Mousie, redux

Well, I never!

Something told me to check on the kitties before bed late last night after my relaxing shower. So I did. I saw Butchie drifting in dreamland on the chenille pillow on the leather chair, but where was Twinkie? I checked his favorite hiding spots – the acid green microfiber cube under my desk, the corner of the red sofa, behind the potted ficus, even the basement stairs. Finally I saw him, shadowy in the kitchen, staring silently at the narrow spacelet between the refrigerator and cabinet. He didn’t turn around as I entered and switched on the light, worrying about a water bug or spider with the cat food and water dishes at my slippered tootsies.

But all I saw was a small fluff of cat hair. I stood, motionless and mute. Twinkie sat, motionless and mute. I have never seen him so silent. Nary a meow nor a tail twitch graced his feline form. Then he twitched his whiskers, pulled back his ears, and got low. His head swiveled and he leaned ever so slightly forward, tensing his hind legs for the pounce.*

I still figured it was a small bug, and I was very tired, having watched Dancing with the Stars at my friends’ house, buying gas on the way home, and just taken that shower. It was almost midnight. I was about to say “forget it” and turn around and go to bed when suddenly, a brown MOUSE ran out from under the fridge! I peeped and it saw me and ran back under the refrigerator. I grabbed the garbage can, pulled out the bag, and held it upside down, waiting for the MOUSE to show its ugly self again and trap it.

But I waited in vain. Eventually I went to bed and shivered in my bedsheets, imagining I heard mice in my mattress and tiny creatures in my clothes… but not before frantically texting Vitamin N about the terrifying ordeal I had endured with Twinkie:

oh my god N I just saw a mouse in my kitchen
A brown one. I'm terrified! How will I sleep knowing there is a mouse terrorizing Twinkie? :-(
it went back under the refrigerator
Something told me too check inn the cats and I did and where was Twinkie? I finally found him in the kitchen starting at the space between the fridge and drive. But there was nothing there but a dust kitty
So I stood there Quietly and it came out and saw me and Twinkie and it ran back under
What a bold mouse. I'm calling the exterminator in the morning
I don't get it. My house is totally clean
especially my kitchen

In the morning, she saw me and laughed. And none of my coworkers seemed surprised! Turns out they all had them.

“Oh, it’s just a field mouse.” Well, if it’s in a house, it’s now a house mouse now, amiright? “Peanut butter in a trap will do it.” But then I will have to remove the trap with a dead mouse within. “Wasn’t it cute? ” No, it was certainly not cute. “Just put away the cat food at night, and it will probably move on.” But what if Big B and Little T get hungry? And "probably" isn't enough of a guarantee anyway.  “Mice only come out at night anyway.” But how is that any better? And my personal favorite, “Better get a cat!” Oh, rilly? Screw you, coworker!

So tonight I get to go to Target yet again and pick up traps. Add my special Teddie pb to them, and slide them into the space I found Twinkie staring into. I am so not looking forward to this…

*It was shades of Maxie Paxie. If he were alive, Max would have definitely gotten that mouse. I miss him!