A Mouse
On Wednesday night, after dance class, four of us went out to our usual place. Well, our usual fall/spring place, anyway. The place we like to go best doesn't stay open late enough except in the summer. Towards the end of the meal, one of the people in our group exclaimed, "Oh! There's a mouse!"
And so there was. I recalled that on one of our earlier visits to this restaurant, a woman across the room in one of the booths had started screaming because she'd seen a mouse. This mouse seemed to be in approximately the same location. In fact, he was hiding under one of the benches in the booth, in the narrow gap between the bottom of the bench and the floor.
We watched the mouse poke his head out from under the booth, and retreat. A couple of times he got bold enough to dart out a foot or two from the safety of the bench, before running back. For the most part, he didn't stray far.
"Oh, he's so cute!" a few of us said.
"Should we let the restaurant know?" others of us mused.
I suggested, to our friend who volunteers with The Raptor Conservancy that I was sure that the mouse would have been eaten already if any owls had been around. "In an instant!" she agreed.
We continued to watch the mouse, until he tired of his adventures, and disappeared under the bench.
A few minutes later, our waitress said goodbye to us as she was heading out the door. None of us said anything to anyone about the mouse before we left ourselves. I wonder if we'll see the mouse again?
And so there was. I recalled that on one of our earlier visits to this restaurant, a woman across the room in one of the booths had started screaming because she'd seen a mouse. This mouse seemed to be in approximately the same location. In fact, he was hiding under one of the benches in the booth, in the narrow gap between the bottom of the bench and the floor.
We watched the mouse poke his head out from under the booth, and retreat. A couple of times he got bold enough to dart out a foot or two from the safety of the bench, before running back. For the most part, he didn't stray far.
"Oh, he's so cute!" a few of us said.
"Should we let the restaurant know?" others of us mused.
I suggested, to our friend who volunteers with The Raptor Conservancy that I was sure that the mouse would have been eaten already if any owls had been around. "In an instant!" she agreed.
We continued to watch the mouse, until he tired of his adventures, and disappeared under the bench.
A few minutes later, our waitress said goodbye to us as she was heading out the door. None of us said anything to anyone about the mouse before we left ourselves. I wonder if we'll see the mouse again?