Right. So I am a lover of animals. I get it from my dad. He is the kind of man that doesn't kill spiders in the house. In fact, not only does he put it safely in a napkin and bring it outside, he then builds it a hut, secures it a job with a nearby construction company and arranges for it to have health, dental and vision. Just to make sure it's okay.
So its understandable that if I were to see a mouse in my house, I would not scream and run away, I would try and make it my pet. I know you're thinking "WHAT IS IT WITH THIS GIRL AND ANIMALS IN HER HOUSE?" I promise you I don't live in squalor. We never have bugs. Just small birds and animals. No worries.
Anyhow, I was talking to my family on the phone on CANADA DAYYYYY, as my way of celebrating the homeland. I had just sent Addison to bed for a nap and was lounging around on the couch in my pajamas at 2pm (I work from home, I deserve all day until-Justin-comes-home-and-I-finally-jump-in-the-shower privileges. As I was chatting, I saw a mouse. A teensy tiny, baby mouse. It wandered into the loft, which was weird, because aren't mice all like, incognito? It headed into Addison's room and I followed it. Addie was still awake and saw it, and then wanted to hold it. I was not cool with that. I chased it out of the room and continued with my conversation and Addison went to sleep. When I was done talking I went to work on some stuff on the computer. Beside me, Addison had one of those inflatable spiky balls that she played with as a baby. And asleep on it, was the mouse. I laughed my head off, snapped a picture of it, and then tried to set a trap to catch it involving Justin's blackberry box and a piece of candy corn.
No dice. The mouse woke up, leisurely stretched and wandered away. It was clear to me that this mouse had absolutely NO survival skills or instincts. So when it appeared later in the night when Justin and I were watching TV, I decided to catch it. I honestly just scooped it up, because our dear mouse was so tiny that she would fall asleep in the middle of the floor, on a ball, or wherever she was.
I took her downstairs, where I prepared a box filled with newspaper, cotton strips and some snacks for the night. She ate some cheese and all was well. Who knew that mice ACTUALLY like cheese? Even if it is the fancy shredded kind in the bag? My plan was to take her to the pond tomorrow and release her into the "wild". I let Addison know of the plan and she was so excited. We also named her Grace.
Unfortunately, Grace the Mouse had other plans, as she DIED in the box overnight. So when Addison and excitedly went to check on her, I had to hurriedly explain that Gracie was just sleeping, and we would take her to the forest soon. I HAD TO KEEP THAT DEAD MOUSE IN A BOX ON MY COUNTER UNTIL ADDISON WENT FOR A NAP. It was disgusting. When Addison finally went to sleep, I unceremoniously tossed Grace in the garbage for Tuesday pick up.
It was a good try anyway. I had the best of intentions.
When Addison woke from her nap, wondering if Grace was awake yet, I showed her the empty box and wondered if maybe Grace missed her family and went to see her mommy outside. And maybe one day we would see her again.
Grown up Addison, if you are reading this; I'm sorry I lied. I couldn't tell your sweet face that my handling Grace probably killed her, and that I threw her in the garbage. I want you to live in a world where baby mice always scamper home to their mother's and dine on endless dinners of cheese.
Some may say that I'll have to expose Addie to bad things sooner or later, but it didn't seem right to shock her system with the death of a mouse right now. A spider, maybe. Spiders are horrible. But sweet baby mice?
And in memoriam, here is Baby Grace, asleep on Addison's ball. May she rest in peace. In the garbage can.
And yes, I am aware that the fact that I found a baby mouse in my house means there like 3,000 of them somewhere. Sigh.
1 comments:
Wow. I have lived surrounded by mice and I never enjoyed it as well you seemed to. :)
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