Of Mice and Early Morning Surprises by Konnie Enos

I stepped on a mouse.

Not something I thought I’d ever experienced, but there you have it.

If you’ve ever lived in the middle of a grain field, you know that you have a good chance of getting mice in your house. You are going to see them running through your kitchen when you turn on the lights first thing in the morning. You’re going to find them hiding in your laundry hamper. And yes, you just might step on one. Of course, this is most likely to happen if you stumbling around in the dark half asleep trying to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night without waking anybody up.

Yes, I’ve lived in the middle of a grain field. I can also remember a blood-curdling scream waking me up early one morning, all because our stepmother had inadvertently stepped on a hapless mouse in the dark. (Funny thing is she never repeated that unfortunate experience when we later moved into the house in the middle of grain fields.)

I, fortunately, felt his existence before I put any of my weight on it, unlike my stepmother’s experience so many years ago. I’m sure I would have panicked if I’d felt a mouse squished to death under my barefoot.

I’ve also seen her jumping on to chairs because one was spotted somewhere in our house.

I, however, have never once come close to a scurrying rodent and, since I now live in a large city, had not anticipated ever having the experience myself. But the fact remains while stumbling to my bathroom in the middle of the night, without my glasses on, hence not being able to see, I inadvertently stepped on one.

For me feeling something far too soft to be our bathroom floor come in contact with my foot, I immediately pulled back. I also made an effort to see what was on the floor.

Not easy when your whole world is blurry. (Note, the lack of glasses.)

While I could not make out the things long tail, I could see its general shape and color. Plenty of information to discern what I had stepped on.

From there I was able to figure out how that hapless mouse got in my bathroom, not to mention on the floor in front of my bathroom sink. Not that it was difficult.

I fully pin the existence of a mouse in my bathroom on Tiger, our cat.

You would think a middle-aged cat, who is terrified of leaving the house for any reason would not be finding the time or energy to be chasing mice, but the evidence was there. Not far from the inert mouse, you can see a small blue ball with a bell in it. There is even a small bar, hanging where Tiger can get at, with a dangling string and another bell at the end. So there is plenty of evidence to say Tiger still likes to play. Therefore, I can certainly blame him for my close encounter with a mouse.

As I write this, the mouse is still somewhere in my bathroom. On one or two occasions I’ve seen it get as far as the hallway by our laundry area, but for the most part, said mouse and Tiger’s other toys manage to stay in the area of the bathroom.

One would assume from this that Tiger isn’t energetic when it comes to dealing with his toys. However, I have to say I never seen Tiger playing with any of them. Although, as I’ve said I have caught his mouse in the hallway. I’ve even found his ball in my bedroom. One must assume he does play with his toys, though when no one is looking.

I will, of course, have to tell my daughter, Tiger’s Mom, about my close encounter with his mouse. Though I’m assuming she’ll just laugh about it.

I’m telling you that little soft, round, blue body with orange ears and long orange tail sure gave me a start.

Yes, I’m talking about a tiny cat toy.

Now that you’ve had a good laugh for the day, have a great April First!

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.