The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Ralph yearns to have adventures and see the world, but he gets into serious trouble while riding Keith’s toy motorcycle and must undo the damage. He learns that the best adventures aren’t the ones done for his own amusement but those he undertakes to help others.

At the hotel, Ralph meets guest Keith while struggling to ride the boy’s toy motorcycle. They hit it off, and soon Ralph is enjoying the use of the tiny transport as he wheels up and down the upstairs hallway late at night. His adventures risk getting him into trouble that may cause problems for his mouse family, but he is much more interested in having fun than worrying about how it might put other mice at risk. Ralph’s mother constantly warns him against getting into mischief, but Ralph simply sees his mom as too timid: “She was always too busy fussing and worrying” (70). Ralph wants to explore; he doesn’t want to restrict his life to staying at home with an anxious parent. The first sign that Ralph might be overly optimistic about the safety of his wanderings is when he and the motorcycle get stuffed into a laundry bin and he must chew his way through several layers of linen to escape.