Yesterday, my friend used me for a museum experiment. Eleven of us met at the Ashmolean museum with a mission: to write a story using 4 photographs and the title “Always Expected, Never Appears”, incorporating the Messiah Violin. Sound tough?

Our story centered around a mouse, The Master Mouse Curator, in fact. Every day he would come out of his home in the grandfather clock on the second floor, ready to go to work when the museum closed (photo 1). Using bits of rubbish discarded from tourists, he recreates masterpieces from the collection (photo 2). But one day, a thief tries to steal the Messiah Violin! Master Mouse is the only one who sees and he ties their feet with string so they can’t escape (photo 3). His fellow mice make a statue in his honor (photo 4). Hooray!

This last photo was a treat we found in the museum. It’s actually a toy mouse hidden in one of the exhibits. Think you could find it?