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Once there was a little mouse called Bernie. His parents thought he was the most adorable little fellow and pampered him with all the tasty treats a mouse could dream of. They taught him to read the signs outside the warehouse where they lived; "B.C. Rail" and "Cheers For Volunteers" for the "Canadian Cancer Society." He grew all summer in the most secure of circumstances; a warm dry bed, all the food he could eat and loving parents to play with.
Autumn came and with it, great and dreadful changes came to Bernie's little home. A huge orange cat came to live in the warehouse. Then one day Bernie's mother did not return. The next day his father also disappeared. Bernie became very hungry and cold all by himself. Trembling, that evening he ventured out into the yard. He recognised the signs and the streetlights, but he could not decide which way to go. Small gusts of wind blew a fine dust of snow into his fur. He shivered, as much with fright as from cold. Looking around for the cat, he scurried across the yard towards a lighted area. Peering through the snow he could see the words: "Quesnel & District Museum and Archives." Suddenly he knew that was where he wanted to go, even if it was across the highway with those huge frightening cars and trucks.
The noise was deafening, but Bernie was desperate to find a way to cross the highway. During the next lull in the traffic, he ran as fast as he could toward a tall thing that looked like a man standing in front of the museum. His parents had told him once that it was a wooden statue of Billy Barker, someone who found a huge vein of gold during the gold rush. Finding a little hollow at the foot of the statue, he huddled there until morning, faint with hunger and cold. In the morning, a tall lady in a red car pulled up nearby and started towards the door of the museum. She did not see him scurrying towards her as she unlocked the door. It was a sign, but Bernie did not take the time to read it just then. He slipped inside without a sound and raced for the nearest hiding place he could see. He had never felt such a slippery floor. Loosing control of his tiny feet, he slid under some cabinets all lit up with hundreds of little lights.