Hickory Dickory Dock

A mouse's predicament.

Hickory, dickory, dock,

The mouse went up the clock.

The clock struck one,

The mouse came down.

Hickory, dickory, dock.

A cat named Gregory attended a gala with his fellow aristocrats. They’re not just aristo-cats, there were noble dogs and ferrets, too, and also humans, but there were just a few of them, because their exclusive club only knew the secret that animals could talk civilized, walk on their hind legs and wear clothes and jewelries. The party soon led in comparing their servants. Gregory proudly talked about his mouse, Dickory, and how he could fix anything.

A human named Diana then challenged Dickory in fixing his grandfather pendulum clock. Gregory accepted and told this to Dickory upon returning home. But the mouse was in doubt because human objects were bigger compared to the things he usually fixed. What made it worse was it was a grandfather clock, taller than a human. But Gregory only threatened him, “If you won’t fix that clock, I will eat you!”

The next day, Gregory and Dickory went to Diana’s mansion. She showed them her prized grandfather pendulum clock but it stopped working. “It’s made of hickory, Dickory,” she said to the tiny mouse. Dickory right away climbed up the unmoving pendulum, and inside he saw the gigantic gears and toothed wheels covered in dust and rust. Dickory then started working and fixing everything. After two hours, Gregory and Diana saw the second hand was ticking and they danced hand in hand.

As for Dickory, when he turned around, his tail was caught by the moving gears. He struggled in vain, until the gears docked his tail whole. “Dock” means to remove a part of an animal’s tail by cutting through the bone. Since he was pulling hard until his tail snapped, Dickory was forced forward like a released rubber band. His body flew onto a tiny hole, but he was stuck. Gregory saw Dickory’s head peeking out the clock’s face, near the numeral 1.

It was 12:59. Dickory felt the sharp hour hand slowly descending from above his neck. Then, the second and minute hands together reached the numeral 12. The clock struck one, and the hour hand descended fully and sliced Dickory’s head. It was the mouse’s head that came down.

Author's Note

The story is based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, A Predicament. The main character named Signora Psyche Zenobia was also decapitated when she wanted to see the view up the cathedral's giant clock. The name of her poodle was Diana who was eaten by a rat.