I Will Not Ever Never Forget You Nibbles Charlie and Lola

GIGGLING

Charlie!

Lola?

Charlie.

I have this little sister Lola.

She is small and very funny.

-Miaow!

-Not a cat, no.

Is it a rabbit?

Uh-uh.

-Today Lola is excited.

-Nei-ei-ei-gh!

-..No.

-Because Mum and Dad said I'm allowed to have a pet.

-Please, tell me.

What is it going to be? Give me a tiny weeny help.

Yoo-hoo.

What are you going to call your mouse, Charlie? Mouse?

Nibbles.

Hello, Nibbles.

Can I hold him?

Not yet. The man in the shop said we have to let him get used to us

and to his new home...slowly.

SQUEAKING AND RUSTLING

Look, Lola.

Isn't he sweet?

Oh, he's very soft.

Can I hold him?

I'll be very careful.

OK. But the pet shop man said you have to wash your hands afterwards.

OK, I will.

I just want to hold him for a bit more longerer.

-There's the food.

-There you go, Nibbles.

CHARLIE AND LOLA LAUGH

You are a very clever mouse.

I bet Nibbles can do even more cleverer things.

Make him go up my arm too.

He really is extremely clever, Charlie.

Tomorrow is our bring a pet to school day. Miles brings Sizzles

-and I'll bring Nibbles.

-Come on, Nibbles.

Nibbles will definitely be the cleverest pet in the whole school.

-Go on, Nibbles, along the top of the rope.

-Come on!

Go to Lola.

Oh.

THEY GIGGLE

Stick insects. Stick insects are really good pets.

You have to be careful how you hold them.

If you drop them by accident, their legs fall off.

ALL GASP

But they do grow back again.

Thank you.

My dog Sizzles is a sausage dog,

also called a dachshund.

I've taught him all sorts of things.

-Like...sit!

-Woof!

Sit!

Woof!

-Will you sit down?

-Woof!

ALL LAUGH

(Sizzles, sit...)

Mice. Mice are really clever.

Their tails are the same length as their bodies.

They belong to the family of animals called rodents.

They don't use...

Look, Nibbles' nose is going all twitchy.

Does that mean he's happy?

Yes. Happy.

-I'm going to ask my little sister Lola to come up and help me...

-Yes.

..to show you how clever Nibbles is.

-Go.

-Nibbles.

Nibbles. Nibbles.

Huh.

You can do it.

Go to Lola.

-Yes!

-Nibbles did it!

When Nibbles is older and bigger,

he might be able to do all kinds of tricks.

Millions and a hundred of people

will come to see Nibbles the daredevil mouse!

The first ever mouse to cross a waterfall on a tightrope.

Come on, Nibbles!

Careful, Nibbles.

Oh, I can't watch.

You can do it.

Yes! The cleverest mouse in the universe.

-He'll have to be much biggerer to do that trick, won't he, Charlie?

-Yep.

Sleep tight, Nibbles.

Hello, Nibbles.

-Nibbles, where are you?

-Where are you?

There you are!

Nibbles, don't do that.

That's Charlie's present.

Most of all, you like being stroked,

don't you?

But then, one day...

Isn't Nibbles awake yet?

-No, Lola.

-Sleepy Nibbles! Do you think he will wake up

if I go and get his favourite mouse food?

No, I don't think so.

Why not, Charlie?

Because...

I think...Nibbles has died.

I don't think so, Charlie.

He's just tired and just very not moving...

like a statue.

I'm afraid, Lola, Nibbles is definitely not going to wake up.

You're just not seeing properly, Charlie.

Oh.

Nibbles is completely not moving, Charlie.

I know.

Mum said we can use this box to bury Nibbles in.

Why do we have to bury him?

It's what you do when your mouse dies.

The Ancient Egyptians used to make a sarcophagus.

What is a sarpopapus?

It's a kind of special box that they decorated and put treasure in.

-For mice?

-No, for when one of the Ancient Egypt people died.

But I think it'd be nice to make one for Nibbles,

because he was really special.

So we decorated a special box for Nibbles.

Nibbles loved glitter.

And leaves. He loved leaves.

And we put all of Nibbles' favourite things into his box.

-And this was his favourite.

-That's my sock.

Uh-uh. That was Nibbles' favouritest sock.

Mum wrapped Nibbles in a handkerchief

and Dad dug a little hole in the garden,

in a nice place by the tree.

And then we had to say goodbye to Nibbles.

Nibbles, you were a very clever mouse

and we didn't really mind you nibbling everything.

I will never forget you, Nibbles.

Mum says maybe pink milk will cheer you up, Lola.

Oh.

I'm going to play downstairs with Marv. Do you want to come?

No.

I miss Nibbles too.

Mice don't always live for a very long time, Lola.

-Why not?

-That's just the way it is.

Do you remember when Nibbles tried to help you do your painting?

Nibbles!

Mm, good painting!

Nibbles was quite naughty sometimes.

Are you sure you don't want to come to Marv's?

OK.

You can play with my mouse Squeak if you like.

Oh.

Aw! Maybe we can get another mouse, Lola.

No, Charlie. I like mouses

but I'll be very extremely upset in case the next mouse dies too.

All mice die, Lola, because they don't live for very long.

That's what Charlie said.

Oh!

Charlie, did you see what Squeak did?

He jumped from here to all the way over here.

-That's his favourite trick.

-Nibbles never did jumping.

-All mice are different. That's why they make such good pets.

-Maybe.

Perhaps we should get another mouse after all.

You know Nibbles was really good at the skipping rope, Charlie?

Well, watch this.

Come on. Come on.

SHE GIGGLES

-What have you called him?

-Tickles cos he always tickles.