I have three mice for pets.  They're my best friends.

I don't really have any good friends at school so I tell all my troubles to my mice.  They listen to me and seem to understand everything I am telling them.  Besides that, they're smart, a lot smarter than me.

I have Down syndrome.  I am 18 but look more like 10 (and act more like six).  I love to color, play pretend games with my brothers and sisters, go to church with Mommy and Daddy, and am learning to play the piano.  

People don't understand me; they tease me and sometimes make me cry.  My Mommy and Daddy (as well as my bigger brothers and sisters) all tell me to ignore the bad people, but it's hard to do.  They tease me all the time!  So that is why I would rather hang out with my family or with my mice.  They are a lot nicer than the kids at school.  They don't laugh at me or make fun.

My mice are named Peanut, Teeny, and JoeBob (I named that one after my favorite uncle).  Two (Peanut and JoeBob) are white with pink/red eyes and the other (Teeny) is black and white with brown eyes.  They are all very cute and love to sit on my shoulder and lick my face.

They love to sleep in my pocket or watch me as I play the piano, color, or look at my picture books.  I am very nice to my mice; I have to be because one should never treat animals mean.  It seems like the animals are way smarter than people because they don't hurt one another (unless they're hunting or mad at one another).

Sometimes I wish I could be a mouse.  That way, I wouldn't have to put up with all the bad kids at school who think it is fun to tease me!