Once there was a friendly mouse named Noki. One day, before winter began,Noki and his friends were harvesting food for the long winter. Then he heard a cry:
” HELP!”
Noki heard this. The asked his friend Badger if he knew who was yelling.
” Oh, just ignore it Noki. Harvest food!” Badger replied.
” HELP!!” the voice cried again.
Noki went to the nearby apple tree and saw a porcupine stuck under some branches.
” Help! I was picking apples, and suddenly, the branch fell on me! I’m stuck! Can you help me?” the porcupine said.
Noki helped all day that he didn’t get one piece of food that day. The next day, he got up early to harvest more food, to make up from yesterday. Then he heard someone crying.
” Oh, dear mouse friend,” he said to his friend, that was a rat, also.” Who is crying?”
” Oh, just ignore it , Noki, Harvest food!” the rat said.
Noki went over to the same apple tree he was yesterday and saw a little squirrel crying by the tree.
“What’s wrong?” Noki asked the squirrel.
” My house’s entrance is blocked by these leaves, and I can’t find the hole! Can you help me?” the squirrel asked.
Noki agreed and searched for the hole. At last, he found it and the squirrel thanked him and went gleefully into the hole. For helping the squirrel, he didn’t collect food either that day.
He got up early once again the next day to try to find some food.
” HELP!” he heard.
” Who is crying for help?” Noki asked his friend mouse.
” I don’t know. Just ignore it. Harvest food!” his friend replied.
Noki climed up a big house and saw a little bird stuck behind the window, trying to get free.
” I was flying by, but then the wind blew and shut the window! Can you help me? I can’t get out!” the bird said.
Noki gnawed a hole in the window with his teeth as the bird flew off.
The next day, he wanted to get more food, but the ground was already covered in snow. He went to his three friends, Badger, Mouse and Rat, but all they said was,
” See? Told you. Now you have no food.”
” What am I going to do?” Noki asked.
” I don’t know. Find more food.” the three responded.
Instead of helping Noki, they went back to their burrows for deep hibernation. Noki was about to give up hope and go back home until he saw the porcupine, the squirrel, and the bird, coming to him. They came with food for Noki.
” Since you have helped us, this is our thanks. ”
They dropped food in his burrow.
Badger, Rat, and Mouse’s winter was lonely and boring, while Noki survived the winter with his friends, and my, did they have a lot of things to share! They shared, ate, and slept for the whole winter.
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