Mincy, the mouse was recently separated from his family. He was a sweet mouse. They were rushed out of the house of the messy couple on second floor. Mincy left at the last after making sure every other member was out. On their way down the stairs, they lost track of each other or atleast Mincy did. He couldn’t find the others. Scared, a little, he slid into the first door he found opened.
That was one slick, shiny looking place. Meredith, the owner was the sort who detested mess from far away and one who no one ever tried to mess with. The birthday party had almost ended. Leaving her closest few friends behind, everyone else had gone home. The floors and the corners were all spic-and-span. Mincy needed somewhere to lie low. With the meagre crowd in the living room, he found the bedroom to be empty. All, he had to do was slither across the hall past the house-guests and the host who were little drunk with the festivities and beer-bottle in almost every person’s hands.
He took small, swiveled steps. Few forward movements, few backtracks and he almost got through to the centre of the hall. This was an open zone. Openly vulnerable to the onslaught of the enemies. A possible scream in the house in very near future. But, he made himself small into a lump of black-brownish and yeah, oh, yeah, he succeeded. He pushed forward, lumped, pushed forward, lumped. And, he was out of sight of the humans once again. In the bedroom, carefully planting himself in the corner and the bed between the night-lamp table and the wooden edge of the Maharaja-style bed on the left. In the loneliness, he stated missing his family. He was hungry but the present loss overwhelmed him.
It was the turn of the resolutions. She had to pick any number from the ones proposed by the guests and it was a tradition amongst them.
Be a kook.
She never knew how to put a plate on the table crooked, never knew bills could be paid on the date of deadline and even after.
Be a little aggressive towards her work colleagues she never liked.
The diligence with which she worked and the perfection she sought had made her more than the final touch-up artist to the workhorse with no special incentives, recognition. Nothing. It was really disrespectful but she drilled on.
Go for a cave-dive this year.
She was a little claustrophobic. And, that intensified with the fear of water dripping down from the caves along its walls would make her numb.
She chose the first. Others were life-altering if not performed adequately and she didn’t need any performance review with her manager or with her psychiatrist if she could avoid them.
“Meredith, Meredith!”, the chant filled the house. Certainly strong enough to distract Mincy but he didn’t move. He was comfortable, warm and satisfied if he could find food. Even strewn on the floors.
A definite course of action was chalked out for her. Kick few pieces of cake to the floor and let them there on the floor till the morning. She agreed for one piece. No point in wasting chocolate-drizzled cake with Belgian, Swiss, Zanzibar chocolate oozing from here and there. And, after everyone left. Test would be to check upon the next morning when Alicia would visit. Meredith was an honest soul though.
And, so she did. The crumbs scattered in a small region near the foot of the backless sofa. She was pushing her limits. “Yay!”, she yelled with a cringe. She barely took a narrow turn towards bedroom before she took to her mops. Even before she got under wraps, she was wide-eyed looking almost into a dreadful darkness. She barely slept for one two hours.
Yet, in the morning, when Alicia dropped by to check on her, she woke up in a deadly astonishment to the living hall and absence of pie-crust and opened the door with a shriek.
“It’s gone, it’s gone! Come, see, its gone”, she was bewildered to the extent of crazy. The noise woke Mincy up. He barely made sense of what was going on. Even while Meredith was disconsolate, she already had tens of swear-words out in the few minutes to wake Mincy. Bright-eyed.
"You have to give me one more chance. They were all strewn around". Alicia didn't seem to distrust her. But she didn't realise the panic inside Mer that her fastidiousness was so overpowering even when it would lead her to lose a simple bet! But, what came as a bigger surprise to Mincywas how none of their minds led to the presence of a kin of Mincy's in the house. They didn't know Mincy ofcourse. He screeched a little, in alomst human voice. To let them know of his presence. But the thought of possible death or a harsh lockout from a warm house, his voice receded.
That night she crushed some cookie leftovers like an Indian Juggernaut crushing his enemy who hurt her mother's pride. Mincy was around and the smell got him out. Tempted. But, he didn't want to be a part of the similar dramedy again the next day. May be more intense.
Deep in night, he went near the sofa. Bit few specks, and collected the rest in a mound and bit some more. And, he waited for the morning to come. It came, Mer woke up, and rushed towards the living room. Just then he slid in front of Mer and started running around the house. "I am sorry, it was me... I am sorry", it was a chant. It was her turn now to witness the unthinkable. A mouse. In the house. That too a speaking one! "I enjoyed my time here. Let me out now please." He moved away to not scare her. And once she opened the door, he was out never to be seen again. Seeing him run down the stairs, she patted her right cheek almost to hide the blushing smile.
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