The Mouse

In the month of April, something happened which I wasn’t prepared for. It all happened during the first week. I was sitting at my table working when I saw a small mouse scurry across the room. I froze and hoped that it somehow would find a way out of the house. I’m not afraid of mice, I think they’re cute. I don’t like rats.  I resumed working and tried not to think about the mouse. The following evening, I saw the tiny rodent scamper near my table and I became still. I began to get scared because I didn’t want the mouse anywhere near my laptop. I know that it could not replace the mouse or go through my files or hack my email accounts but I didn't want it near my laptop.

I realised that I had an uninvited occasional visitor that could bite my clothes or worse bite me! The sneaky quick movements of the mouse made me wonder why mice are always in a hurry. Do they have a tight schedule? Do they have to attend meetings one after the other? They never seem to move slowly and calmly. All I could do was to scare the little mouse by clapping. It seemed to like the area under my bed. 

After going to bed one night, I just lay on my bed and began to think, you know, those random thoughts that come to mind before you fall asleep. Suddenly I felt a movement under my right hand, underneath my flannel quilt, I immediately threw it on the floor and screamed. I turned on the light and anxiously began to check my bed and around it for any sign of the mouse. I decided to sleep with the light on, which I don't like to do, but in this situation, it was either take time to fall asleep or get bitten! 

I spoke to my housemates about my experience and they told me to calm down. One of them asked ''What's the worst that could happen''? I didn't reply. She said, ''It could bite you, that's it!'' Well, that's exactly what I wanted to avoid! Who is fine with being bitten by a mouse? I asked them whether it would be fine to allow a stray cat or kitten to come into the house and let it do its natural part. They said they didn't want to risk having to look after the feline, if it happened to want to stay. Mainly the thought of having to deal with medical emergencies and eventual heartbreak if the furry furball passed away, is what made them decide against keeping a feline friend.

One evening while working I heard a shuffle in my laundry bag and saw the mouse walk up to go out of it. During its ascent, it stopped, looked at me for a few moments and then got out of the bag and ran towards the window. There was eye contact! This surprised me! This changed things. I no longer felt like I should kill it. I began to wonder whether I should buy a mouse trap or cheese for the little squeak. I then realised that it probably wanted to live as my housemate. Of course, it would live rent free. It's not like I would make it my live paperweight while I wrote in my diary. It would probably live in the cabinet and sleep on a tiny bed like Jerry. I began to think of names. I thought maybe Bob would be a nice name for it. 

Then came the day that changed everything. As I was walking into my room after having lunch, I noticed something moving nervously under the plastic cover of my laptop. I became still and then clapped. I thought that the mouse ran away before that but I wasn't sure. I stood on the bed opposite to my table and began to throw random things at the plastic cover. A pen and a hanger were flung at the plastic cover. I wanted it to get scared and run but it seemed still underneath the plastic cover. That's when I realised that it was probably dead! 

I assumed that it might have suffocated from being underneath the plastic cover for too long. This was shocking. I didn't want it to die.  I felt like that little mouse taught me a lesson in Karma. My fear of being bitten wasn't over, so I thought that it was just playing dead in fear and it would come rushing out from underneath the plastic cover. I felt that it might come towards me. I would then have no other option but to jump up and hold the fan. 

I spoke to my housemate about this situation and she asked me to just check whether it was dead or not. If it was, then she asked me to call the landlady. I didn't want to wait for long so after an hour, I went up to my landlady's house and told her about the mouse. She came down to inspect the area. She lifted up the plastic cover while I was standing at a distance. There was no mouse!! She told me that I had mistaken my mobile charger as the mouse. I was relieved and wondered what had become of the mouse. I expected it to later come scurrying out from underneath the table but it didn't. A few days passed and I realised that it had left. It probably must have felt unwanted so it decided to leave. I missed it a bit. I will never forget this experience.