(Editor’s Note: A bit of levity for our readers.)
Our family was temporarily living in a very rundown trailer while waiting to build a house on our property. To make the trailer a little nicer to live in we decided to paint the kitchen; all the doors were off the cabinets. After working long and hard, my husband, daughter, and I decided to take an afternoon off and just have some family time.
We were sitting in the living room talking and relaxing when suddenly we spied him. A mouse. This little critter came scurrying into our living room and stopped right in the middle as if he wanted to join in the conversation.
You can imagine the terror that gripped us! With one accord, the three of us rose as synchronized swimmers in competition for a gold medal and we landed high upon our chairs. There we stood trembling in fear as Mr. Mouse just sat in the middle of the floor as if he owned the place.
What to do? My husband, Ron hatched a plan. In whispered tones (so as not to let Mr. Mouse in on the game plan) he said that he would ease himself down from his perch and, since he was close to the kitchen where the cabinet doors were stacked, he would pick up a cabinet door and herd Mr. Mouse toward the outside door. I was to ease myself from my safe area and open the outside door for the mouse to make a great escape. Our daughter would cheer us on.
Now, please don’t think less of Ron over what happened next. Even the best laid plans can go wrong; and this plan was definitely about to go wrong. The mouse didn’t understand the plan. As my 6’4” husband picked up a cabinet door and moved cautiously toward him, Mr. Mouse decided to defend himself. Lifting himself to his full height, which was about 6 feet shorter than my husband—the mouse charged.
In a courageous but stupid effort the mouse galloped toward Ron, who held the cabinet door. Now I didn’t see it, but Ron always said that the mouse had huge fangs, fire coming from his eyes, and he growled. There was no time to think, and Ron reacted in a flash. In one swift movement the cabinet door came crashing down upon Mr. Mouse. The only part of the mouse that could be seen was his little tail…which twitched.
My husband once again reacted and his fist crashed onto the cabinet door. Again the little tail twitched and once again my husband crashed his fist into the cabinet. Well, this went on for a few more blows before Ron realized that Mr. Mouse was no longer a threat. Oh dear, now what? We could only imagine what a mess was under the cabinet door!
Ron, always my hero, cleaned it all up while I made a run to the store and to buy mousetraps. Fortunately we didn’t have to live in that trailer much longer, but we never stopped keeping a wary eye open for any little beasts who might wander into our family time.