It Was All Started By A Mouse- Chapter 15

Chapter 15


It was pretty late when Mickey felt his body being shaken.  He yawned, stretched and turned over.  He felt a warm had stroking his fur and felt the rope being loosened from around his neck.  He hadn't totally opened his eyes but he could tell it was Walt who was there.  

"Hullo!" cried Mickey, so glad to see that Walt was looking much better than he had the day before.  

"Hello Mickey!" replied Walt. "Sorry that we left you out here, pal.  Everyone is not used  to you like we are.   Roy's wife Edna had never met you, and we wanted to bring you in, but she was a bit skittish about it, so we left you out here, unfortunately."

Mickey threw his arms around Walt. "That's all right,"  he said. Just then he felt a small twinge of  pain.  Mickey stretched his neck a bit a felt a burn where the rope was.  Walt lightly ran his fingers across his neck and grumbled a bit.  "Roy shouldn't have put a rope around your neck.  You wouldn't hurt a fly! Well, I'll have nurse Lillian put a little salve on it, ok buddy?"

"OK!" replied Mickey grinning.  Walt gently lifted Mickey like a small child and carried him into the house.  Mickey tightened his grip around Walt as they came inside bracing himself for what might happen next.

"Here he is everybody!" Walt announced as he stepped into the hallway.  "Here's my pal Mickey!"  

Edna was clearing the breakfast dishes when she turned and saw what Walt was carrying in his arms.  She let out a shriek and the dishes went crashing to the floor.   The noise also startled Mickey and he jumped from Walt's arms and ran behind a chair in the very daintily decorated parlor.  

"What was that creature? Walt, I'll not have you turn my house into a zoo!"  It will have to stay outside! Take it out of here! Walt was not totally surprised by her reaction; but he tried to keep his composure to keep the situation as peaceful as possible.  Lillian heard the ruckus and came into the room to see what was going on.

"Haha! I see you've met our little boy, Edna!" laughed Lillian.  She saw Mickey's tail which still poked out from behind the chair.  "Come here Mickey!" she said as she tried to go after him.  Walt cleared his throat as he attempted to smooth over the situation.  

"Um, Edna….you see, Mickey's is a very tame little mouse.  I found him near death in my field quite a while ago.  I might have accidentally killed his mother with my tractor, and he was lying beside her dead body.  I took him in, and Lillian and I nursed him back to health.  Since then he has….um….learned many things".  Just then, Lillian brought Mickey back into the room.

"Hullo."

Edna's mouth hung open when she thought she heard the mouse speak.  She clumsily backed towards the wall stepping over broken china and slippery leftovers, not really caring about anything except finding a way to get out of that room.  Roy, like Lillian was drawn into the room by all the screaming and ruckus.

"ROY!!!" shrieked Edna. "That mouse….it spoke to me!!!" Roy was trying not to show his laughter and put on as serious a face as possible.  "Oh, yes, Mickey…yes, he can say a few syllables of the King's English.  He's not fluent, mind you, but for a mouse, he's pretty good!"

Edna's eyes grew wider.  "You know about this?" she asked.  "Why didn't you tell me?"  

"Well, I didn't think Walt would want that type of information getting around. Mickey just doesn't seem like your regular 'ol mouse as you can see by his size and intelligence.  He's been around us so much that he started picking up our language.  Animals do have a communication system of their own you know, so why couldn't they learn a different way of communication with us humans?"

Edna started to become a little more relaxed, but kept her eyes on Mickey who was also staring back at her and trying his best to smile and show that he was no threat.  Lillian placed Mickey on the floor and volunteered to help clean up  the broken dishes.

Once the dining room was back to normal, they all moved to the parlor to sit down to further explain this somewhat crazy situation.  "Um, Walt, where did you keep this "Mickey" when he was at your house?" she asked.

"When I first found him, I had put him in one of my small trapper cages," Walt explained.  "I didn't really want to keep him at first, so after he was doing better, I left it up to him to choose freedom back outdoors or not.  He left, but I later found that he had been attacked by my dog and some of the other farm animals--for whatever reason I'll never know why.  This time it really was more serious than before.  But he pulled through from the care Lillian and I gave him. We watched him like a hawk.   After he mended this time, he just decided on his own, I guess, to stay with us.  That's when I wanted to give him a name.  I wanted to call him "Rascal" which we thought was a great name, but he would never answer to it.  Then one day he started making strange sounds like he was saying his real name---Mickey.  That's when we learned he was trying to talk to us.  He can now say short sentences, and sing short little songs right now,"

"Before the storm," added Lillian, "Mickey had his own small bed which we made out of an old crate.  He slept in the house as well in a small nook under the staircase."

Edna still looked a bit confused at all the information she was getting.  "Walt, I always thought you were a little quirky, but I'm holding you responsible for this pet of yours.  You are going to have to make arrangement for where you are going to have him sleep.

