One fine summer’s day, when the heat of the afternoon was just beginning to become a nuisance, Archie the mouse was out and about, exploring his favorite pasture, the one that begins at the edge of the forest and seemed to stretch on forever. He explored his usual route, seeking food and fun wherever he could find it. He did this almost every day, and would also arrive home, eager to tell his family and friends about his adventures that seemed so marvelous to the other mice in his family who rarely ventured far from their home in a little tunnel beneath a large pine tree in that forest. Archie, you see, was an adventurous, courageous and as you will soon learn, a very clever mouse, indeed.
You see, this fine day would be the very one that would establish Archie as a legend in this particular part of the forest, for it was today that Archie would find himself face to face with the most frightening creature a mouse could ever possibly encounter; a Red-Tailed Hawk who also called that same forest and pasture as his own. And it all began when Archie took one fateful turn and found himself in what the humans who lived near his territory call a “flea market’ that they frequent only one day a week. Today was one day after that noisy gathering of humans had left and Archie was there in search of food they most certainly would have left behind.However, Archie was not the only living creature who had immediate lunch reservations. A noble, proud and confident hawk was also in search of his meal and, at that very moment, was slowly circling high overhead, when his perfect vision caught sight of Archie, scurrying along, racing out of the forest and straight into the now-abandoned market.
Archie spotted the huge shadow of the hawk at the very last second, but by then, it was much too late. The hawk swooped down at Archie at frightening speed, with talons displayed and a sly gleam in his eyes. “Such a delightful morsel.” thought the hawk, as he closed in on his catch. Something just off to the right of the mouse caught his eye at the absolute last moment and the hawk, slightly distracted, turned just a tad to his right and as a result, missed Archie by mere inches; landing about a foot away from the now terrified little mouse. The hawk quickly recovered, however, and stared straight down into the eyes of his terrified and frozen prey, and he slowly rose up and stared intently at our intrepid friend, Archie.
What happened next is almost impossible to explain or even define, but the hawk, instead of immediately feasting on our poor little rodent, quickly deduced that if there was one mouse in the area, there certainly had to be more and that all this circling high overhead every day was beginning to get just a bit “old” for our friend the hawk; because, you see, he really was a lazy, old fellow at heart. So, the hawk, while striving to look as fierce as possible, asked Archie if he had any friends in the area. Archie, immediately deducing what the hawk really meant, said fiercely and with passion, “No, Mr. Hawk, I am, in fact all alone in these parts.” The hawk, not buying any of this nonsense called Archie a liar and proposed a solution to Archie’s problem.” “Mr. mouse, here is what I want you to do.” squawked the hawk in a menacing voice. “I want you to bring me 3 of your friends, to this exact location, every day for the next 2 weeks. In exchange, I will spare your life.” After those 2 weeks are up, I will leave you alone and never return to this dreadful, human-smelling patch of useless pasture.” What do you say, Mr. Mouse, do we have a deal?”
Archie, as we said before, was one clever little mouse and he quickly realized that this was a bad deal for both him and his friends. He correctly reasoned that not only would he be leading over 40 of his friends to their certain deaths, he was also guaranteed to be the final meal for the huge creature standing there before him. Archie thought quickly and a plan formed in his mind, a plan so dangerous, yet so tantalizing, that he had to give it a try. What did he have to lose, the Hawk would surely kill him anyway. So Archie looked the Hawk squarely in his large and menacing eyes and replied, “I cannot do that immediately, my friends are all out and about and I do not know where they all are. It will take me a bit of time to locate 3 for today’s “meeting,” so here is what I propose we do in the meantime.” “Give me a half hour to locate 3 of my comrades and I will meet you right back here, I promise.” The hawk, not one to be easily fooled, said,”No” ‘You will surely run into the forest, under the trees and I will never see you again.” “I do not accept your terms, bring me those 3 friends now.” “Call out to them, tell them you need to see them right now, that you have found the most delicious food you have ever tasted and you want them to come and join you for the feast.” Archie, our clever little friend, knew this would be the Hawk’s response, so he countered the Hawk’s offer with his own plan.
