The House of Mouse

[tj]

Tony threw up his hands in joy and hollered. "Absolutely!"

"Hey, thank'a you!" Joe exclaimed.

"Si, thank'a you," chimed in Tony. "You'a gentlemen. Thank'a you so much."

The duo couldn't help but be a little red-faced; they were greatly flattered.

"Oh, of course!" Tony responded to Mickey's offer. "Tomorrow, we'a show them!" He clenched his right fist and thrust it upwards.

Tony's partner nodded in agreement and strummed his mandolin victoriously.

[Lumiere]

"Haha!" Lumiere leapt up into the air and twirled around, he was so excited. "Excellent! I cannot wait to see another stirring performance from you two, monsieurs." The candelabrum turned towards Mickey and Donald and shook both their hands.

"Thank you so much! Zhe House of Mouse could definitely use more of zhis. If you need any help with zhe auditions whatsoever, I am at your service!" He saluted smartly, snapping to attention.

[Donald Duck]

Donald returned Lumiere's handshake happily, and fortunately the duck evaded being burned. After Lumiere's offer Donald looked to Mickey and shrugged. "It couldn't hurt," he said. "Lumiere does know a lot'a music, and we need all the help we can get!"

He folded his arms on his chest. Although he felt more secured than he did five minutes ago, Donald still felt that the House of Mouse needed something really big, or a knockout revue, to stay in business. In other words, Donald was most likely less optimistic than Mickey and Lumiere, even if only at least slightly.

[Mickey Mouse]

Mickey nodded in agreement when Donald spoke and with his partner definitely on board, it made things a lot easier to work with.

"Well that settles it then," he said after receiving a hearty handshake from Lumiere!

"We'll see you two tomorrow for sure!" The mouse wore a grin that stretched from giant ear to ear. "If you could show up about forty-five minutes early that would be great. You'll be able to meet Pete and the rest of the crew. The show starts at seven o'clock at night. Do you have any questions for us?" At the last statement, he gestured between him and Donald.

[tj]

"I'm'a think we understand," said Tony with confidence. "Forty-five'a minootes before the'a show, eh?"

"That's a simple!" Joe exclaimed with enthusiasm. "We'll'a be here and ready by six'a-fifteen o'a'clock."

"Thank'a you very much, gentlemen." The grateful Tony smiled to the trio one more time before turning to leave for the night. He was followed by Joe.

[Lumiere]

“I suppose I had better get going too,” Lumiere added, once Tony and Joe had left. “Zhere is still a lot to do back at the castle, I’m afraid. I wish you two a very goodnight and Ah will see you tomorrow afternoon! I can’t wait until zhese auditions get under way! Zhe House of Mouse will have so much business, Pete won’t know what to entertain ‘imself with first, with all zhe money zhat will be pouring in.”

The candelabrum winked at the mouse and duck, before making his way towards the kitchen entrance.

[Mickey Mouse]

"Goodnight Lumiere!"

Now that Mickey and Donald were alone, the mouse had the opportunity to find out what his friend really thought about the whole scenario. It was not that he did not trust Donald's earlier statements, he just felt that the duck might want to say more on the subject.

"Tony and Joe sounded pretty good, didn't they? I think tomorrow night is going to be a welcome surprise for our regulars."

[Donald Duck]

Donald had waved good-bye to Lumiere and the two Italian-Americans, and when he was alone with Mickey he relaxed his face, exposing a more vulnerable face than before.

"Yeah," Donald replied to Mickey's optimism. "They're great, but I'm still worried about Pete." He rubbed the top of his head, even though it didn't really itch. It was just a habit of worry. "I don't think those two alone," he referred to Tony and Joe, "will keep Pete happy."

[Mickey Mouse]

A look of understanding came over Mickey and he nodded in agreement. "Me neither," he answered honestly. "But it's all we can do for right now. Some improvement is better than no improvement. That's why I'm hoping the auditions will go over well." Still concerned that Donald was going to be appeased, he added, "Why don't we go find the girls and talk it over with them. Between the four of us, we could have a plan ready to go by the weekend!"

It might take a week or two to have word spread throughout Toon Town and other areas about the auditions, but hopefully it would also give participants time to prepare an enjoyable piece. The end results should be worth it in the end if all went well and Toon Town itself was full of talent.

[Donald Duck]

Donald smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We can't win if we don't try. Okay!" He hopped out of his chair and began to hurry off. "I'll race ya!" At last, there was Donald's pranky spirit!

[Mickey Mouse]

Mickey broke out into laughter and hurried after his friend. "Hey, Donald! You started without me!" The mouse was clearly not angry with the head start Donald took and feeling much happier about the House of Mouse's progress already, he quickened his pace in an effort to outrun the duck!

The End