020Mouse
there's been a mouse living in my walls for quite some time now.
i know that not everyone appreciates mice. a lot of people are afraid of them.
no one has ever been able to explain why though. every reason I've heard rings irrational to me.
she has her own little door at the base of the wall, just to the side of my door. she's welcome to come and go as she pleases, and I've come to appreciate when she does.
i think she moved in about 8 months ago. that was when I started to hear the patter of little paws along the skirting board, or a whisper of whiskers in the walls.
she was hard to spot at first. mice are very brave, but they can also be very shy. it took a little while before she properly showed herself, and I had to be careful not to scare her away.
but i enjoyed sitting quietly and waiting. i left little morsels for her to discover, to see if she would be interested.
over time I think she must have found, or made, other pathways through the walls of this house. because I started seeing her upstairs too. i thought that was nice.
for a while she disappeared. something must have spooked her after all. i told myself I didn't care - she's only a mouse, after all - but I was lying. she's our mouse, and I missed her deeply when she was gone.
but I started hearing that patter of her footsteps again recently. I sat quietly, trying my best not to be threatening. i realised how much I had felt alone in the silence.
when I caught her peeking out of that little doorway again one day, I was overjoyed. I was even happier to spot her in the corners of the kitchen, and upstairs in the living room. I hoped she had found somewhere cozy, amongst the walls and wiring of our home.
i know not everyone likes mice.
they make a lot of complaints.
"she chews on the wiring."
"she steals our food."
"i just dont like her. i don't need a reason."
i don't like this.
i think all creatures deserve to exist. I love spiders and caterpillars and moths, and now this little mouse.
they can't help their nature. they are not scary if you get to know them. they just want a home too.
have you considered that she chews wires because she's bored?
have you considered that she steals food because she is hungry?
have you considered that she sleeps in our home because she is tired and lonely?
wouldn't you do the same, if you were a tired and lonely and hungry little mouse, in a world much too large for you?
I hate bug spray. I hate mouse traps. I hate the people who use them. there is a better way.
I hope that little mouse can forgive herself. she doesn't deserve all the complaints that people make.
i make sure that I keep that little doorway open for her. she's always welcome in my room, no matter what anyone I live with says.
I know how to fix wires. I can find more food. she's welcome to those too.
i can't control what other people think.
but i can do my best to make sure one little mouse has a home.