Little Monsters

Once upon a time in England, there was a scarecrow standing in a field. Though he resembled a man, he wasn’t one. He was made of straw. His head was an old football, with a painted face—two eyes, a nose, and a smiling mouth. He didn’t have hair, but he wore a brown felt hat that once belonged to a farmer. His clothes were also hand-me-downs from the farmer: a long brown coat with many pockets, torn jeans, a worn leather belt with a rusty buckle, and a red-and-white striped scarf. Since he had no feet, he stood upright on a wooden pole, never moving.

The scarecrow loved his life in the field. He watched the sunrise each morning, observed the clouds drifting by, and at night, he admired the moon and counted the stars. He took pride in his job of scaring away crows—the clever, troublesome black birds that stole seeds and pecked at growing vegetables. Without him, the farm would struggle to thrive.

But this spring, the scarecrow faced a problem. The farmer had stuffed him with fresh, clean straw, making him look and feel better than ever. However, the crows noticed the new straw and decided it was perfect for their nests. Three crows perched on a fence, eyeing him.

“Look at him!” one crow cawed. “His pockets are full of fresh straw. My chicks would love it. I’m taking some!” The crow flew over, plucked straw from the scarecrow, and flew back to its nest.

“That was easy!” said the second crow, following suit. The third crow did the same. All day, the crows returned, stealing more and more straw. The scarecrow couldn’t stop them—he couldn’t move, shout, or wave his arms. By evening, he looked thin and worried. “If they keep this up, there’ll be nothing left of me!” he thought.

Just then, a tiny voice spoke up. A mouse sat on his belt buckle. “I can help scare the crows away,” it said. The scarecrow was skeptical—the mouse was so small—but the mouse had an idea. It whispered a plan into the scarecrow’s ear, and the scarecrow smiled. “That might just work!” he said.

The next day, the crows returned. The first crow landed on the scarecrow, ready to steal more straw. Suddenly, “YAAAAAAR!” Twenty mice leaped out of the scarecrow’s clothes, roaring and waving their arms. The crow fled in terror, screaming, “A monster attacked me! It had twenty heads! I’m never going back!”

The second crow laughed at its friend’s fear but met the same fate. It too fled, shouting, “It’s true! There’s a monster inside him!” The third crow, seeing its companions flee, decided not to risk it and flew away.

The scarecrow cheered. “You did it! They’re gone!” The mice celebrated, dancing and hugging. The scarecrow wanted to thank them. “I wish I could give you something,” he said.

The mouse replied, “You can give us a home. Your pockets are warm and cozy. We’d love to stay.” The scarecrow smiled. “Then you shall stay, my little monsters!” And so, the scarecrow and the mice lived happily together, keeping the crows at bay.