Timmy and Tommy Mouse had just finished eating their lunch one nice sunny day, when they heard a voice shouting outside in the lane. Curious, they both got down from the table and opened their front door to see what it was all about.

"Listen, everybody, the circus is here! It's the most spectacular show in the whole wide world! So come on, everyone, come to the circus and watch all the fun!"

Timmy and Tommy's eyes almost popped out of their heads. They had never, ever, in their whole lives, seen such sights. Right there...in their lane, they found themselves staring at lots and lots of brightly coloured carts, with lots and lots of differently coloured balloons attached, all twirling and whirling around and around in the breeze, and each cart was being pulled along by a team of strong white super-mice on bicycles.

"Come along and watch the clowns and magicians," Bengie Bear, the ringmaster, hollered. "There is so much to see, lots of very exciting things including...our brave...and daring...Miss...Tilda...the...Toad on her flying trapeze!" He threw a long silver cane high into the sky and caught it when it came back down, much to the delight of Timmy and Tommy Mouse.

The two boys watched as the procession moved off down the lane until they stopped at Hedgerow Village Green.

"Oooh!" whispered Timmy.

"W..wow!" stammered Tommy.
They turned and looked at each other, nodded, then rushed back indoors.

"Can we go to the circus? Can we?" asked Tommy, excitedly.

"Can we please, Mummy? Can we go to the circus?" Timmy Mouse pleaded.

Mummy Mouse turned and looked at her two boys, and smiled. "You can go if Daddy says so."

Their daddy was still sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea while he read the paper. He looked up and smiled. "Yes, you can go. I remember going to the circus when I was a lad." Daddy Mouse's smile got even bigger as he remembered all the magical things he had seen. He knew Timmy and Tommy would love it.

Once they had washed their face and hands, they raced off to find their friends. They were already down at the Village Green waiting for Timmy and Tommy Mouse to arrive.

"Isn't it wonderful?" gasped Vickie the Vole. "I've never been to a circus before." Her eyes shone with excitement.

"Nor have we," Timmy told her with a big grin on his face. "It all looks so...so...magical!"

"It's magical!" Cyril the Squirrel exclaimed. "It's tickity boo!"

Reggie the Rat just couldn't stand still; he was jumping up and down, eagerly waiting to go in.

"Can we go now? Can we go now?" His eyebrows rose high on his forehead, forcing his eyes to open as big and round as saucers. "I want a good seat in the front so we can see better."

The tent was already filling up, but the friends managed to find some empty seats right down at the front by the ring. Once all the seats had been taken, the lights dimmed and everyone sat very still and stayed very quiet... and waited.

Suddenly...a big blue spotlight flashed on and spun speedily around the circus ring, up the sides of the tent, and then across the top and back down again. Round and round it kept going, and then they heard the musical beating of a drum...rrrumpity rrrumpity rrrumpity rrrump. Everyone was so excited, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

From out of nowhere, large swirls of yellow, green, pink and blue smoke, began spiralling all over the ground. No one could see anything, but as it cleared, standing right there in the centre of the ring, was Oggy the Octopus, trumpeting away on his trumpet, trumpety trump, trumpety trump, and still rrrumpiting away on his drum, and also strum, strum, strumming away on his guitar!

Everyone jumped up cheering as Oggy played them all at the same time! He had so many arms, he could play lots of instruments. The crowd loved it. It was all so exciting.

Now the show had really started. The clowns came in looking so funny, dressed in big baggy, spotty trousers, and with huge, shiny red noses. The crowd couldn't stop laughing as each clown slipped over banana skins or tripped over buckets of water.

Then the jugglers came in, throwing balls in the air and catching them--two balls, four balls, then six, until there were eight balls going up in the air all at the same time. One of the jugglers was doing it while he was balancing on a one legged chair! And all this time, a team of fluffy white bunny rabbits had been racing around the edge of the ring with a super-mouse on each of their backs.

The crowd were so thrilled they stood up clapping and cheering even louder than before. Everything was wonderful. But that wasn't all because, as the ring emptied, the drums began rolling again and the lights dimmed.

Everyone became quiet again; they sat down waiting...wondering what was going on. Once again, the beam of light came on, this time just keeping the light at the top of the big tent. Timmy gasped and pointed high up in the tent.

"Look...Look, up there!" he shouted. "That must be Miss Tilda the Toad on the flying trapeze!"

Millie the Mole had covered her eyes, not daring to look. It sounded very scary!

"Wow!" Tommy and Timmy gasped out loud. "Look at her go!" Their heads went this way, then that way, trying to keep up with Miss Tilda as she swung across the tent. Then up, then down, then...

"Oh, double WOW!" screamed out Cyril the Squirrel as Miss Tilda hung upside down on her swing, only holding on with her legs bent over the bar.

Vicky the Vole turned and looked at her friend, Millie, sitting beside her with her eyes closed. "You're missing it, Millie. Open your eyes, it's so exciting."

Millie slowly lifted her eyelids, and when she saw Miss Tilda the Toad, swinging in the air, her eyes flew wide open. "Oh!" she whispered, "I wish I could do that."

"So do I," Vicky agreed. "Isn't she brave?"

As Millie watched Miss Tilda the Toad, a little twinkle came into her eyes--an idea was forming in her mind. Perhaps they could fly...Millie secretly smiled to herself.

Like all good things, the show came to an end. The crowd stood up clapping and cheering as the performers came back into the ring. They walked around, waving to everyone who had come to watch them. Then Bengie Bear stood in the centre of the ring with his arms in the air. When everyone was hushed, he thanked them all for being so nice to them and promised they would be back again next year.

It had been a wonderful show, and everyone there was so sad it was all over. Millie remained quiet, still with her secret smile on her face.