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THE SOUL-PEARL... Part Twelve. THE SOUL-PEARL... Part Twelve. Before the others could make an answer there was a blast of bugles which seemed to cause great excitement from the Grey-Rats who jumped to their feet, cheering wildly as a team of large Grey-Rats ran onto the field and started to do exercises. “That’s it, Bully-Boys!” shouted out Big-Red, wiping at his nose with the handkerchief. “Let’s finish off those weaklings, the puny Brown-Mice!” he shouted, jumping up and down. Again the bugles blared a greeting and onto the field ran a team of small Brown-Mice. This set the rows of watching Brown-Mice cheering wildly and throwing their Bowler hats into the air. Then a whistle shrilled and both sat themselves down in an air of expectancy. “Isn’t that the same Weasel? The one who had the whistle in the last room?” queried Slippery as he pointed out the Weasel who stood at the far end of the field with the whistle held firmly to his mouth. “It certainly is.” assured Stinger-Scorpion. “What on earth is going on? I mean, if they are going to play a game then I can’t see any ball. And anyway, what does this have to do with us?” asked Nipper-Crab. “Did you see that? Big-Red just pushed that little Mouse over!” cried Nipper-Crab. “Yes! I saw it! Big-Red just pushed the little Mouse over for no reason, the big bully!” cried out Slippery-Fish, quite angry at what he had just seen. “For no reason!” added Stinger-Scorpion who felt just as angry, then adding. “He’s just a big bully!” Their angry shouts added to the cries which came from the rows of Brown-Mice, who shook their tiny fists at Big-Red who began to laugh as he wiped at his nose. “I’ve a good mind to go down there and punch him right on the nose!” exploded Stinger-Scorpion. As the words came out of Stinger-Scorpion’s mouth, Weasel had run onto the field between the line-up of the Grey-Rats and Brown-Mice. The noise from the crowds on both sides of the field died down then roared again as the Weasel blew the whistle loudly then ran from the field as the game began. “What kind of game is this?” shouted Nipper-Crab, watching as the Grey-Rats began to run towards the Brown-Mice, barging into them and knocking them down. “This is not fair, not fair at all!” shouted Stinger-Scorpion. “Look at those poor little Mice. They are crying and hurt. Stop it, you bullies!” he shouted. “And look at Big-Red! He is tying one little Mouse up with his handkerchief. Can you see that, Slippery-Fish?” “Yes I can, Nipper-Crab. Those big Rats are just bullies! Let’s go down on the field and help the little Mice. After all we are bigger than those Grey-Rats. Let’s see how they like it if we bully them.” “Come on then!” called Stinger-Scorpion as he started to make his way down towards the field. “Wait!” Above the noise from the crowds and from the field, came the shout from Warty-Toad. Stinger-Scorpion stopped on seeing who called and came back to where his friends were. “What do you want, Toad?” demanded Stinger-Scorpion, his eyes looking back to the field and seeing the Grey-Rats continuing to push over the Brown-Mice each time they got up. “Are you angry, Stinger-Scorpion? You as well, Nipper-Crab and Slippery-Fish?” asked Warty-Toad as he held up a hand. “Of course I’m angry!” snapped Stinger-Scorpion as both, Nipper-Crab and Slippery-Fish, nodded their heads. “Of course we are all very angry, Toad. We don’t have bullying at Cuttlefish-Avenue.” added Nipper-Crab. “Of course we all are, Toad. Look at the way those bullies are hurting those little Mice.” said Slippery-Fish. “So you think that by going down there onto the field and bullying the Grey-Rats you are not being bullies yourselves?” asked Warty-Toad. “What else can we do?” asked Stinger-Scorpion. “Firstly, my friends, you have to lose your anger. Without being angry you can look at the situation calmly and then decide what the best way is to deal with those bullies.” said Warty-Toad. “Then what do you suggest?” asked Nipper-Crab as he turned to see the Weasel ran onto the field, blowing the whistle in short blasts. “That has to be half-time.” said Slippery-Fish. And they watched the Grey-Rats run from the field, while the Brown-Mice hobbled their way to an exit on the other side of the field. “So what can we do?” asked Nipper-Crab again, turning his eyes back to Warty-Toad. “The important thing is to think with a calm head and not allow anger to make you all hot-headed.” replied Warty-Toad. The three friends nodded as they felt the anger flow from them. They stood prepared to listen to what Warty-Toad had to say. “Tell me, my friends.” began Warty-Toad. “Why is it that the Grey-Rats can easily push the Brown-Mice down?” he finished. “That’s easy to see!” exclaimed Stinger-Scorpion. “Look at the size of the Grey-Rats. They are twice the size of the Mice!” “Yes, the Grey-Rats are a lot bigger and also because they have a leader, Red-Rat, the one who tells them what to do.” explained Warty-Toad. “Yes Toad, we do understand that but what can we do about it?” asked Nipper-Crab. Warty-Toad smiled as he