"And all through the house, "Not a creature was stirring, "Not even a mouse...'' Well, that's what the humans thought, but really the mouse family who lived inside the Kingston's home were holding a very loud and boisterous -- at least to them -- party! The Kingstons had a small but cosy, very old house called the Old Rectory, in St. George's.

The Concheez's -- the mouse family -- home was under the kitchen counter near enough to the back door to be able to get a good cool breeze. And there was always plenty of left over food scraps for the mice to eat.

This year as usual at Christmas, the Concheez's were having a big family party.

Not only were they celebrating Christmas, they were also having a family reunion as most of the family lived too far away -- for a mouse -- to travel to see each other very often.

The Concheez's had decorated their house specifically for the occasion. The fireplace was filled with fresh Bermuda Cedar shavings taken from the Kingston's fireplace to give the house a homely smell.

The picture of Bermuda that hung over the mantle was decorated with fresh asparagus fern gathered from the leftovers of what the humans had used.

In the corner stood their Christmas tree, cut from the best branch of the Kingston's tree.

It was decorated in the red berries of the upper tree and snippings of tinsel used as angel hair.

The mice had finished a dinner of white cheddar cheese and cassava pie with chocolate for dessert.

They had wine made from crushed Palmetto berries for the grown ups to drink and water for the children.

The celebrations had just got into full swing, so no one noticed little six-year-old Makeisha Mouse slip outside, except her nine-year-old sister, Kenisha Mouse.

She had seen Blackie the cat, the Kingston's cat, who hated the mice, lurking just outside the door, so she immediately ran over to her father and tried to tell him.

"Papa! Papa!'' she screamed in panic.

"Not now Kenisha. Can't you see I'm talking?'' said Papa Mouse crossly.

"But Makeisha's gone outside where Blackie is!'' Kenisha yelled.

"Nonsense! Makeisha is asleep in your bedroom,'' Papa Mouse said even more crossly.

Kenisha gave up and decided she would have to rescue Makeisha herself, so she took a deep breath and marched to the door.

When she reached the door, she took another deep breath and looked outside into the human kitchen.

Yes, there was Makeisha pressed against the wall with tears streaming down her face and Blackie about to swipe at her! Without pausing to think, Kenisha threw open the door, grabbed Makeisha by the arm, yanked her inside and slammed the door closed in front of a very angry cat face.

It didn't matter though because a minute later, he spied something small and red... something small and red and pudgy.... It was Father Christmouse! He had come to the Kingston's house thinking all the mice would be asleep and the party over.

The cat smiled to himself and padded softly over to the oven. He sneaked up behind Father Christmouse and grabbed him by his tail.

Then Blackie picked Father Christmouse up and took him back to his basket, covering his mouth with a paw.

When they got to Blackie's basket, he let a very angry and kicking father Christmouse free.

"What are you doing?'' screamed a furious father Christmouse.

"I'm mousenapping you,'' purred Blackie simply.

"Why?'' yelled Father Christmouse who was now gradually losing the redness in his face.

"Because,'' said Blackie slowly, "I want to.'' With that he picked up father Christmouse in his mouth and said: "We're going outside to get some fresh air''.

To reach his cat door, Blackie had to pass the Concheez's home. He had thought that since they were having a big party, no one would notice him creep by.

But someone did notice... it was Kenisha Mouse.

She had been getting ready for bed and had looked out of her bedroom window.

She saw Blackie but that wasn't unusual. He always hung around outside their house. But what was he carrying? Then she saw it was Father Christmouse! She raced to her mother and told her.

"Mama! Blackie's got Father Christmouse!'' she said urgently.

Luckily, her mother believed her at once and went to tell Kenisha's father.

Soon all the family knew what had happened and made a plan to rescue Father Christmouse.

They divided into two groups and all the children were left at home.

One of the groups hid behind Black ie's basket and the other behind a nearby chair.

Then they waited anxiously for Blackie and Father Christmouse to return.

After about half an hour of waiting patiently, the mice heard soft, stealthy footsteps approaching the basket. All the mice went rigid and got ready to jump out at Blackie when he arrived.

When Blackie appeared, Father Christmouse was dangling limply from his mouth, and all the mice had a sinking feeling that the feline had already done his damage.

But on a signal, they still bravely leapt out at Blackie, just in case. At the sudden surprise, Blackie dropped Father Christmouse onto the floor.

While half of the mice ran about and screamed to distract Blackie, the other group picked up the now groaning Father Christmouse and carried him back to the house.

When they saw Father Christmouse had been safely carried off, the first group dashed back to the house and through the open door, slamming it behind them.

Mama Mouse was already reviving Father Christmouse with a "Dark and Squeaky.'' When Father Christmouse was fully awake, he thanked the mice profusely. "If your daughter hadn't seen me, I don't think I would have lived,'' he told Papa.

"Well, I'd better be going,'' he said. "I still have lots of presents to deliver!'' He winked at Kenisha who had come out of her bedroom and was staring wide-eyed at him.

The next day dawned bright and sunny with only a few wispy clouds in the sky.

All the children raced into the living room to get their presents.

The baby got a new half walnut shell cradle and a rag mouse and the other children all got a chunk of candy cheese.

Blackie got a new toy mouse that looked just like Father Christmouse because Father Christmouse knew it was a cat's nature to catch mice and looked back on the incident as something to laugh about.

SHORT STORY COMPETITION