Once upon a time in a land of beeping machines and shiny floors, there lived a tiny mouse named Benny. Benny had soft white fur, twinkling eyes, and a curious nose that wiggled every time he smelled something new. Benny didn't live in a cozy mouse hole like most mice. Instead, he lived in a glass box with many other mice in a place called a laboratory.
Every morning, Benny woke up to the sound of clinking metal and rustling papers. A stern man in a white coat would open his box and roughly grab him, sometimes squeezing too hard. He would drop Benny into a beaker filled with water. At first, Benny thought it was a new kind of bath time, but he soon realized he had to keep swimming to stay afloat. Benny's tiny legs paddled furiously as he struggled to keep his head above the water. The man watched with a cold frown, impatiently scribbling notes in his big book.
After swim time, Benny would be taken to another room where he was hung upside down by his tail. He didn't like this at all and tried to wriggle free, but he couldn't. Benny would hang there, feeling terrified and helpless, until he felt very tired and sad and gave up trying to break free. Then, he was placed in a small box with a floor that sometimes zapped his feet. Benny cried out in pain, but there was no escape.
One day, Benny was taken to a different room with a bright light. This time, the man harshly held Benny as he jabbed a needle into his head. Benny felt a sharp, excruciating pain and everything went dark. When he woke up, he was back in his glass box, but he felt different. His head hurt terribly and he felt very tired all the time.
Days turned into weeks, and Benny went through the same routines over and over again. Swim time, hang time, zap time, and head pain time. One morning, Benny didn't wake up. The stern man in the white coat came and roughly picked him up. He looked annoyed as he tossed Benny into a bin. Benny had gone to sleep forever.
THE END
Little Benny's Big Adventure shows us that even the smallest creatures have feelings and can suffer. Benny's life in the laboratory was full of pain and fear, and he never got to experience the joy and freedom of being a mouse. Did you know that every year, millions of animals like Benny endure similar suffering in laboratories around the world?
