We got a mouse for Christmas. Not the Disney kind but the field kind. We didn’t invite it and it seems that neither can we make it leave. Not that we haven’t tried. We put out mouse snacks that should eliminate the problem but we are dealing with a very smart mouse.
First I saw a little furry ball in the kitchen moving at high speed about a week before Christmas. I have floaters in my eyes and when I move my head too quickly they can jumble up the clarity of my vision – maybe that was it. So, I asked my husband, “Neil, did you see a mouse run through here?” His standard response is, “No.” I got the feeling he really didn’t want to be in the mouse-hunting business. His denial worked because I hadn’t actually seen a tail.
We had guests for Christmas with lots of noise and I hadn’t had any more sightings so I was surprised a few days afterward while I was quietly reading at the table that the mouse crept out from under the refrigerator. We saw each other at about the same time and I believe both of us made little screeching type noises. Mine louder than the mouse’s.
Neil wasn’t home but I texted that he would need to pull out the fridge to see if there were any hidden access holes that the mouse could use.
We live in a cottage built in the 40s as a summer home. Since then the house has had many improvements each of which caused holes to be made from the inside to the outside of the house. There was a boiler and baseboard heating, a washer and dryer, greater electrical service, a dishwasher, etc. So many holes and such a tiny mouse.
Neil came home and pulled out the refrigerator. He squeezed behind it and checked everywhere. He found no mouse. Just in case, he sprayed expanding foam around the baseboard where a hole was drilled to pipe water up into the ice maker. He vacuumed everywhere and rolled the refrigerator back into place. It took about an hour of time after a long, busy day.
Because he did not encounter the mouse we assumed that the mouse had departed and now would be outside and unable to return. As Neil sat down to rest in his recliner the mouse ran out from underneath! The problem now is that the mouse cannot leave and that is why we resorted to bait.
The mouse is canny though. Neil’s recliner is surely keeping the mouse fed for that is where Neil snacks while watching football games. Not that the mouse is on a healthy diet but it is eating lots of preservatives. I looked it up, a mouse can live up to five years. If ours is a baby mouse it might outlive us. I’m pondering the need for a cat.
I haven’t seen the mouse in a few days but my eye floaters are making me wonder if it is just fast. After all, if the mouse hadn’t seen me and needed to do a U-turn, I would not have seen its tail as proof that it wasn’t a floater after all. Hmm.
All this to say that I feel sorry for the mouse. I can put myself in its place. I have found myself stuck in life in a place where I didn’t want to be. I’ve felt alone in the world without others who think or act as I do. I’ve had to be wary of being too obvious. Yes, I can relate to the mouse in many ways. I even like cheese.
Of course, I’ve asked God to show the mouse a way out of the house and to give it a happy life somewhere outside where it can meet a mate and have a nice mouse family. But, then again I wonder, did God give the mouse a warm place to be over Christmas? Maybe it is outside already. Neil won’t lift up his recliner so we have no proof it is still with us.
So there you are. My tale (my pun) of the uninvited Christmas guest. Is there a moral to the story? Of course there is.
When we are trapped by our own means or those plans of others we should consider that someone may be asking God to help us – seeking His assistance to benefit us and get us out of the problem we have created. We ourselves can seek God’s help through prayer.
God loves all of His creation but He loves mankind the most – He made us in His image.
God is always willing to save us when we earnestly seek Him.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
