Roderick tossed and turned in his sleep. All night long he dreamed about monsters and dragons and evil witches. When he woke up in the morning, he sat in his bed. “That was a bad dream. Why did I have a dream like that? I usually dream about pieces of cheese and bags of grain.” He wiped his brow. “I hope I don't dream a bad dream again tonight.”

The mouse ran out of his hole into the meadow. “Bad dreams make me very hungry!” He ran over to the Geddes Farm to raid their barn. “Mr. Geddes just bagged his rye and oats. I will eat as much as I want.” All day long, Roderick nibbled on grains until his tummy was full.

On the way back to his mouse hole he saw that Mrs. Geddes had made cheeses. “Oh good. Yesterday she made cheddar cheese. It looks like she made it again. I'm going to take a chunk home to my mouse hole and nibble all night.”

Roderick snuck a chunk and carried it home on his back. That night he ate every last crumb. When he lay down to sleep, his tummy was so full that he had to lie on his side. All night he dreamed horrible dreams about dying and joining the angels.

When he woke up the next morning, he ran out of his hole. “That's two nights I've had bad dreams. I'm not ready to become an angel quite yet. I think I need some more of those oats.” Off he ran, heading for the Geddes Farm.

What Roderick didn't know was that Mr. Geddes had bought three cats, to stop the mice from raiding his grain. When Roderick ran into the barn, the cats chased him away and he didn't get any oats or rye. “I guess I'll have to eat some of the cheddar cheese.”

When he ran to the window to get some, the cats appeared out of nowhere and chased him away. He didn't get any cheddar cheese, not even a crumb.

All day his tummy rumbled. “What am I going to do? I'm starving.” A few hours later he ran into the meadow. “I suppose I'll have to eat blackberries, black currants and hazelnuts.”

Even though he didn't get grains and cheese, he went to bed feeling quite full. That night he didn't have a bad dream. He slept all night and dreamed about eating an entire block of Swiss cheese.

When he woke up he sat straight in his bed. “I know why I was dreaming bad dreams! It was the cheddar cheese. It made me have bad dreams. I ate way too much grain and cheese. From now on I'm sticking to blackberries, black currants and hazelnuts.”

Roderick never had another bad dream.