“If you change places with me, nobody will ever know,” Harry, the mouse, came sauntering towards Bob and said.

The cat at first gazed at the mouse and started to thinking something.

Harry continued, “My friend, as you are a stray animal, humans hate you. You don’t have enough to eat. You fill your stomach with the dirty leftovers by humans, rotten fruits and bad meat. The cleaner always thrashes you. I also witness you being laughed at by other cats. No one is there to clean you, wash you, or love you. And above all, Spike the dog is always there to chase you. If you become a smaller animal in size, he will never be able to spot you.”

The cunning mouse tried his best to convince Bob in some way. He had come up with this outstanding idea the previous night and just wanted to make it a reality. Bob, on the other hand, was a foolish cat, who believed what others said easily. He smiled, as if he was somehow impressed by Harry’s reasoning.

Harry babbled, “Being a mouse, you will have the privilege to enjoy a number of merits. A well-furnished house, an affectionate family and nothing to worry about. You will have to do just a little collaboration with other mice and three meals will be there every day for you.”

His discontent increased with every passing day. He felt as if every situation turned out against his wishes. Every now and then, he had to face humiliation and embarrassment. Others always caught him doing things they considered ridiculous

“Is it true?” Bob asked cheerfully.

“Yes, all true. If you are a mouse, humans would scream when they spot you, instead of jeering at you or throwing stones or other stuff on you. You will make them run in panic. Such power!”

At last, Harry was successful in convincing the cat. Bob uttered, “I am so impressed by all you say, and even knowing that you are my meal, I just can’t wait to be a mouse. I am very excited.”

Harry and Bob then chanted some magic words to awaken the fairy godfather. In no time, both were in different places and had taken the form of the other. Bob, as a mouse, and Harry, as a cat, hurriedly ran towards different directions in delight. Both of them were very eager to do all they had wished for.

At first, Harry ate up all those mice who had been bad with him. Then, he washed, cleaned and dried himself to look attractive, what Bob had never done. Soon, kids began to approach him with endearment. They adored him and fed him. A boy even played scrabble with him. He mused on his life as a mouse.

“When I was a mouse, everyone disliked me and ran away from me in terror. I love being a favourite neighbourhood pet now. I am very lucky that Bob was stupid enough to get tricked and exchange places with me.”

Meanwhile, Bob was also having a whale of time. He rolled himself inside the pipes and underground holes, which had been his biggest desire. Now he could run and jump more swiftly. His small size allowed himself to fit in anywhere, in mailboxes, supermarket shelves, shoes, or even someone’s handbag! He amused himself a lot when people, catching a glimpse of him, began to scream in panic.

However, after a couple of days, Bob became uncomfortable. His mates were very friendly in the beginning, but now they were giving him a lot of trouble. They started to intimidate him due to his extremely silly and daft behaviour. For this reason, even his family began to disrespect him.

Once he and his friends were out in search of food when he caught the sight of a big bowl full of milk. It was for cats. Perhaps thinking that he was still a cat, he leaped towards the bowl and ended up sinking himself in milk. All the mice ridiculed him.

On another occasion, he was having corn seeds for dinner. He had never eaten corn and didn’t know how it had to be eaten. Puzzled, he took a grain and began to peel it, which was rather a difficult task. Seeing him doing such a thing, other mice laughed heartily at him. He was left completely ashamed.

Some weeks went by. His discontent increased with every passing day. He felt as if every situation turned out against his wishes. Every now and then, he had to face humiliation and embarrassment. Others always caught him doing things they considered ridiculous.

He found it difficult to bear all this and after a lot of deliberation, he decided to search for Harry. It was a great struggle to find him. He searched in dump yards, streets and under the cars. Harry mistook him a number of times as he had a picture in his mind of him being a cat, dirty and dusty, mucky and soiled.

At last, he discovered him sleeping near a bakery. He could recognise him with a birthmark on his neck. Astounded by such a big change in appearance, he approached Harry.

“Hey Harry, wake up! I have to talk something important with you,” Bob whispered.

Harry got up, rubbing his eyes.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” he mumbled sleepily.

“I am Bob. Do you remember we changed places? I have to talk about that.”

Bob didn’t even notice how close he had come to Harry. Maybe he trusted his friend. Harry was fully awake now. But, before Bob could continue with what he wanted to say, he became a nice dinner for Harry.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2020