A Mouse Is Missing!

 story & illustration © 2003 Bruce Van Patter
O
nly a few more steps and Una would have her answer. A few more steps and she'd know.
She crept quietly, her Magni-Sniffer up to her nose. It was like a big cone, which helped her nose catch the faintest smells. She had invented it herself.

So many smells came through her Sniffer -- dust polish, fried eggs from breakfast, the oily furnace -- people smells. But she was after only one thing. The smell of colby cheese.

Colby cheese was her Uncle Neb's favorite snack. He took it wherever he went. And where he went two days ago was what Una wanted to know. He had been missing, and it was up to her to find him.

There! There it is, that colby smell. She had a direction now. It was coming from the big basket up ahead -- Frisky's basket, she thought with a gulp. Let's just hope he's not around. When she got to the basket, she carefully climbed up the outside, putting her Sniffer on her head. She peered over the edge. There he was! Uncle Neb was asleep in a corner of the blanket. With a quick scamper, she was by his side, shaking him awake.

"Uncle Neb! It's me, Una!" she whispered. He rubbed his eyes, looked at her Sniffer and laughed. "Having a party, are we? I love par-ties!" he clapped.

That's when Una heard the snarl of a huge cat behind her.
It's Your Story - I've got Una in quite a fix! Can you fix an ending?

Write an ending for the story where Una and her uncle trick the cat and escape. How will they do it? Maybe you could have her use her Sniffer! And... wouldn't you think the Sniffer would have given Una some common scents?

Have fun -- finish the story -- and be creative! If you want to, email me your ending!

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