CHAPTER 1
Once upon a time, in a forest not far from where you live, stood a large oak tree. At the bottom of this oak tree was a little red door. Behind this door lived a family of mice: Bibole, the son; Rivol, the father; and Michelle, the mother.
It was a cloudy day in autumn when all the animals in the forest were helping one another prepare for the long winter. While the parents were out gathering the last of the nuts and berries that had fallen or still remained on the bushes close to the ground, the children of the forest were doing what they did best — playing their favorite game of tag-you're-it and hide-and-seek. From the sky, the forest looked like it was on fire; and the leaves were a beautiful color of red, yellow, and gold. As the leaves fell to the ground, the young ones would make piles of leaves; then as all children would do, both human and animal alike, they would run and jump in the piles of leaves, laughing as hard as they could. Daisy K, Bibole's best friend, would play hide-and-seek with them. She always knew where they were hiding but pretended not to.
She would say, "I wonder where they could be?" She could hear them snicker in the leaves, would walk past them, then suddenly turning quickly, would run and jump into the waiting pile. As the leaves exploded into the air and slowly floating back down to the ground, Daisy would say, "I see you!" and Bibole and his friends would then jump on Daisy and tickle her until she shouted out "I give up!" As their laughter faded to a pleasant sigh, they would all then lie there quietly for a moment, enjoying the cool breeze that made the leaves slowly dance in the air, covering their bodies like a warm blanket so that once again they became invisible to all who walked the forest.
Of course, it wasn't long before all were giggling, and the forest would then come alive with laughter as if there was a written rule somewhere that say all children of every kind must not be serious for no more than a minute. As the autumn day slowly came to an end, the clouds would find a resting spot for the night and gather their friends to settle down for the evening. Snuggling together like fluffy sheep, the clouds picked the forest trees to use as their bed to settle in for the cold night. When the clouds did so, the darkness fell onto the forest faster than usual. While Daisy and her friends played their favorite games, they didn't notice the clouds selfishly stoking the evening sun, and darkness soon began to cover the forest like a blanket.
Then out from nowhere, a loving voice shouted out from deep within the forest, "Hurman! It's time to go home. The moon is round, and you know what that means." "Yes, Mother," Hurman sadly replied. Hurman stared at his friends with a look that let them know he wasn't ready to have the games end just yet. For Hurman, this wasn't just another day coming to an end. The moon was round and, as Daisy called it, is the full moon. It was no longer a secret to the forest; all who lived there knew it was a night of the weremouse. A night where their little friend would no longer be little. Now it was time for the littlest mouse in the forest to go home — home where he would stay locked in his room until the sun showed its warm face the next morning.
We watched Hurman walk away, his head drooping down like he just lost his best friend and with hands in his pockets, Hurman started walking in the direction he knew would take the longest to get home. The gang knew this was a hard time for Hurman. It always seemed the full moon came at the most unwelcomed time, a time when Hurman and his friends were having the most fun. Not wanting Hurman to feel bad, Daisy spoke up, saying, "It's getting late for me too. I'll see you all tomorrow." Bibole and the rest of the gang knew what Daisy was doing, so they all pretended and said the same thing. "Yeah, we're tired too." Bonny, the bunny, and Marsell even pretended to squeeze out a yawn. "Oh my! We didn't realize it was so late. Let's all go home. See you tomorrow!" As Hurman watched his friends scatter in different directions, a little smile found its way to his lips. As selfish as it might have been, Hurman was glad his friends stopped playing. It's kind of like a close group of friends, he thought. If one has to stop playing, everyone else should stop playing also. It was hard for Hurman to think that his friends would stay and keep playing while he had to go home and lock himself in his room.
Bibole and his friends knew this was a big deal to their little buddy, so instead of playing their favorite games, everyone decided to just split up and go back to asking their parents if they needed any help with the gathering of nuts and berries. Together, they did everything as a team. Turning to get on the trail leading home, Hurman heard Bibole yelling out, "Hey, buddy! Can I walk home with you?" Hurman smiled a little smile and said, "That would be great." Not knowing if Bibole truly understood what was already in the process of unfolding, possibly right in front of his very eyes, Hurman asked, "Aren't you afraid of me changing into the weremouse? You know it's going to happen, remember? That's why I have to go home early. Bibole, I don't want you to be scared, but I can feel the change starting to happen. Look!" As Bibole slowly turned and looked, Bibole could see the hair on Hurman's arms and legs getting longer. Bibole didn't know what to say, so he just spoke from his heart. "We're friends, right? I know you'd never hurt me, and besides, the clouds are covering up the moon. You can't completely change unless the moon is in full sight." "I know," Hurman said, "but it's like my body doesn't want to listen. I can feel the change wanting to happen."
