All is Well

Flash Fiction

All is Well

There was a mouse in my house. He (she?) just stood there looking at me as I opened the kitchen door. He was just outside the closet where I keep the broom and mops.

Not sure what to do, I started walking toward the little guy thinking I could chase him outside. I kind of like mice, but not in my house. If it were the living room, maybe. But the kitchen… I don’t want to go in to make a sandwich and find the bread with little bites in it. However, as I stepped my tiny quiet steps (so he wouldn’t go into the broom closet) a fly flew right in front of him! I stopped as I watched the little mouse look up at, and then watch, as the fly flew past. Like he’d never seen one before! I thought it strange that the tiny fly got more attention than the giant me walking at him! Kind of disappointed even.

As soon as the fly got out of our sight we both looked back at each other. Mouse must have realized then that I was much bigger, kind of like he was to the fly, so he immediately popped into the closet! Darn! Well, I had to get him out.

I looked all over the floor and the shelves, no mouse. But then I looked into the cleaning bucket and there he was. As my face came into view, he started scrambling up the bucket, but it was too slippery to get out. So, I picked up the bucket, and carried him out to the garage, with a handful of crackers.

I still see him often, and bring him food. I’ve named him Mouse. (I’ve never had much of an imagination…) And so, again, all is well.