So not long ago and
for the first time in nearly ten years, we saw a mouse in our house, and my
mother was completely frantic about it because she wouldn't even let a mosquito
in. And I, as usual, didn't care about it at all.
As long as it
didn't cross my path, I remained undisturbed and unbothered by the mayhem my
mom was causing because of the mouse and of course, the other way around too.
But it wasn't until
I saw the mouse in my room, near the window AC which is fitted just two feet
above the ground. And mind you, during the winters we don't use the AC, so I
found out that the mouse was practically living inside the AC, going in and out
of a little hole by the side of the AC. And it can't possibly climb two feet up
the ground so it would climb up the curtains and there it goes inside the AC.
Every day it would
travel from the AC to my bookshelf, and from the bookshelf it would move out of
the room. I had gotten so used to its routine that I knew what places it’s
going to go to once it’s in my room. And my eyes would always follow it,
distracting me from doing my work.
But soon I got
annoyed, as intriguing as it was to watch it move from place to place, the 4
A.M nocturnal behaviour of the mouse was definitely not music to my ears. And
we did try to catch it, many times! And we did manage to get it out of the
house, after chasing it in a locked room at midnight for about 2 hours with me
going almost under the bed and my mother at the other end of the bed, with a
broom in her hand. It went into the balcony.
We had an inkling
that it could come back so I suggested an idea - to let it off of the balcony
by using a broom. But then another thought followed the idea, of how it could
possibly die by falling from the second floor, so I hurriedly shook the idea
off my mind.
And guess what? It
came back in the morning by gnawing a little hole in the balcony door. After
that drooping chase!
When my mother told
me about it, I had already fallen on the bed with a huge sigh because I saw the
mouse in my room that very morning, inside the temple which has been kept in my
room. I've heard that mice are very territorial and like to claim certain
areas as their own. In this case, unfortunately, it was my room.
"Holly Hell!" |
"Hello!" |
So, my mother
finally having had enough of all this bought a glue mat to trap it. We had
never used a glue mat before so didn't know exactly what it could do. We
thought, with me knowing the mouse's routine, we could place the mat once it's
in the room and when it would get onto the mat, it'd get stuck and then we can
free it somewhere in the park.
Patently, it came
in the room again later that evening; I put the mat near my bedroom door,
knowing it would again move out in seconds as I had pulled up the curtains so
it could not go inside the AC. And exactly that happened; it started moving
towards the mat.
It got stuck on the
mat. But something unimaginable happened; it sorely got stuck in the glue and
started making all kinds of noises. It could not move an inch and I started
crying. We tried to get it off the mat but the glue was too strong for it. I
thought it was going to die and I just couldn't stop crying at the sight of it
struggling. My mother not being as helpless as me, took the mat outside, put a
paper wherever the glue was so it would not get more stuck and then started
pulling the mouse off of it by using a polythene bag and started removing the
glue by using water.
By the time she was
done, I was in my room, upset and in tears. My mother came back and told me
that she had freed the mouse and it was now in one of her plants, though in a
fragile state. I didn't believe her. I thought she was just saying that to make
me feel better. So she forced me to come out of my room and see for myself. And I
did, I saw it picking up bread pieces just beside the plant, with the glue
stuck on its hairs. It looked kind of funny, I felt guilty, for having put the
mouse in that condition.
But well, we
thought that that was it, that it would not come in now.
And I was pretty
bummed for a very weird reason. I liked to chase it, and watch it move
effortlessly in the house, slipping out of our fingers every goddamn time. I
also named it - Chuhi. That's just something which came out of my mouth at some
point during the chase. Very appropriate, I know.
And I shared my
feelings with my mother, she just laughed. She knows for how long I have been
asking for a pet dog, especially after losing both of my dogs, Jimmy (4yrs) and
Daisy (10yrs). Well that's another story. They were technically mine but we
sent them off to my grandparents after they'd turned 2. So yes, I think she
understood.
But guess what
happened after two days?
Yes. It was Chuhi,
near the AC, in my room, in a very good condition indeed.
My first reaction -
Laughter (of joy!)
My second reaction
- Not you again!
We swore to never
use the trap again; in fact, we thought about just letting it stay, they only
live for two years anyway.
And it was not
because we were languid in our chasing but because we just didn’t want to
trouble it anymore. But my mother said that she can't let that happen, she just found
an unorthodox way. So once it was in my room again, near the bookshelf (from
where it always followed one path to move out of the room) my mother got a garbage
bag. I was sure she could not catch it, because there were a lot of times she
let it slip away and when it was so easy to catch it!
There stood my
mother near the door with a garbage bag. There I was, urging the mouse to go
towards it. And in a flick of a moment, swoosh- In the bag or not?
I had no idea where
it went, but then we heard something move inside the garbage bag.
My laughter- I
couldn't believe it, after all this time...finally! Now we had to leave the
mouse outside the house, I begged my mother for she had a weird notion that
some bird will come and eat it once the mouse is outside the house. Thankfully
I didn't have that thought so I urged her to leave it on the ground floor. I
went with her and together we freed Chuhi on the ground floor, to become
somebody else's trouble, probably.
It's weird, I know.
But life is so fragile, when you see someone or something struggling with it,
you know for a fact that it is. But I'm glad that the mouse got its second
chance.
Featured: http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/12/31/spicy-saturday-picks-poems-stories :)
Featured: http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/12/31/spicy-saturday-picks-poems-stories :)
I so enjoyed reading this post.. I love the way u expressed ur feelings abt the mice ;) Love the ending !
ReplyDeleteAlmost All Black Outfit
Thank you so much Ananya. Glad you enjoyed it. :)
DeleteNice post, things explained in details. Thank You.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
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