Monday, February 26, 2007

Strolling Mice

A friend of mine recently moved into a new house--a rental--and within a few days found the kitchen overrun with mice. I commented that a mouse invasion was rather unusual for a new building (it's the sort of thing I'd be more likely to see in my 1850 farmhouse if I didn't have a bunch of cats), and she said the landlord had explained that the mice came in when my friend accidentally left the side door to the garage open.

I laughed at the mental image of a family of mice strolling into the garage...or perhaps marching single-file across the threshold, determined in their mission to invade the premises. And I tried not to laugh at the fact that my friend believed the landlord.

"Did he explain how the mice got from the downstairs garage to the upstairs kitchen?" I asked. He hadn't. But implausible as it is, I still love the image of the strolling mice. It stayed with me all day.

3 comments:

Sabine said...

Your poor friend. Mice in the field are cute. Mice in the kitchen-ugh!

Susan said...

Better than rats. :-)

Jenny Hill said...

Heehee! I think of them with little suitcases and hats - all Beatrix Potter.