Milo the Mouse and the Messy Little House

Chapter 1: Home Cleaning

In a cozy hollow beneath an old oak tree, there lived a young mouse named Milo. Milo had warm brown fur, a long curly tail, and a house full of wonderful things: acorn cups, button tables, a spool chair, and a thimble teapot.

But Milo had one problem. He never put anything away.

His crumbs stayed on the floor. His socks lay under the bed. His dishes piled up beside the sink, and his toys were scattered from the kitchen to the front door.

"I'll clean it later," Milo would say, yawning. "It's just a little mess."

But little messes have a way of growing.

One morning, Milo woke up and couldn't find his left shoe. He searched under the bed, behind the spool chair, and inside the teapot. No shoe.

"I'll be late for the Berry Picnic!" he squeaked, hopping around on one shoe.

Then he tripped over a pile of toys and landed in a basket of dirty laundry, with a sock on his ear.

"Ouch!" he cried.

Just then, he heard a tiny sound from the pantry. Scritch, scritch, scritch. A line of ants was marching straight across his floor, carrying away the crumbs from last week's cheese.