Act 1: Scene 5 Monday, December 7 1942

Peter Van Daan

If I were to pick the most bizarre day of my life, it would be today. It was Hanukkah. Everyone was saying prayers as we sat around the menorah. Of course since we were in hiding, there were no presents, or at least that’s what we thought. Suddenly, Anne rushes in and brings everybody presents. It was really unexpected. Who’d think that we’d get gifts while we were in hiding? They weren’t brand new toys or a new bike or anything like that, but it’s the thought that counts. Anne got me a used safety razor. She said that I’d need it. She even made Mouschi a gift. She crumbled a piece of paper and tied it to a string. I think it was pretty creative. I brought it into my room to show Mouschi the present.

A few minutes after that, things began to go downhill. There was a sudden noise on the floor below us. We had no idea who it was. It could’ve been from a worker getting some papers to a burglar. Mr. Frank volunteered to go down and see who it was. When he came back up he told us that it was a thief that took a cash box. After that, we were all worried that he might spread the news that there were Jews living up here. When everyone was tense and quiet, I saw Mouschi and went forward to pick him up. It was then when I fell and made a huge bang. A minute later, the green police came. We knew they were coming, so we hid behind the bookcase. As the green police searched the room, Mouschi was above us creating a whole bunch of noise. At first I thought Mouschi was going to give us away, but after they realized it was just a cat, they tried to call Mouschi by making cat noises. After that, they left. We were in the clear, for now. As soon as everyone was able to take a nice deep breath, my father says Mouschi had to go. I was stunned. He said that I was feeding it more food then any of use had. He even accused me of stealing our supply of food for him. I love Mouschi, but I wouldn’t let him eat all the food we have to survive on. He only eats scraps. I can’t believe that my father would even think of getting rid of Mouschi.