He wasn’t supposed to jump.
He only wanted the peanuts.
But one curious sniff near the open door
and suddenly~
there he was,
parachute blooming behind him
like a startled balloon animal.
His goggles fogged with fear,
his tail doing interpretive dance,
he squeaked something that sounded
very much like
“I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS.”
Yet as the wind carried him downward,
he began to relax~
realizing that even accidental heroes
get a pretty spectacular view.
I Nearly Pinned
It Down, The
Core Of My
Stupidity, Had It
In My Grasp...
I Didn't Use No
Grease, But It
Squeaked Away...
With Humility's
Grace... Sounds
Good, But Almost
Had It, And It’s
Vanished.
It Was Hard To Catch...
Oh Well, Doesn’t
Matter Now.
My Bad.
Thumbs Down.
No Giggling.
Pipe Down.
Not You.
-Gray Squirrel
06-19-2026
The other day while I was sitting on a park bench
Relaxing,
I heard a voice behind me.
It sort of shrieked a little
And even squeaked a bit
As it let out a laugh.
I had been thinking
Of a joke I had heard
The night before,
And then there came that shriek
So I laughed along.
Pretty soon I heard other voices too.
All of them laughing,
Joking and having a fun time.
Contagious originally published in Impspired Magazine, 2026 all rights reserved.
He packed his snacks with reckless cheer,
three pine-cones gone before first gear;
he zoomed uphill without a care~
this squirrel’s bound for mountain air.
He stopped to pose by every pine,
claimed each tall peak as “truly mine,”
took selfies with his windswept hair~
this squirrel’s bound for mountain air.
He chased a goat up rocky ground,
then waved at hikers all around;
the switchbacks spun him everywhere~
this squirrel’s bound for mountain air.
And when he reached the summit’s crest,
he puffed his chest and squeaked, “I’m blessed!”
then glided down with style to spare~
You entered my life and gave me
hope
Sweetness filled every person
around
At Seven weeks, you would put yourself to bed
Mollie , your first toy you squeaked
a tune ar bedtime
Friendly is important to you and
your boxing
Oh Sweet Mollie, your knee couldn't
keep going
You brighten my whole life and I'm
doing everything possible so you
can play again
To the world, my Angel very unique
Set up Gofundmepage, to help
her relieve knee surgery.
God keep Mollie safe .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nibbles clutched the acorn like a tiny criminal mastermind,
whiskers trembling under the porch light's harsh interrogation.
"But officer, I am not a porch bandit," he squeaked,
gesturing wildly at the pile of stolen walnuts behind him—
"Those? Those were... uh... gifts! From a very generous tree!"
The flashlight beam did not look convinced.
the woods were abnormally quiet
we pitched our tents in silence
honoring the quietude of the forest
I noted some gorgeous pines in the distance
heard a tiny sound, turned and saw a deer’s white tail
She had leaped into the thicket, so I missed the rest of her
my camping buddy whispered for me to come closer
I did, and he handed me his binoculars.
Don’t make any loud sounds, but look over there.
I did not see anything unusual at first.
He gave me additional directions, and I noted one unusual tree.
It seemed to be thicker than the others.
I commented on it. He told me to magnify the lens
There was an enormous bigfoot staring at us.
I nearly dropped the binoculars. My mouth squeaked.
Don’t be afraid, my companion said. I have seen this one before.
Suddenly I knew that he was out of his mind.
I did not know whether to run away or to stay.
The sun rose on what later became known as his darkest night. The effort was thoughtless and unmotivated. The broom bristles flexed and backlashed the many aged crumbs toward the center of the kitchen into a pile several crumbs deep at its highest point. A cabinet door hinge squeaked resistively revealing the inner contents. Glowing as if backlit by the softest most romantic light was an heirloom of unrivaled utility—the grand patriarch’s dustpan. Unspoken triumphs of unsung heroes could be read in the patina of dust and sweat and grime and the love of generations. Today he joined the lineage, performing an action conducted for its own sake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our garage door's gap looked mighty fine
to Randy the mouse from the neighboring vine.
"My very own Airbnb!" squeaked he.
"But only one star,” he said to the nearby flea
Left a scathing Yelp review: "Needs less sunshine."
Written: October 8, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Andrea Dietrich
**********
My knee used to groan in despair,
It squeaked like a mouse in the air.
Now it's titanium,
Feels like uranium—
I moonwalk with orthopedic flair!
The antique mechanism
of the old clock had stopped.
The winding should have been
enough -- and yet, though the
pendulum swung back in forth
in perfect rhythm, no comforting
clicks emanated, as was usual,
the reassuring pulse of a consistent
heartbeat, regulator of a healthy
household.
The big hand had paused, 2 minutes
of. I thought, was this an angel, come
to my aid, or a devil, seething more
terror, personifying the foul deed
about to fully unfold? She would be
here, at nine. No doubt, her obsession
with punctuality. 2 minutes till, the
fiend had bound me to a chair. Assembled
the deadly charge, painstakingly attached to the
clock. Gagged as well I had no way of warning her.
2 minutes till...no, 1:58, 1:57, the clock's
now deadly hand had begun to again
advance. I heard her key in the door.
One minute to detonation. The door squeaked
on neglected hinges. "Cut! All right, 10 minute
break" the directed informed us, after shooting
for 4 hours non-stop.
MOUSE HOUSE*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my shoe, I found quite a sight,
a small mouse, with fur soft and light.
He twitched and he squeaked,
as I gasped and I freaked,
Then we both took off running in fright!
*This poem is written in memoriam and dedicated to the field mouse who mistakenly decided our garage would be a cool place to wait out summer's heat.
MOUSE PRINCESS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a kingdom where cheese was the prize,
Lived a mouse princess with green eyes.
She donned a small crown,
Above her royal gown,
And danced under moonlit skies.
She hosted royal balls in the night,
With her friends, the brave bugs in flight.
They waltzed across the floor,
While the cats did snore and snore,
And the cheese wheels rolled with delight.
“Oh, dear!” squeaked the princess with glee,
“The best party’s here. Hurry! Come and see!”
With a nibble and bite,
We’ll feast till the morning light,
And toast with a crumb of brie!
Who was only one inch tall,
raised in a lab since he was, well...small,
doped on phenobarbital,
escaping o'er his prison wall.
Tell me friend, can you recall
King Mouse?
Who lived in a tidy little hole,
knew when the cat was on patrol?
Though cheese and crumbs he stole,
he never lived on the dole.
Let's sing praise and extoll
King Mouse!
Who was diminutive in size,
told the truth and never lied,
had big ears but never spied,
nor squealed, just squeaked and sighed?
All expectations he defied -
King Mouse!
His body small, his soul immense,
big ears heard every offence,
and you, who wanted to dispense,
are now awash with penitence,
as you consider recompense
for King Mouse.
Who knew the secrets that we kept,
never told, just cried and wept,
before he laid on the floor and slept?
At discretion he was adept.
You struck him with the broom while you swept -
King Mouse.
The coo of a mournful mourning dove
reminds us of the guy in the sky above
who we wouldn't touch without a glove.
But now as push comes to shove,
we realize we really love
King Mouse!
There was a young man bought a pangolin
but thought it was a mandolin
to be played like a violin
he tipped its scales 'til they creaked
tweaked its tail so it squeaked
and named the bow Anne Bowleyn
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