STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS Read Online Free PDF Page B

divert himself by climbing on to the table and staring out at the beach and ocean. To no avail. Each second was an hour, each hour an eternity.
    By studying the position of the sun through the cottage window, Ludeveccio realized that it was now late afternoon, and Mr. Disney had still not returned. He prayed that the human had not become so depressed at having his proposal rejected that he had gone out and gotten intoxicated again. The mouse was also frightfully hungry. If he could have been sure of opening without breaking it the large metal cabinet Mr. Disney had referred to as the refrigerator and securing more cream, he would have done so, though he certainly would not have eaten any more of that awful stuff Mr. Disney called American cheese.
    When he was on the brink of going out on to the beach and seeing if Mr. Disney was lying down in the surf drunk, he heard the cottage door open. Mr. Disney entered a gigantic grin on his face. “We did it!” he explained. “The studio loved the idea. They signed me to a great contract and gave me a big cash advance. How can I ever thank you? Naturally, we’ll split the cash fifty-fifty.”
    “There’s no need for that, Mr. Disney” the mouse replied. “After all, what’s your success is my success. All I ask is that you give me a good home and feed me good cheese and cream every day.”
    “That goes without saying,” Mr. Disney replied. He opened a paper bag he had I his pocket. “I could tell you didn’t care for the American cheese,” he said. “The reason I am so late is that I tried to buy some good Italian cheese for you. None of the stores I tried had any. I was about to give up when I passed one of new Italian restaurants that have opened up. I entered and explained my problem. The chef was most helpful. He sold me a bit of a cheese he called pecorino. When I said I had never heard of it he explained that it is made from sheep’s milk and is very popular in Sicily.
    Mr. Disney sliced a bit of the cheese and put it on a saucer in front of Ludeveccio. The mouse tasted it and smiled. It was the best cheese he had had in a long time. Back in the happy days when Roger II was king of Sicily, the mouse had occasionally had the opportunity to gather a piece or two of it. The cheese brought back the happy days he had passed at the palace.
    Mr. Disney, meanwhile, had removed his sketch pad from the brief case and opened it for Ludeveccio. “The studio,” he explained, generally liked my idea, but made a few suggested changes. Under the circumstances, I thought it was wiser to accept them all. I’m afraid they thought your fur not colorful enough and proposed I make it black. Similarly, they didn’t like your shorts colored green and wanted them to be black, with yellow buttons. Is that acceptable to you?”
    “Of course,” Ludeveccio answered. He certainly didn’t want to call Mr. Disney any trouble.
    “I’m afraid there is still one other change,” Mr. Disney said carefully. “I didn’t like it. If you wish, I will go back to the studio and try and get them to change their mind.” From his demeanor, the mouse could sense Mr. Disney hoped he wouldn’t have to take this step. Ludeveccio wondered what horrible disclosure Mr. Disney was about to make.
    “Naturally,” Mr. Disney continued, “I proposed we call the hero of the cartoon Ludeveccio, after you. They objected. Said it was too foreign. Then I suggest Medici, after your father. They liked that better, but still thought it too foreign sounding for American audience. They anglicized it to Mickey and want to call the hero Mickey Mouse.” Ludeveccio, thought for a minute. “I agree,” he said quietly.
    The rest is history. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon proved to be a great financial success and many more cartoon movies and comic strips featuring the mouse followed. The cartoon studio bearing his name flourished and he became a multi-millionaire many times over. Today is still exists as one of