Edna looked at Roy and he gave her a small smile and a wink of reassurance.   
"Thanks Edna," said Roy.  "Mickey won't be a problem, Walt will see to it!"

"Thank you so much!"  said Walt.  "Let me know where you'd like for us to keep Mickey and he'll be good, you'll see."

"Then its settled," said Roy standing up.  "And Walt, don't feel like you will be imposing on us.  Things will get better, you'll see."

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Three weeks had now passed since the storm.  Even  though Roy said that he, Lillian and Mickey wouldn't be a problem, Walt still wanted to get back on his own two feet as soon as possible.  Mickey was kept on the screened-in back porch, but spent his days close at the heels of either Walt or Lillian.  Mickey knew Edna was a bit nervous around him, so he tried his best to steer clear of her whenever he could which at times wasn't easy since the house was quite small.  

Walt decided to go back to the farm to see what he could salvage.  Lillian also wanted to go too to see what small items she could find to piece together their lives again.  Mickey was all set to go too, but Walt stopped him at the door.  

"Sorry fella, but you can't come with us this time.  We have a lot of work to do, and I don't think there's much you can do right now.  Besides, I don't want you to get hurt," explained Walt.

"I can try to help.  I don't want to stay here alone," I want to go with you!" pleaded Mickey.  

"Mickey, you are helping by being obedient.  I'll try to get back as soon as I can, OK pal?" said Walt giving him a loving rub behind those round ears.  

Mickey didn't answer, but turned and went back to his place on the back porch.  He crawled into his box and listened to the door close and Walt's footsteps grow farther away from him.

He heard a few more voices and then the motor of Roy's truck start up.  Mickey gave a huge sigh and burrowed his muzzle in the straw which lined his bed.  Thoughts started spinning around in his head and he tried hard to chase them away.  A songbird lighted on a branch outside and started singing.  The bird was so close Mickey could have reached out and grabbed it if he wanted to.  The song seemed so melodious and cheerful.  Mickey lifted his head and tried to enjoy nature's serenade.  Bittersweet memories began drifting back to him as well…

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"Mickey, I want you to remember all that I've taught you about the songs that different birds sing.  Listen very carefully now.  What is the song you hear?"

"Hmmm….is it a mockingbird?"

"Yes, that's the mockingbird.  It's flown away now.  Oh my! I hear another bird.  Let's run to see what kind it is."

"OK mother!"

"Now, listen to that song.  Is it close to us? What kind of bird is singing this tune?

"A whippoorwill?" I also think the bird is very close to us in the branches almost right over our heads."

"You are getting so good at this, Mickey!"  

"Mother, listen!  The songbirds are suddenly loud.  Why is that?"

"I'm not sure.  Oh,  now I see. Look up. Do you see those crows?

"Yes…"

"I  think that the songbird's nest is in trouble.  See how the mother and father birds are trying to attack those crows in the air?"

"They are working very hard, aren't they Mother?"

"I'm going to take you a little closer to see, ok Mickey?

"Let's go!"

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"Oh, Mother, look what has happened.  That baby bird has fallen out of the nest.  He is in trouble!"  

"Yes. Unfortunately it was too early for him to leave the nest. He's not ready to fly just yet.  So now he is in trouble. He is at the mercy of snakes, cats or other birds like owls.  We can only hope for his safety."

"Mother, can we do something for him?"

"No, I'm afraid we cannot."

"Why?"
"We are not to meddle in other affairs of nature.  That is the law."

"….."

"Mother… I sure hope I don't fall out of the nest too soon."

"You silly little mouse! Now come on, let's go back to our home.  Stay close to me,  because the grass is high, and I sure don't want to lose you…"

"Ok Mama……..

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Mickey shook his head and sat up with a jolt.  That day seemed so long ago, but it was still so fresh in his mind.  The farm, as far as he could see was gone. Why won't these memories do the same?  

Rain.  It was always the rain.  It rained the evening he lost his mother.  It rained and stormed when he lost the new home he shared with Walt and Lillian.  

Every time he tried to be happy….and forget….the rain will always come and take it all away from him once again.  

The rain will always remind him of his disobedience and the thunder and lightning will continue to seek him out.  The winds will always whisper what happened that night.

"No…please just leave me alone!" he growled deeply within himself.  His eyes were shut tight.  The bird had since flown away and another took it's place, singing one happy tune after another.  The chirping grew louder and louder in Mickey's ears and seem to almost overwhelm him.  

Before he knew it, he sank his teeth into his arm.  He sank his teeth deeper.  The songbird's chirping was surrounding his body and didn't even sound much like a bird anymore.  Mickey took another bite into his other arm and tore a small bit of his own flesh.  The taste of blood was in his mouth, and for some reason….it felt good ….and right to him.  

"Mother, I still miss you so much.  It's all my fault you're gone. Nothing I can do will ever bring you back, nothing."

He took another slash at his own flesh, but the sound of a car's horn snapped him from out of his self mutilation.