Lesedi looked out of the window and there was Mrs Kunene’s cat. He was big and he was staring up at the window.
“Throw something out there,” said Mosa.
“I can’t do that!” said Lesedi, shocked.
“Why not?” asked Mosa.
“It may hurt him,” explained Lesedi.
“But if he catches me and eats me it will hurt me,” said Mosa as she jumped back down onto the floor. “But now that you’ve found me here, I’d better go.”
“Go where?” asked Lesedi.
“I’ll go to the field,” said Mosa.
“The field? Don’t you belong to someone?” Lesedi asked. She was confused.
“No. I live in the field on my own,” Mosa said, “but sometimes I live … I live …”
“Ye-es,” said Lesedi, “you live … where?”
“Umm … Ummmm … here!” said Mosa.
“WHAAT?” Lesedi couldn’t believe what she had just heard!
“Well, I get scared at night so I wait until your light has been switched off. Then I push my way through your curtains,” Mosa clucked. “I wish you didn’t close them so tightly though. It makes getting through very difficult.”
“Sorry,” said Lesedi.
“Then, I try to get under your bed, but I can’t because there are too many shoes and toys there,” the hen clucked sadly. “Then, I try to get into your cupboard, but you always shut the door. So I have been sleeping over there, in the corner, next to that wooden box.”
“So you were making the noises that I heard,” said Lesedi.
“You make noises too,” said Mosa, “and they scare me, but not as much as Mrs Kunene’s cat. The noises he makes really scare me.”
Lesedi and Mosa stared at each other for a whole minute.
Mosa’s much more scared than I am, thought Lesedi, and she doesn’t even have a home.
“Puk-puk … Maybe we could be scared together,” suggested Mosa.
“Maybe we could be brave together,” said Lesedi.
“Yes,” said Mosa. “We are already braver because we won’t be scared of each other’s noises.”
So Lesedi and Mosa made plans. They started by opening the curtains. Then Lesedi moved the wooden box under the windowsill.
“This can be your home,” she said. “I will always leave the curtains open. And if you are really scared, you can get under the bed. I will even leave the cupboard door open.”
“And I’ll be very quiet,” said Mosa. “I won’t make any strange noises to scare you at night.”
So, from that night on Lesedi and Mosa started being braver. Mosa lived on top of the wooden box under the windowsill and when she came into the room she gave a soft Puk-puk-puket to say hello. Lesedi smiled in her sleep.
And, guess what …
Lesedi is no longer scared of shadows or thunder, and everyone has stopped calling her Little Mouse. And Mosa is no longer scared of Mrs Kunene’s cat – she has a safe place to hide and to live.
AND … every now and then, Mosa leaves three presents on the wooden box and Lesedi, her mother and her father have fresh eggs for breakfast