looked at each of them with large blinking eyes. “What I suggest is that you go down to the Brown-Mice. Pay them a visit in their Dressing-Room and offer to help them.” said Warty-Toad. “Oh yes? And how exactly are we to help them, Toad?” asked Stinger-Scorpion, raising his eyebrows. “Why don’t the three of you just go down to the Brown-Mice Dressing-Room and see if you can’t feed them up a bit? That might help.” replied Warty-Toad. Nipper-Crab nodded, deciding to do as Warty-Toad had suggested. There was something about Warty-Toad which was very mysterious and Nipper-Crab felt certain that Warty-Toad was there to help them. “Come on Stinger-Scorpion and Slippery-Fish. Let’s do as the Toad suggests.” said Nipper-Crab, beginning to lead the way down to the Brown-Mice Dressing-Room. “I hope you are right, Toad.” said Stinger-Scorpion, turning to Warty-Toad. But Warty-Toad had vanished again. Stinger-Scorpion shrugged and along with Slippery-fish he followed Nipper-Crab down to the Brown-Mice Dressing-Room. The room was quiet except for the Mice who moaned as they patched up their hurts with sticking plasters and bandages. No-one spoke or even looked up as the three friends entered the Dressing-Room. “Whose in charge?” asked Stinger-Scorpion, looking around at the Brown-Mice as they sat on the bench. No-one answered. “There must be someone in charge here.” said Nipper-Crab. “We don’t have anyone in charge.” spoke up one Mouse at last. “What is your name?” asked Slippery-Fish, looking at the Mouse who had spoken. “I am called White-Ear, on account of me having one white ear while everything else is brown.” replied the Mouse. “Then we will put you in charge White-Ear, on account of you being able to speak up.” added Stinger-Scorpion. “What is the game all about and why are allowing the Grey-Rats to push you down?” queried Nipper-Crab. “It’s not a game. We have to go out onto the field every Saturday and allow the Grey-Rats to push us around. It’s called Saturday-Push-Over and we are called the Push-Overs.” advised White-Ear, keeping his eyes down. “But why do you allow it?” asked Stinger-Scorpion, mystified. “Because if we don’t allow the Grey-Rats to push the team around for all the Brown-Mice to see then the Grey-Rats will come to our Villages and push everybody around and bully all the . So sooner than that, we allow the Grey-Rats to just push our team over.” explained White-Ear as tears sprang to his eyes. “What can we do to help these Brown-Mice?” whispered Slippery-Fish. “If we go out onto the field, the Grey-Rats will go to the Villages and make the lives of the Brown-Mice a misery." “You are right.” said Stinger-Scorpion, sadly. “There’s not much we can do to help the Brown-Mice.” “Unless of course we feed them up.” said Nipper-Crab as he remembered what Warty-Toad had said. His eyes lay on the bag of grain which lay in one corner. “What do you mean, Nipper?” asked Slippery-Fish. Nipper-Crab walked over to the bag, without answering and began to open it. “I’ll explain later, Slippery-Fish." he said and then walked back to face the seated Brown-Mice. "Now what I want all you Brown-Mice to do is line up and have your bowls ready. I will give you all some food which has to be eaten before you go out on the field for the second half. White-Ear, you take charge and have your food first.” ordered Nipper-Crab. White-Ear ordered the rest of the team to line up and then stood at the front. He held out his bowl his bowl and Nipper-Crab filled it. Seating himself on the bench, White-Ear began to eat the grain as Nipper-Crab filled the bowls of each Mouse. As the bowls were filled each Brown-Mouse joined White-Ear on the bench, their mouths busy in chewing. “Oh gosh! Look at White-Ear!” exclaimed Stinger-Scorpion, his mouth falling open as he saw White-Ear begin to grow larger and larger. “Look!” They are all getting bigger and bigger!” gasped Slippery-Fish as all the members of the team nearly reached the ceiling, bulging and flexing their muscles. “How do you feel, White-Ear?” asked Nipper-Crab. “I feel so strong. We will crush those Grey-Rats!” said White-Ear, his voice loud and courageous as he flexed his muscles again. “No! You can’t do that White-Ear.” said Nipper-Crab. “If you do that then you become the bullies instead of the Grey-Rats. You have to remember just how you felt when you were being bullied.” “Yes.” agreed White-Ear.” “We shall just go out there and frighten the Grey-Rats so they never bully us again. But I wish to do only one thing.” said White-Ear in a very determined way. “What is that?” asked Stinger-Scorpion. “As the leader of the team I want to be able to go out onto the field and push Big-Red down. Just once!” demanded White-Ear. “Well that sounds reasonable.” commented Stinger-Scorpion. Everyone agreed that this would be reasonable. The shrill whistle sounded. It was time for the second part of the Push-Over. Out on the field the Grey-Rats were jumping up and down to the cheers of their supporters and demanding that the Brown-Mice team come out onto the field. Big-Red pushed his monocle back to his eye and blew