Page 90 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

crinolines, the Mouse Queen groused and grumbled enough to let Reggie know that he’d better NOT bother her again – unless he had destroyed the Nutcracker. With a swat on the back of his head for good measure, she turned tail (which mice can do because they have a tail) and barely squeezed through the clock’s door, for she had gained a pound or two on the trip over.
Reggie stared down the stairs in horror and cringed, withdrawing even closer to the shadows of the clock. There were people everywhere! If he weren’t a mouse, Reggie would have jumped up on a chair and screamed like Princess Pirlipat.
As Reggie sat in his shadows, HE grumbled and groused about the Mouse Queen bossing him around. Here he was, a Prince, and he was no more than a slave, a toy for her use, of no more importance to her than the boys who were, right now, nothing more than her puppets. “We’re all her puppets,” he sobbed, “and SHE’s holding the strings.” And once again, Reggie showed himself for who he truly was, for during his private pity party, his truly ratty soul came out – and he made plans on how to DO HER IN.
From getting rid of Mummy, Reggie progressed to being KING of the mice, and his next half hour was spent in happy contemplation of all the ways he would pay back his brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins for being mean to him.
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