Author: David Leemhuis

  1. The Brisby Beginning

    This story is set in the early days of the Rats' original Rosebush colony, when Johnathan Brisby was roommate to Mr. Ages and was very much at loose ends. An unabashed love story, as Johnathan meets the one who would come to be at the center of the entire "NIMH" saga.
  2. Crossed Paths, Crossed Lives

    Martin Brisby makes an impulsive decision to leave Thorn Valley, accompanied by his best friend Lambert, to see the NIMH laboratory for himself. Unfortunately his absence causes further complications after a harbinger of doom arrives, in the form of a strange but familiar mouse. This story is set two years after “The Last Moving Day.” The original version was written between March and December 1989.
  3. Cyril and Alma

    Everyone’s favorite curmudgeon, Mr. Ages, thinks he’s performing a simple act of kindness after he receives an unexpected night visitor, but it signals the beginning of a major life change for him. This story is set four months after “The Last Moving Day.”
  4. Freethorn

    This story is based on three short stories written in 1990 and 1991 and takes place in the days following “Crossed Paths, Crossed Lives,” beginning the day after. I decided to consolidate them into one story, expanding upon events I’d previously touched upon that happened during that period or were detailed in later stories. The Rats and Mice formerly of Thorn Valley welcome new arrivals that swell the latter’s ranks—some with surprising origins—and otherwise adjust to life in the colony’s new location.
  5. The Last Moving Day

    Following the events of "Mrs. Brisby and the Search for Johnathan," the title says it all, as the Brisby family makes its final decision on whether or not to make their home in Thorn Valley alongside the Rats of NIMH. The original version of this story was written in 1991.
  6. Mrs. Brisby and the Search for Johnathan

    Courage of the heart… it served Mrs. Brisby well in her quest to save her children and gained her valuable allies and friends. Now, she must rely upon it again in a new quest to find the one who will once again make her family complete: Johnathan Brisby, the father of her children, the one she thought they’d lost forever. Guided by the ever-mysterious red amulet, she leads her new friends into parts unknown to any of them, with no way of knowing that they’d meet opposition to their quest…or that they may not survive to be reunited with the object of their search.
  7. Out of the Mist

    This story opens a few days after “Freethorn.” The Rats and Mice of Freethorn receive some unexpected company and learn some truths—not all of them pleasant—both about the world that has taken them in, and about themselves. This was my longest “NIMH” fan-fiction. The original version was written over a course of 13(!) years, from 1993 to 2006.