But, just before Tommy could cross the finish line, Hubert woke up! Hubert blinked and looked around and realized that the sun was almost set. He had to win the race!! So, off Hubert went. He ran as fast as he could and he had never run faster than he was right that minute. He ran faster and faster.

“Go, Tommy, go!!” animals started to call out. They could see that Hubert was coming quicker and quicker. But, Hubert was not quick enough! Tommy was too close to the finish line!

So, for the first time, Hubert lost and Tommy won. Everyone cheered for him, and Tommy was very proud. Hubert was very angry. He yelled and he screamed and he said that he had gotten to the finish line so many times already that he could not have lost! But, because he never crossed the finish line, he was not the winner.

Tommy smiled at Hubert. “Slow and steady wins the race,” he said.

One day, a small mouse was running around throughout a cave. The mouse was trying to be very quiet, for the mouse knew that a big, strong lion lived in the cave. But, the cave was the best place that the mouse could hide from the big falcon that was outside, looking for food. So, the mouse decided to hide in the cave. He was looking for a good place to hide away, knowing that the lion that lived in the cave liked to sleep during the day and was only really awake at night.

So, Mouse kept his paws crossed that this day would be like any other day, and the lion would stay asleep. He knew that he would be able to hide out and be quiet, but he just needed to find a good spot.

As Mouse looked around the cave, he saw a hole in the wall that looked like it would be the perfect hiding place. But, it was right next to the big sleeping lion. With no other choice, Mouse moved closer and closer to the lion. He tiptoed as quietly as he could, using one paw at a time to slowly and steadily creep all the way across the floor of the cave. He was very careful to be quiet, and he did a very, very good job at it.

But, in his sleep, the lion’s tail twitched and landed on the ground next to Mouse. It kicked up a little cloud of dust that tickled Mouse’s nose. Mouse tried very hard not to sneeze, but sure enough, he did. “Ah… Ah… ACHOO!” Mouse rubbed his nose and sniffled before he froze—did he wake up the lion? Sure enough, the lion was looking right at him.

“Eep!” squeaked Mouse and he tried to run all the way into the little hole. But, Lion was faster and Lion put a big, strong paw right onto Mouse’s tail. “Ow! Let me go!” squealed Mouse, trying to pull his tail out from under the lion’s paw.

“Why should I?” asked Lion. “I’m hungry and you woke me up from my nap. Everyone knows that lions are hungry when they wake up, and you woke me up. But, you are right here and I could eat you up and then go back to sleep!”

Mouse looked up at Lion in fright. He didn’t want to be lunch! “I’m sorry, Mr. Lion!” he squeaked. “But please, let me down! I promise I’ll be careful next time!”

The Lion frowned and picked np the mouse in his paw, holding him from his tail. He pulled the mouse closer and closer to his mouth and opened up his big, mighty jaws, and Mouse saw teeth that were bigger than his tail!

“I’m sorry!!” Squealed Mouse. “I’m going to be much more careful! But, why would you want to eat such a little mouse? I would not taste good and I am too small to make you full. Surely, you would be much happier with a worthier meal!”

The lion looked back at Mouse for a moment and seemed to consider it. But then, something happened. Lion put Mouse down. “You know,” he said with a big yawn. “You’re right. You’re not even big enough to be a little snack. Get out of here,” said the lion as he got comfortable on the floor again, stretching out his back.

“Thank you, kind lion!” said Mouse. “I promise I’ll return the favor someday!” And with that said, Mouse ran away.

Lion chuckled to himself. A mouse, save a lion? How absurd!

A month later, Lion went out on a great, big hunt. He went searching for something new to eat, for he was once again, very hungry. As he was hunting a pack of zebras, something horrible happened! As Lion walked underneath a tree, he suddenly found himself wrapped up in a big net that was stuck to the tree! He could not run away, for the rope was too big. He could not scratch or cut through the net either, because the little squares were too small for him to fit a tooth or a claw through. So, Lion was stuck!

Lion roared and roared as he tried to get out. He shook himself, but nothing happened. He tried to run away, but nothing happened. He tried to chew through the net, but again, nothing happened. Angry and stuck, Lion roared again.

But this time, Mouse happened to be nearby. He heard the roar and thought of the Lion that had let him go, not too long ago. “I wonder if that’s Lion…” he wondered out loud. He started to walk away, but then he remembered his promise. “Maybe I should go see if he’s okay,” said Mouse to himself, so off he went.

It did not take very long to find Lion—he was very busy making very big, loud roars that were so frightening that no one wanted to get near him. But, Mouse recognized the little white spot on one of his paws—the very paw that had held him up to eat him—and he knew that it was the same lion.

Mouse did not hesitate at all. He went right up to Lion. “Excuse me!” he squeaked, but Lion did not hear him. Lion was too busy rolling around and trying to get out of the net, but as he tried to get out, he only made himself more and more tangled up, unable to escape.

“EXCUSE ME!” Mouse yelled as loudly as he could, and that seemed to be enough. Lion stopped roaring and fighting the net and turned to look at him. Lion looked very annoyed.

“What are you doing here?” asked Lion. “Go away!” he was very angry and growled at Mouse.

“I think I can help,” said Mouse. He looked at the net. It would take a very, very long time, but Mouse was pretty sure he could chew it up and let Lion out. After all, he owed Lion a debt, and he always repaid his debts.

“Go away!” said Lion. Lion was not happy about being stuck and knew that if he could not break the net, then there was no possible way that a tiny mouse could instead! He knew that there would be no point in trying for the little mouse, for the mouse would never be able to do it anyway! He did not want to get his hopes up, so he tried to push Mouse away. But, he was so tangled up that he could not push away Mouse. He could barely move.

But, Mouse did not want to go away. Mouse wanted to do what he promised, so he walked right over to Lion and began to chew on the net. “Sit still!” he told Lion as he held up the net to his mouth and chewed on it. He was able to chew right through most of it very easily because it fit into his mouth. It was not hard to chew through it all when he could pick it all up! So, he chewed and he chewed. He chewed and chewed some more, until finally, a little piece fell down.

Lion, seeing that this was working, stopped moving so much. He stopped and he waited and he sat as still as he could while the mouse chewed through everything. It took all night, and some of the morning, too, but mouse kept on chewing until he had chewed free the lion.

When the net came loose and fell off. Lion stood up and stretched. He had been stuck like that all night and his body hurt! But, he looked down at the little mouse and realized something. Even though the mouse was so tiny, even he could be very helpful and very useful when it was time to help someone. Even he could really help Lion get out of a trap. Lion could not get through the net, but the mouse could, even if it took a very, very long time to do it. And for that, Lion was very grateful. He grinned down at Mouse.