Short Story Submission

     An average adolescent mouse, Teddy, returned to his residence at the end of the school day. The typical teenager struggled greatly with nomophobia, and could not resist pulling out his phone to check social media. His mother became frustrated that he would never spend time without his electronics. She eventually reached her breaking point, and ordered him to spend the rest of the day at the local library doing something enriching. Teddy was stunned, and lashed out at his mother, saying that she made his life miserable.

     With his protests being unsuccessful, Teddy was forced to spend multiple hours at the library. This seemingly unpleasant situation ended up transforming Teddy’s outlook on life. To pass the time, he decided to read up on the latest news stories, something he had not done in years. The teenage mouse’s ignorance began to fade, as he gained insight into the struggles that less-privileged mice suffered around the world. He read about masses of mice who were persecuted when fighting for their basic rights as well as other mice that suffered from an astonishing amount of rain that displaced them. Teddy continued to read about what was going on in the world until dinnertime, when he exited the library, desperate to share with his mother the information he was enlightened with.

     As Teddy strolled through his town, liberated from his phone, he began to realize what a beautiful life he was given. The things he took for granted were the dreams of many other mice around the world. It suddenly made sense to Teddy why his mother always begged him to get off his phone. This endeavor not only made him grateful for the life he lived, but also for the mother he had. Without her, he may have never realized what a noble life he had.