The "Hairy" Adventures of Benjamin P. Hartford

“Good morning, Benji” Benjamin P. Hartford said to himself as he opened his eyes to begin what was to become a most interesting day. Benji raced across the hallway and into the bathroom. He could hear his mother and father downstairs. His mother cooked breakfast while his father talked on and on about his plans for the day. Benji turned on the bathroom light and scrunched his eyes tightly trying to block out the blinding light. He dreaded opening them because he knew his hair would be a mess, as usual. His hair was so curly that no one had successfully gotten a comb through it since the first hair had appeared eight years ago. He also hated the color of his hair. It was dirty blonde and looked like the water after you washed the dishes.

“Benjamin Porter Hartford, have you combed your hair today?” his mother would ask.

“Mary, you really must do something about the boy’s hair,” his father would say.

“Benji has a rat’s nest on his head,” his sister Marcy ALWAYS said.

When Benji opened his eyes, he nearly fainted. The sight was unbelievable, for sitting on top of his head was a family, a whole family, of mice. Benjamin moved closer to the mirror and blinked his eyes several times, but they were still there. It was not his imagination playing tricks on him. When Benji looked closer, he could see that the mice were staring back at him. 

“Hey,” called the largest of the mice. “How are you this fine morning?”

Benji did not know what to say, he had never had a mouse speak to him before.

“N-n-nothing” Benj stuttered.

“Well, I am Royster T. Mouse and these here are my brothers, Harold and Ludwig. We

really think we are going to enjoy staying here.”

“What are you doing here?” Benji asked.

“Well, you see,” said Ludwig “we have been looking for a place to stay since the weather is turning cold.”

“And,” began Harold “we heard someone say that you had a rat’s nest on your head so we thought…”

Royster piped in “we would check it out.”

Benjamin stood there mouth hanging open. What could he do? He could not let anyone see him. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.