Jean Sheldon, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
Blogs by Jean Sheldon
The Great Albuquerque Mouse Tragedy 6/10/2007 6:37:53 AM
My cat and I live near a school that has a number of those metal buildings. There's usually a foot or so of space underneath and since this is New Mexico, they’re not on pavement but desert sand. That makes them a haven for mice and a playground for cats. My cat loves to spend her evenings there.
Somewhere around three in the morning I heard her come in. She is very spoiled and has her own door and no curfew. She usually comes in and sleeps at the foot of the bed, but instead I heard her running around and making a great deal of noise. When I could no longer ignore it, I climbed out of bed to check on her activities and saw that she had brought me a present. I stood there, half asleep, watching her chase a very large mouse around.
I’m not squeamish by nature. At least I tell myself that. I threw on some clothes, grabbed a broom from the closet (my weapon of choice), and joined in the merriment.
The smart thing to do would have been to lock the cat in another room and deal with the mouse. It was the middle of the night and I was half-asleep, not in the best shape to figure out the smart thing. Instead, I chased the cat that chased the mouse (this is NOT a nursery rhyme) who might have been in town for the mouse Olympics.
After another half an hour of that, the three of us made it to the office, and mouse, cat, and sleepy human were less than a foot from a door to the outside. I could taste victory and pulled the door open ready to use my weapon and sweep the mouse out. My cat may have sensed this and was not prepared to let go of her prize. She leapt at the mouse and he jumped under a cabinet next to the door. I swatted at the cat and leaned the cabinet slightly hoping the mouse would see the open door. The cabinet wasn't large, but it was heavy and since one hand swatted at the cat, only one hand remained to hold it, and it slipped from my fingers.
The cat jumped backwards and my eyes darted around the room looking for the mouse. When I didn’t see it, I thought it must have run out the door, and breathed a sigh of relief. I held my broom in the air in a victorious pose and started to look at my cat smugly, but she seemed a little sad.
I didn't have the energy to clean everything before I climbed under the covers, but decided I could at least put the cabinet back against the wall. My victory smile faded when I pulled it upright and saw the mouse had not made it out the door.
