Mouse Tails
I found the jackpot, someone has left an almost full bag of spitz in their car…my favorite flavor too (seasoned) and I’ve been able to help myself. They also left some other foods…breads, peanuts and almonds, all sealed in plastic bags…as though that will stop me. HAHAHA.
It has been over 24 hours and the jeep hasn’t moved… no one has returned and I have enough food in here to last most of the winter. I’m making it my home. I hurry to stash food everywhere around the jeep…inside every nook and cranny…in the yoga matt, the kayak, under both seats, and in multiple pairs of shoes. I realize that there are materials here to make my nest as well…warm woolen scarfs and soft gloves to nest in!
The jeep owner returns! She has seen that I’ve helped myself to her nuts and seeds and doesn’t seem overly pleased by this revelation. I hide under the carriage of the jeep as she throws out my hard won food! Fortunately, I’ve stored much of it already so I should be fine. She wipes up the jeep surfaces and grumbles to herself but doesn’t find me in my hiding spot…soon enough we are on the move.
At night we stop near some waterfalls, it’s cold out but I manage to find some toilet paper and I use it to make my home much warmer. Early in the morning we drive again, not for too long, however and when we stop again the human realizes that I’ve found a roll of toilet paper that I have borrowed from to make my nest warmer. She doesn’t seem pleased and throws out what’s left…it’s Ok though because I’m warm now, I’ve also used bits of rags and cleaning cloths and I am quite comfortable.
She leaves the jeep for the night and I don’t see her again until much later the next day…but I’ve become complacent… I’ve made a fatal error. She saw me! It was an honest mistake…She had made a very smoky campfire and it was wafting into the jeep. I couldn’t breath from the smoke and was just trying to get some air! I hid quickly and she slams the door and leaves again.
That night she leaves some peanut butter out on these fancy little wooden/metal platters with springs strategically placed around them. The peanut butter is delicious – I appreciate the peace offering.
But it is short lived.
In the morning she appears angrier than ever before…it seems something was wrong with the platters – she prods it with a stick and it snaps down making a terrible noise! Thank god that didn’t occur when I was eating off of it! The food platters seem to have malfunctioned, she should return those – they could hurt somebody – or some mouse….
After much grumbling about the food platers we are off again and before nightfall we pull into a warm building…that’s when the most devastating thing happens! The humans start tearing apart the jeep – all the boxes are removed, my food stashes are found and destroyed! And everything is wiped down with soap and chemicals. Everything is gone! Gone! And it happens again – she sees me!
She slams the door in my face…then within moments, another peace offering! More food! On those strange platters again, and new ones...tunnel platters. Maybe these ones won’t malfunction! The lights go out and I set out to see if all is lost or if there are still caches that are undisturbed.
I nibble some peanut butter for strength and investigate the food tunnels…but oh no! Once again, something has gone wrong…it is all dark. All of it, and I’m trapped. Trapped in the dark food tunnel… what now? what to do?
I wait. And wait…and then – movement!
More movement…I’m quiet and scared…then LIGHT!
Light and grass and sun and humans! Oh no, I’m no longer in the Jeep but a field, the humans are so close. I have no choice but to run. So I flee. Into the grass. To find new food and make a new home – before winter sets in.
(disclaimer – the mouse actually died a rather slow and what I assume to be painful death but I thought that was a little morose to be written out in the voice of the mouse.
#sorrynotsorry but I don’t want hantavirus or to share my food.)