Milo the mouse lived in a tiny bakery underneath a busy city street.

Milo had one very important job.

He was the official cheese keeper.

Every morning, the baker placed a giant wheel of cheese inside the bakery’s pantry.

Milo guarded it carefully.

One afternoon, something terrible happened.

The cheese disappeared.

Milo stared at the empty shelf.

“NO CHEESE!”

He immediately called his friends.

There was Daisy the duck, Bruno the sleepy dog, and Pickle the parrot.

“Someone stole the cheese!” Milo announced.

Bruno yawned.

“Are you sure you didn’t eat it?”

“I would remember eating an entire wheel of cheese!”

Pickle flapped his wings.

“CHEESE MYSTERY! CHEESE MYSTERY!”

Daisy pulled out a magnifying glass.

“Detective Daisy is on the case.”

They searched everywhere.

Under the tables.

Behind the oven.

Inside the cupboards.

Nothing.

Then Milo noticed a tiny yellow crumb.

He followed the trail.

It led through a hole in the wall.

The friends squeezed through.

On the other side was a secret tunnel.

“Whoa,” said Milo.

They followed the tunnel.

Soon they heard voices.

“Pull!”

“Push!”

“Almost there!”

Milo peeked around the corner.

There were dozens of tiny mice.

And in the middle of them was the missing cheese.

“What are you doing?” Milo asked.

A small mouse stepped forward.

“We didn’t steal it.”

“Then why did you take it?”

The mouse pointed toward the ceiling.

Water was dripping through a crack.

“Our home is flooding.”

The mice had moved the cheese to a safe place because they were afraid it would be ruined.

Milo looked around.

The tunnel was filling with water.

“We need to get everyone out!”

Everyone worked together.

Daisy carried the smallest mice.

Bruno blocked the water with his paws.

Pickle flew ahead to find an exit.

Milo guided everyone through the tunnels.

Finally, they reached a dry storage room.

Everyone was safe.

The baker eventually discovered what had happened.

Instead of being angry, she smiled.

She gave the mice a new dry home beside the bakery.

And she brought them a fresh wheel of cheese.

Milo laughed.

“So the cheese wasn’t stolen after all.”

The little mouse smiled.

“No. It was rescued.”

From that day on, Milo and the mice became friends.

And whenever the bakery made cheese sandwiches, everyone received a piece.

Even Bruno.

Although Bruno still claimed he didn’t like cheese.

Nobody believed him.

Especially after they caught him eating three sandwiches in the kitchen.

The End

Sometimes helping others reveals a friendship you never expected.