Initially published in the Alliston Herald on September 26, 2008
In the 1940s Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas would occasionally tell a political fable known as "Mouseland." With apologies to the late Mr. Douglas, the following is the first installment of the New Tecumseth version of "Mouseland."
There were troubles in Mouseland. The mice in the south were upset. The mice from the south often complained that the northern mice got all the shiny toys. They said the mice in the north had all the nice places to shop and play.
Mouseland had a great big hose that brought the mice fresh water. Well, most of the mice. The Tottenham mice didn't get the fresh water.
It was so bad the mice in the south didn't even have enough places to put their doo doo.
Mouseland's Town Hall was called the Mouse House. There were nine mice elected to the Mouse House.
The head mouse was a really clever and wily mouse. He had big ears that helped him listen and learn.
The deputy mouse used to be the head mouse. Although he was the deputy mouse, he always thought he should be the head mouse. He wanted to be the head mouse again.
There was a really large and noisy mouse from Beeton. This mouse always seemed to get his way.
Alliston had two mice in the Mouse House. They were very different mice. The boy mouse liked to use big words. Not the girl mouse. When the girl mouse talked in the Mouse House she liked to giggle.
Tottenham also had two mice. The oldest mouse from Tottenham mostly liked to talk about where all the doo doo in the south should go. The youngest mouse from Tottenham was sometimes tired and sleepy. That's because he often carried Mouseland's Member of Parliament from place to place on his back.
In the north there was a kingdom within Mouseland called the Briar. Many mice here had grey or white or blue fur. Some had no fur at all.
The unofficial ruler of the Briar was a mouse called Lou. Each year Lou had a party where hundreds of mice came to play on the grass. But the mouse who was elected to the Mouse House from the Briar did not like to play on that grass.
There was also a mouse from the forest. Sometimes this mouse seemed grumpy. Mostly she had smart things to say.
Outside of Mouseland were many cats and rats. The cats and rats wanted to pave all of Mouseland and build mice nests for thousands and thousands and thousands of new mice. This would make the cats and rats lots of money and help them buy more cat nip and rat treats.
The deputy mouse liked the idea of Mouseland being paved. He liked to have meals with the cats and rats. He liked when the cats and rats talked nice to him and said they would help him become head mouse again.
To be continued...