his nose loudly as he waited for the team of Brown-Mice to come back onto the field. Suddenly Big-Red stared in amazement, the monocle popping from his eye as the Mice team, led by White-Ear, came bounding out onto the field, big and powerful. The Weasel dropped his whistle and ran, quickly followed by the rest of the Grey-Rats who ran screaming in fear as the Brown-Mice chased them. Big-Red tried to run, his cap falling and becoming lost in the muddy field, while his handkerchief floated up into the air as White-Ear caught up with him and with a mighty shove pushed Red-Rat over and then stood with his foot on Big-Red’s chest, pinning him to the mud. “Now listen, all you Grey-Rats! Listen to me!” shouted White-Ear loudly. “I want us all, the Brown-Mice and the Grey-Rats to be friends and to never see each other as ‘Push-Overs’ ever again!” The whole field erupted into cheers and shouts of agreement. Then White-Ear helped Big-Red up from the ground and sh00k his hand. They left the field together, as the crowds of Brown-Mice and Grey-Rats invaded the field, all laughing and shaking hands. Stinger-Scorpion, Nipper-Crab and Slippery-Fish stood at the edge of the field and watched the happy Brown-Mice and Grey-Rats hugging each other and then they began to make their way towards the door. “Here.” said Nipper-Crab, as he held out a piece of broken crockery to Slippery-Fish. “Put it in your bag, along with the other pieces." “Where did you get that from?” asked Slippery-Fish, taking the broken piece and placing it in the shopping-bag. “I found that in the bottom of the feed bag after I had fed all the Mice.” said Nipper-Crab with a smile. “And I knew it needed to join the rest of the pieces you already have in the shopping-bag. Stinger-Scorpion opened the door and together the three left the noise and cheers behind them as the door closed. “I really am not sure what is going on with us.” said Slippery-Fish as he joined Nipper-Crab, to wander down through the corridor. “I mean.” he added. “Why are we here and going through these doors and seeing all those funny things going on. And why?” he asked. “Do I have to carry this shopping-bag around with these useless pieces of broken crockery inside? What’s the point?” “It’s no good moaning, Slippery. There has got to be a point to it all and don’t forget, there are only two doors left. There's number SIX, which Stinger is entering now. And there's number SEVEN. After that we might get to the bottom of it all.” he finished. They began to hurry, catching up with Stinger-Scorpion who held the door of number SIX open and waiting impatiently. The door opened into a darkened hallway. It was eerily quiet so that the three friends peered through the door opening, unsure of what to do. “This could be a trap of some sort.” offered Slippery-Fish, drawing back. This statement seemed to have an effect on both Stinger-Scorpion and Nipper-Crab, so that all three now drew away from the door and stood looking at each other, undecided as to what to do. “What is it? Why aren’t you going into the room?” The three friends spun around, very nervous at hearing a voice which seemed to come out of thin air. “Well?” asked Warty-Toad, appearing beside them. “What is the matter?” “You made us jump!” exclaimed Stinger-Scorpion indignantly. “I wish you wouldn’t keep doing that, Toad!” “Take a look yourself, Toad.” broke in Nipper-Crab, pointing towards the door and happy at Warty-Toad’s appearance. “Ah, I see.” remarked Warty-Toad as he peered inside the darkened hallway. “You fear the un-known, simply because the inside is different from the other rooms you have entered.” “I’m not afraid of the dark!” exclaimed Stinger-Scorpion, angry now and entering the dark hallway. He felt his way through the gloom. “There, you see my friends, how a person will walk into danger when his bravery is challenged.” said Warty-Toad. “Is Stinger-Scorpion in danger?” asked Nipper-Crab. “Why not go inside and see. Stinger-Scorpion might need help in there.” answered Warty-Toad. “Come on, Slippery-Fish. Let’s go and help our friend!” exclaimed Nipper-Crab, taking Slippery-Fish’s arm and drawing him along. “Are you alright, Stinger-Scorpion?” called Slippery-Fish, nervously peering into the dark. “Yes.” came Stinger-Scorpion’s voice from out of the darkness. “I seem to have found another door here and I am turning the handle now.” Then the hallway was flooded with a pale light, which came from the inner room. Stinger-Scorpion stood framed in the doorway. “Come and see.” he called. 
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I enjoyed this - good example of fair play, it's always uplifting when people respond in kind. Thank you phantom poet 
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I hate bullies, and I love when they get a taste of their own medicine. I wanted to go down a punch Big- Red on the nose too.  Anyway all's well that ends well, thanks to Warty- Toad What the heck as all the broken bits of crockery got to do with the story. For the life of me I can't figure it out 
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