This is the story of a little girl who was not scared of anything… well, at least until she grew a bit older.

The little girl lived with her mother and father and her older brother whom she loved very much. The family lived in a pretty town: not too small and not too big. Not too posh and yet quite chic. This little town was situated in the North-West of Poland.

Most towns are much too inviting to be inhabited only by humans. And this town was no exception. In fact, almost anywhere you go, if you are very quiet and look very closely, you will soon see numerous creatures with which we share our towns and cities.

All about you are foxes, squirrels, mice, rats, blackbirds, pigeons, sparrows, and sometimes even tortoises and parrots who have escaped from their homes to roam the streets and rooftops.

The little girl and her brother loved all animals – those they could see in their little town, and those that lived very far away in jungles and deserts across the globe.

Learning with brotherThe children found it fascinating to learn about animals and they would often play games, testing each other to see who knew the most animal facts. The brother often won these games but the little girl, eager to be as clever as her older brother, was definitely catching up.

‘How quickly can the hare run?’ the brother would ask.

‘I’ll tell you how quickly a hare can run, if you can tell me what is the most poisonous snake on the whole planet?’ the little girl would reply.   

Although the little girl looked up to her older brother, it was perhaps not such a good idea to idealise him so. Even though the brother loved almost all animals, he had always been scared of mice. Because of this, the little girl noticed that she too was scared of mice without ever really knowing why. She did not understand it at the time, but it is quite possible to learn how to be scared of things by watching others.

One year, when summer arrived in their little town, the brother was finally old enough to be allowed to go camping with his friends. And so the little girl was sent to visit her grandma and grandpa who lived in the countryside.

The little girl loved walking across the fields with her grandma and naming all of the different plants. She also loved swimming in the lake with her grandpa while trying to catch the small fish in her hands. But what she liked the most was going on long walks in the forest with both of them.

During these walks they looked for the first tiny mushrooms that would sprout from the earth after the rains. The little girl also picked raspberries and rose berries so her grandma could make jams for the winter.

When they returned home, the little girl would thread slices of cut mushrooms on a thin piece of string, turning them into splendid garlands which she would then hang around her neck.

While grandpa prepared fish for dinner, the little girl and her grandma would laugh and play. They imagined how funny it would be to decorate a Christmas tree with row upon row of mushroom garlands.  

Occasionally, as they walked through the forest, the grandparents and the little girl would catch sight of a deer, or even an owl: sleepy after a long night of hunting. This did not happen very often because you have to be very quiet to spot such creatures and the little girl spent much of her time singing with her grandma, or swapping stories in a secret language which they had learned over the years.

It is very difficult to be so quiet when you are having so much fun with your grandma!

Now you might better be able to imagine what a surprise the grandma got when the little girl screamed out in fear from the kitchen one day.

The old woman hurried after the little girl thinking that there must have been an accident. But when she got to the kitchen, the little girl was not injured at all. Instead, she was standing on top of the dining table looking quite scared and pointing towards a broom in the corner.

‘What is it?’ asked the grandma.

‘I saw a mouse!’ cried the little girl.

The grandma chuckled and asked: ‘Does th