A Mouse in the House

B. L. Marchant

WRITING SAMPLE

A Mouse in the House

by B. L. Gilmore

Sandi spotted the little gray tail just as it disappeared under the door to the coat closet. She'd heard a commotion and come downstairs to fine her two kittens looking perplexed. The kind of perplexed look that meant they'd found something live to play with, and that that something had escaped their soft little kitten paws.

"Shoo, Shoo!" she said as she scooted the kittens into another room. Once they were safely tucked away, Sandi opened the closet door.

At first she couldn't see anything but the coats. A brown one made of leather, a dark blue wool one, and a black one made of canvas. A light tan one and a short jacket made of an artificial gray fur hung to the left of the dark blue coat.

She carefully began separating the coats. She saw two black beady eyes blink at her from amongst the gray fur. Startled, Sandi jumped back. The little eyes blinked again and now she could see little white whiskers wiggling, and a little mouse nose attached to those whiskers.

Sandi kept an eye on the little mouse, who seemed as curious about her as she was about it. She slowly took the other coats out of the closet, one at a time, until only the gray jacket and the dark blue wool coat were left.

Suddenly the little mouse nose, mouse whiskers and black beady eyes disappeared! Sandi spread the gray fur jacket and dark blue wool coat apart. There was no sign of the little critter. She began patting the front, back and sleeves of the jacket, and then the coat.

Pop! A little gray mouse came out of the dark blue coat sleeve. It scrambled to keep from falling and scurried around and back inside, squeezing between the buttoned front.

Finally knowing where the mouse was, Sandi took the gray fur jacket out of the closet and put it in the pile she'd formed with the others. She tried to think of a way to capture the mouse and get it out of the house.

"Ah hah," she whispered, "I think I know of a way to do this."

Slowly she raised the hanger the coat was resting on, just enough to clear the closet bar. Carefully she carried the coat, trying her best not to disturb the mouse, to the front door. She knew if the mouse came popping out again, it would probably jump to the floor and be loose in the house!

Easing through the front door, Sandi saw a bump in one of the coat sleeves move. "No not yet!" she urged.

The front door latched behind her and she hung the coat up, hanger and all, on a nail in the front door post. She stepped back, half-expecting the mouse to climb out and be on its way. The lump wasn't in the sleeve anymore, so she looked around, wondering if the mouse had already escaped.

Next she began patting the coat, just in case the mouse was still there. Nothing moved. She thought about taking the coat back inside, or perhaps leaving it out here for a while, just to be sure. She shook the left sleeve one more time.

Pop! The little mouse flew up from the back of the coat and perched on top of the coat's left shoulder. This happened so fast that Sandi jumped back and shrieked, throwing her hands into the air. The sudden noise of Sandi's shriek frightened the little mouse so much that it sprang into the air, landing on the front porch with a splat right next to Sandi's bare foot.

Sandi jumped and shrieked again, and the little mouse was gone in a flash, leaving nothing behind except a few leaves rustling in the wake of its departure.

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BL Corcoran