COOKIE HELPS
by James Parsons

Gordon the Mouse put on his red shoes for a trip to the museum. He combed his hair and tied his tie. Gordon had his coat and his hat and his bus pass. He also had a bag of his very best sugar cookies. “It is always good to have cookies,” thought Gordon.

When the bus came Gordon handed the driver his bus pass. Then he took his cookies and sat by the window.

The bus had many stops to make and many people to pick up on the way to the museum. One time it stopped, and nobody got on the bus.

The driver got out of the bus. Gordon could see the driver outside the window, looking at the bus and shaking his head.

The driver came back on the bus and looked at all the people. “I’m sorry,” said the driver. “The bus has a flat tire. The tires should be round, but this one is flat. We will have to wait for the next bus to come by and take you all to the museum.”

Fortunately, Gordon had his bag of cookies. His sugar cookies were as round as can be, because he made them with his circle shaped cookie cutter. Gordon took his bag of cookies to the driver.

“Can my cookies help?” Gordon asked. “They are as round as can be.”

“Thank you, Gordon,” said the bus driver, “but cookies are too small and crumbly to drive a bus on. Cookies can not help us here. Don’t worry. The next bus will be here any minute.” Sure enough, the next bus drove up right then.

All the people got on the new bus, but not the driver. Gordon waited by the door for him. “I have to stay with my bus until the tow truck gets here,” said the driver. “You go on to the museum without me. I will be fine.”

The bus driver didn’t look fine to Gordon. Gordon gave him a cookie from his bag. “Here,” said Gordon. “Not only are my cookies perfectly round, but they are excellent Waiting Food. Cookies help with waiting.”

“Thank you,” said the driver. Gordon got on the new bus, and it drove and drove until it got to the museum.

The museum was very big. It looked like a seven layer cake. Way up on the seventh layer was a kitten. It was not a statue of a kitten, but a real kitten that had climbed all the way up to the top and forgotten how to climb down.

At the bottom of the museum was a large crowd and a rescue team. They had hoses and ladders and axes and oxygen tents. “We need something to catch the kitten with so he can jump down,” said the Rescue Team Leader.

Gordon brought the Rescue Team Leader his bag of cookies. “Can my cookies help?” he asked. “Whenever I drop a cookie crumb I catch it right in my bag.”

“Thank you, Gordon,” said the Rescue Team Leader, “but a cookie crumb is not nearly as dangerous as a kitten jumping off a museum. Your cookies can not help us here. We are getting a net from the circus to catch the kitten with.”

Soon the net arrived, and the rescue team spread it out. The kitten jumped off the museum and landed in the net, safe as can be. “You’ll be fine now, Little Kitten,” said the Rescue Team Leader. But the kitten didn’t look fine to Gordon.

He gave the kitten a cookie. “You must have been very frightened,” said Gordon. “When I am frightened, I often find that a cookie helps me feel better.”

“Thank you,” said the kitten, as he shivered a little and nibbled on the cookie. Gordon went inside the museum.

Inside the museum was full of beautiful art. There were paintings of fruit. There were paintings of breads and cheeses. There were paintings of people eating fruit and breads and cheeses and even sandwiches. There were sculptures of fruit, bread, cheese, sandwiches, and people. In the great hall in the center of the museum Gordon saw a great picture.

The picture was called “40-foot High Cookie.” Standing in front of the picture was a man with a paintbrush. “This is my favorite picture,” said Gordon. “I am a fan of cookies.”

“This is my favorite picture, also,” said the man. “I am a painter of cookies, and I painted this picture.”

“This is my favorite picture, also,” said a voice. Gordon and the painter turned around and saw a mysterious man with a mask over his face. The masked man grabbed the painting and ran to the door of the museum.

“My goodness!” said the painter. “Help! Help!”

“My goodness!” said Gordon. “I only have a bag of cookies. They can not help us here.”

At the door of the museum was a guard. She caught the masked man and made him bring the painting back into the great hall. She took off his mask.

“I am sorry,” said the thief. “I really like cookies, and this is the best cookie I have ever seen.”

“That is nice of you to say,” said the painter, “but you are still not allowed to take it out of the museum.”

“Where else am I going to find such a wonderful cookie?” said the thief.

Gordon took a cookie from his bag. The thief said, “This is a very nice cookie, but it is not quite so lovely as the 40-foot high cookie.”

“Yes,” said Gordon. “But I am giving it to you as your very own, and you can take it out of the museum or do anything you want to with it.”

“Thank you,” said the thief. “That makes all the difference.”

Gordon left the museum and went to the bus stop. The bus driver was there waiting. The tire on the bus was round as can be, and it took Gordon all the way home.