The Introduction of the Cy-Rangers

Fired!

Mickey Mouse was whistling as he was walking to work, with Pluto barking excitedly along him. The place that he worked at was a birthday party factory called Mortimer's Birthday Wishes and he loved working there. His jobs included baking birthday cakes, making party hats, making birthday banners, making birthday party invitations, making birthday cards, filling up balloons with helium and everything a birthday party needed. They weren't just for babies or toddlers or children; they also made cool stuff for teenagers' birthdays and grownup stuff for adults, including special anniversaries.

Mickey enjoyed every job he did and Pluto always loved helping his master. Though there were times when Mickey had to check on him to make sure that he wasn't eating birthday cake, Pluto was a valuable employee as his master were. Whenever Mickey got paid, Pluto always got ten percent of his pay wage. That were enough to buy dog food, new dog toys and his favourite thing in the whole wide world: bones!

As well as loving his job, Mickey was a very respected employee and he got along with most of the employees. The only one he didn't really seem to get on with was his boss, the founder and chief executive officer: Mortimer Mouse. No one knew why and the only thought that Mickey had was that maybe Mortimer was jealous of his popularity among the workers. Mortimer was known for being a tough boss and only communicated to his employees to give them orders. Even when it came to staff members' birthdays parties, the company's Christmas parties and the company's anniversary parties and other special occasions, he rarely made small talk with them and told the most unfunniest jokes the world has ever heard. Whereas Mickey was the opposite. He got on with everyone at work, helped them out when he needed and told the best, funniest jokes ever. One wouldn't have thought that he was the opposite of his own company's motto: 'Helping Your Birthday Parties Be The Best Ones Ever!'

Today, for the first time since they worked at the factory, which was more than ten years ago, Mickey and Pluto were in for a complete shock. They saw the factory getting knocked down by wrecking balls. Neither they nor any other staff member had any warning about this yesterday let alone weeks in advance. There was no other members of staff there, except his boss Mortimer Mouse. Unlike Mickey and Pluto, he was in cheery spirits.

"Hi, Mickey. Hey, Pluto."

That surprised both of them. Never ever since they began working there had Mortimer ever been friendly to them. Every day since they started, he would yell at them for being late even when they were early and say stuff like, "Come on, put your backs into it!" or "Why aren't you working hard?" Today, for the first time ever, Mickey and Pluto saw Mortimer happy for once.

"What's going on, Mr. Mortimer?" Mickey asked.

"Why, I've just made the deal of a lifetime, Mickey," Mortimer said. "I sold my factory to Mark Jerks."

"Mark Jerks? THE Mark Jerks of Jerks Enterprises?"

"Correct, Mickey. He bought my factory yesterday for twenty billion dollars. Now, I can retire to paradise. I'm moving to the Caribbean to live the rest of my life there."

"What about the factory?" Mickey asked. "And the other staff members?"

"Oh, he's turning this factory into one which makes chemicals for getting rid of pests, like bees, wasps, butterflies and other unwanted monsters."

Mickey was shocked to hear that.

"As for the former staff members, Mr. Jerks have given them all jobs when it'll be ready in three months' time."

Hearing that made Mickey smile. "Oh, boy. Where do I go to meet the new boss?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mickey," Mortimer said. "He won't want to see you. There weren't any job openings for you."

Mickey's face fell.

"Well, good luck, Mickey," Mortimer said. "I would say it was a pleasure working with you for more than a decade, but I would only be lying if I did. Anyway, bye."

All Mickey and Pluto could do was watch his former boss dance away happily and watch the factory that he used to work at and brought lots of joy to children for more than ten years get knocked down and have horrible thoughts about it becoming a place of creating hazards for wildlife. Not to mention that the factory was perfectly built, so why did the new owner had to waste millions of dollars knocking it down and building a brand new one.

"Come on, Pluto," Mickey said to his dog. "Let's go to the park for a bit."

Then master and dog sadly made their way to Mouseton park.

By the time they reached Mouseton Park, Mickey and Pluto started to feel happier. After a few games of fetching a stick, they heard some sniffling. They followed it and saw more of their friends in the park. There was Mickey's girlfriend Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck and Horace Horsecollar. They were sitting on wooden benches and looking very sad.

"Hey, guys," Mickey greeted.

"Hey, Mickey," they all greeted moodily.

"What's wrong?"

"We've all lost our jobs, Mickey," Minnie said.

"Oh, no!" Mickey cried.

Minnie was the first to explain that her own bakery was forced to close down because it kept losing money instead of making it, despite her baking talents. The same had to said for Clarabelle's hair salon and Clara's small garden center. Finally, Horace said that Mouseton Supermarket had to let some employees go because they couldn't keep everyone due to these difficult times.

"You were one of the staff members to be let go, Horace?" Mickey asked.

"No, Mickey," Horace replied sadly. "I was the only one to be let go. All the other staff members could keep their jobs. I guess the boss found them more useful and worth keeping.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Mickey said. Then he explained about him losing his job this very morning.

"Oh, Mickey, I'm so sorry," Minnie said, as she hugged him. He hugged her back.

"Don't worry, guys," Mickey said to his friends. "I'm sure we'll get new jobs and better and happier ones."

"Yeah, sure," everyone said unenthusiastically, as they got up from the benches and headed for home.

"Hey, Minnie," Mickey called as he ran after her.

"Yes, Mickey?" Minnie asked.

"I was wondering. As it's a very nice summer day and if you don't have anything on like cleaning up your house or weeding your garden, would you like to go on a picnic with me?"

Minnie thought. "Well... yes. Good idea, Mickey. I'll meet you back here at one o'clock."

"Great. I'll meet you here at the same time. Bye!"

"Bye!" Minnie blew Mickey a kiss and went home to get ready for this afternoon's picnic.

"Come on, Pluto," Mickey said. "Let's get ready for this picnic."

Pluto barked excitedly as he followed his master home.