Neil Beck

8-5-02

Save the Day

Chapter 3,

"Reunion"

Mike Mouse was waken up by the alarm clock on a nightstand next to his bed. "Wake up Mouseville", said an annoying voice on the radio, "It's a bright, sunny, Friday morning and the traffic heading on the Mouseville Turnpike is getting thicker than my mother's cheddar loaf surprise."

"Huh?", said a sleepy Mike, "What?….Oh no, it's morning." Mike turned towards the clock on his radio. "Six already", he said as he leaned towards the edge of his bead. Mike slapped his hand on top of the radio to shut it off. However, forgetting his strength, he smashed the radio into many pieces. "Oh, that's the third one this week", he stated looking at the mess.

Mike slowly got up out of his bed and headed for the bathroom. After brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower he headed for his huge walk-in closet where he picked out his suit and tie for his first day on the job. Absent from his closet was his Mighty Mouse uniform. He kept that in a special place. Mike picked out a nice black suit that covered his muscular physique well. No need to add any more attention to him that he was already going to get as it was his first day on the job. Plus, he wanted to look the part of an employee of City Hall. He chose a red tie with thin black stripes, black socks (yes those) and a pair of nice black shoes.

After a quick breakfast, he grabbed his suitcase and was out the door. Mike did not own a car, nor did he need one. He did all of his traveling by the air, even when he was Mike Mouse and not Mighty Mouse. He lived just outside of the city limits in a hilly area. It was a quite place where he could be alone with his thoughts. It was also a far cry from his former residence, the Moon.

Mike arrived to City Hall and landed in an ally about a block away. He walked with a steady stream of mice heading for their jobs. As he walked up the steps of City Hall he paused to remember Pearl. "It's been almost ten years", he thought to himself, "I wonder if she remembers Mike Mouse and if so, what she thinks of him."

Mike walked through the huge halls of City Hall and noticed a painting of Mighty Mouse along one of the walls. "Our Protector" was inked on the top of the painting. This painting led to a door with Mayor's Office written on the front of it. Mike opened the door and headed in. The room was large and a secretary was sitting at her desk answering a phone call. "This must be the waiting area", thought Mike to himself as he headed for the secretary's desk.

Mike waited patiently as the secretary finished her phone call. "Yes, how can I help you sir?", asked the secretary looking up from her seat at Mike. "Yes, my name is Mike Mouse and I am here for the temp job for the Mayor", replied Mike.

"Oh sure, Mayor Pureheart has been expecting you", responded the secretary, "Hang on and I'll let her know that you are here." "Thank you", replied Mike, "Oh and does she know my name?" "I'm not sure that she does. I don't think that Frank told her your name. Is that a problem?", asked the secretary. "No…no that's fine, thanks", Mike responded. Mike went and sat on a chair as the secretary picked up a phone.

"Yes, he's here", spoke the secretary on the phone, "Yes, I'll send him right in. Mr. Mouse", she said motioning to Mike, "The Mayor will see you now." "Thank you", Mike replied as he headed for the Mayor's door.

The door shut behind him as Mike walked into the huge room that was the Mayor's office. It was nice, with art and diplomas hanging on the walls. In the middle of the room was a large desk with some chairs in front of it. Mike made his way to and sat down on one of these chairs. Pearl was not in the room, so he sat down, opened his suitcase and took out a pencil. He also put a mint in his mouth and took a deep breath. It was clear that he was nervous, not by the job but by seeing Pearl and more so on Pearl seeing him.

With his nerves he dropped the pencil on the floor and got out of his seat and bent down to pick it up. No sooner did he have the pencil in his hand that he looked up slow to see two shapely legs in front of him. He slowly looked up some more to see to whom they belonged to.

Pearl stood over him, looking down at him with a smile. Mike quickly got up eye level with her, hands starting to shake. "You can take a picture, it might last longer", joked Pearl. "I had dropped my pencil and had to pick it up, I did not mean to stare…..or look at all", responded Mike. "Don't worry about it", replied Pearl, "You should see the state reps., they look more to the north." Pearl was wearing a red blouse with a black skirt and red high reels on. Her hair was a golden blonde and she had bright, blue eyes and thick, full lips with a reddish lipstick on them. She was in great shape, thin with all the right curves. She was just as Mike remembered her.

The two laughed as Pearl extended a hand to Mike. "So, you're Frank's friend", she asked as they shook hands. "Yes…that's me", responded Mike. "Well, it's good to have you aboard", replied Pearl moving over to a file cabinet. She opened it to pull some files, paused and looked at Mike. "So, what's your name?", she asked looking back to the files.

This was the moment that Mike had feared, yet looked forward to. "My name", started Mike, "My name is…Mike….Mike Mouse." With this Pearl nearly dropped the files that she was holding and looked up at Mike again. "Mike….is that really you?", she asked. "Yes Pearl…..it's me", responded Mike. "MIKE!", shouted Pearl as she raced to him. Pearl hugged Mike for what seemed to be hours. "Mike", she said almost in tears, "It's been almost ten years since I've seen you." "As I have you Pearl", responded Mike himself almost in tears. "Where have you been? What have you done all these years?", she asked.

"I've been doing well", responded Mike, "I've done some free-lance work for a paper down south. I moved from Mouseville after my work at WPRL News with you. I guess I just wanted to move away from the big city for a while. However, the paper I worked for went out of business due to low sales and I thought that I'd move back to Mouseville and look for work. Since I knew my way around the city I thought that it would be easier for me to find work here. That's when I ran into Frank and he asked me to help you out. I jumped at the chance to do this. I thought that I sent you an E-mail about where I was and all about six years ago."

"You may have Mike", responded Pearl, "It got pretty hectic for me since the WPRL days so it may have gotten lost in the pile of E-mail I received during the years. So how do you know Frank?. "Well", replied Mike, "I was a member of a health club when I was down south. One day I saw him there while I was at the juice bar." "I never saw Frank as a health club person", replied Pearl. "Yes", Mike chuckled, "He's not. He was down there on vacation and was trying to hit on some women. Anyhow, he was not too successful and did not notice that he dropped his wallet. I picked it up for him, we got to talking and we've been friends ever since." "Oh, well that sounds like Frank", responded Pearl still not taking her eyes off of Mike. He was just as she remembered.

"It seems that you have done well for yourself since I left Pearl", said Mike looking around the office. "Yes, I guess that I have made some changes in my life", responded Pearl, "Since Mighty Mouse disappeared, I felt that the city needed some leadership." "Mighty Mouse left?", asked Mike. "Yes", responded Pearl, "about the same time that you did……that's strange. Anyhow, I went to Law School and got my degree. Some people told me that I should run for office, so I did and won the election. It's a tough job, but a good one and I've learned, as I'm sure that Mighty Mouse had too, that watching over this city is a tough job. Well, I've got to run to a meeting, but we'll catch up some more over dinner, my treat, say around nine on Sunday night?" "Sounds good to me Pearl", responded Mike. "Great", responded Pearl, "Rose, my secretary will fill you in on the job…..and Mike….you don't know how good it is to see you again." "For me to see you also Pearl", Mike responded.

With that, Pearl smiled and headed off to her meeting with some files in her hands and Mike headed for the secretary's desk in the other room. This was starting to be a great day, but Mike had no idea what he was in for during the night.

Coming soon:

Chapter 4,

"Human Animal"