The Mouse of Destiny

A mouse awoke in the middle of winter and crawled out of its hole. As it was located atop a tall mountain peak, it could see for miles around. If this mouse had been less practically-minded, it might have considered the view breathtaking, awe-inspiring, even humbling. But this particular mouse was merely looking around. As it took a few more steps to get a better view of its surroundings, it dislodged a pebble.

The pebble rolled downhill and struck a few more pebbles. These, in turn, brought down more pebbles, resulting in a cascade which knocked loose a small rock. The process repeated and amplified, until several rocks collided with a snow bank, triggering a mighty avalanche.

The maelstrom of snow thundered down the mountain slope and crashed into an old reservoir, which could not handle the sudden strain and collapsed. Thousands of tons of water hurtled down the valley, gathering momentum and picking up debris. By the time it struck the sleepy town of two thousand, it was, by the measure of the doomed inhabitants, an unstoppable force of destruction. Not one building remained standing; not a single soul in the town survived.

When all finally became still again, the mouse thought, “Wow, I'm really someone to be reckoned with!” He renamed himself Mousey the Great, and from that day forward his fellow mice and their offspring feared and respected him for the power he was known to wield.