spied who she thought was Coffee, holding on to the Krakatuk and looking like she was going to keel over in a dead faint. The Sweetie Clara thought was Coffee turned and took a step closer to the Mouse Queen.
Heavens! thought Clara. She’s going to give Krakatuk to the Mouse Queen! Clara looked around for the Nutcracker, but he was too far away to be of any help. That’s when she noticed the Mouse Queen was gnawing her way through the hoops and string that formed her trap. In fact, the Mouse Queen was seconds away from – No! Clara thought. But it was true! As Clara watched, the Mouse Queen bit through the last hoop, and she was loose!
Pirlipat saw the Mouse Queen coming her way and that’s all it took to give her a backbone. She would not give the
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