Page 26 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

lower branches, but when they did, the branches dipped to the ground – and then, like a catapult, whipped high in the air and sling-shot a dozen mice into a nearby pond.
Determined to get that Nut, the
Mouse Queen whipped off her
royal robe and ordered all the
mice to grab the edges. Then
she took her youngest son, the
littlest mouse-of-all, and
tossed him into the middle. Yelling, “One, two, three!” all the mice bounced young Reginald Rhatt on the impromptu blanket and threw him high into the air. Higher and higher he went until he went higher than the tree.
He was so scared that he grabbed the Nut and held on for dear life.
No amount of advice from the ground, “Gnaw the stem through!” or “Bounce a bit, dear!” had any effect on little Reggie. He just hung on for dear life and sniffled. So, the Mouse Queen ordered one mouse after another to climb on each other’s shoulders and form a living ladder. Then she trod on their snouts and grabbed their whiskers to climb all the way to the top of the tree, where Reggie was now sobbing in earnest.
With a snip of her sharp teeth, she cut loose the Nut. But her weight, which was considerable (for she always took more than her share of breakfast, lunch and dinner) combined with the Nut’s weight, were too much for the mouse-made ladder and it began to sway. Reggie
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