“You are very smart, Mr. Hawk, you saw right through my attempted deception.” “How about this?” I will go to the other edge of this human-place, (Archie pointed to a location about 30 feet to his left, in a corner of the human place,) and said, I will run over there, yell to my friends to come and join me at the feast; you can choose the 3 you want, and I will return to the forest. Next week, I will return with 3 more of my friends, to the opposite side of this place and we can do the same thing until the 2 weeks have expired.” The hawk liked this new plan and quickly agreed.
Archie now had to implement the most important and riskiest part of his plan. He paused, and then looked straight back up at the Hawk and asked, “Mr. Hawk, I think it would be very important for you to be really high up in the sky when I yell for my friends.” “If they suspect you are around, they will never come and you will need to be high above the earth in order to see both me and my friends.” “That way, you will know your clever plan is working.” “OK” squawked the Hawk, growing increasingly hungrier by the minute,” Let’s get it going.” And so, the plan was set in motion.
Archie left for that spot about 30 yards away and the Hawk, as planned, leaped into the air and started climbing. Archie increased his speed, narrowing the distance between him and his destination. As he ran he looked upward and sure enough, there was the Hawk, now circling high overhead. The moment of decision had come. Archie stopped, about 10 yards short of his target and immediately ran to his right. The Hawk, sensing betrayal, ceased his circling and now drove himself downward, straight for the path that Archie had chosen.”Curses,” shouted the Hawk, “You will now be my meal, you lying little mouse!” Archie ignored the curses coming at him from an ever-shortening distance. He knew he had to leap to make his goal, so he put all of his strength into that jump, his feet left the dirt and he stretched out his front feet as far as they would go and landed directly behind his intended target….an old mirror that once had surely been the prized piece of furniture in a large bedroom, long gone, and still unsold from yesterday’s flea market sale.
The Hawk, now barely 10 feet away, saw his reflection in the mirror, a fierce, menacing and terrifying image of a beast, and not ever having seen his own image ever before, believed it to be another hawk, intent upon destroying and devouring him on the spot. The Hawk ceased his attack, turned tail, so to speak, and raced off into the summer sky, never to be seen again. Archie’s plan had worked. He was no longer a meal option, but rather, a hero. His friends had also heard all of the commotion, yelling and screaming and had come, as the Hawk had correctly predicted and were now resting in a circle around the shaking and still terrified little mouse, we know as Archie.
You see, the hawk was undone by his own arrogance and over- confidence. How could this little mouse outwit such a beautiful and magnificent creature as himself? The hawk had never seen a mirror before and thought that what he saw reflected in it was another hawk, bigger, fiercer and meaner than himself and so he abandoned his area in fear. Archie had been to the flea market many times, was always learning and exploring, always trying new things and was intent on bettering himself. Archie was clever because he also understood the simple fact that most hawks will act on impulse, and will only think of themselves. Archie, on the other hand, thought of what would happen to his friends if he betrayed them to the wishes of the Hawk, only to try to save himself. Archie was willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of his friends and in so doing, became a legend in the process.
His name is still spoken with reverence, in the mouse community and his actions on that summer’s day of long ago are told and retold to generations of mice who have come after him. There has never been a mouse quite like him, but you see, what the other mice do not realize, is that they all have that same spirit within them; if only they will give it a try. There most certainly will be other mice in the future who will achieve great things. But there will never be another mouse as noble and brave as our dear little friend Archie, who one fine day, rose up by himself and soundly defeated a Hawk, using only his mind along with a deep sense of purpose that can never, ever, be defeated. We can all be like Archie, if only we believe in ourselves. Become a legend. If one tiny mouse can do it, what can you, a full-grown human accomplish? Why not find out?