Though Michael was not particularly found of mice, he found one at the hermitage
who seemed fearless and cute. Though ambivalent about his new "friend," he
decided to share his food with him. This started a unique friendship with the mouse
he named Henry. Somehow feeding Henry made him feel to be a better person.
Don't we all feel that way when we feed the birds or the animals who come into
our lives? I put a dish of dry cat food on my porch each night for any hungry cat
in the neighborhood. This week I was feeding a hungry opossum!
Then one night after he fell into a deep, strangely paralyzing sleep, he awoke
abruptly hours later to hear the shrill squeaks of Henry who was also thumping up
and down on his chest.
You can imagine his wondering -what's going on? He roused himself and was shocked
to find that he could hardly move. Henry ran off the bed and out under the door to the
outside. With difficulty, Michael rolled off his bed and crawled to the front door -
pushing it open. The fresh air immediately filled his lungs and then he knew. The gas
canister from the old stove had leaked its contents into the room- poisoning him as
he slept.
This tiny mouse somehow understood the situation and even put his own life in jeopardy
to save Michael. Both he and Michael were both lying facedown on the porch panting
and tying to get their breath.
Michael recounted this story to Andrew with tears of gratitude realizing that his life
had been saved by a mouse. And Andrew, on his part, said that he will forever look
differently at mice because one saved his friend.
And so will I, though I had a small encounter with one on a summer day when I was
taking Patty, my dog, who suffered from degenerative myelopathy on a walk. She
was using the wheels I had purchased for her to take the place of her useless back
legs. We decided this particular morning to go around the back of the Dollar Store,
and that's where I spied a small mouse lying on the ground. He was clearly in
distress. I think he had been poisoned. I picked him up and thought the only thing I
could do for this tiny, suffering creature was to find a cool, shady place for him
to die - out of the blazing sun. We brought him to our back yard. There was no happy
ending for this tiny little mouse. Death affects us with sensitive hearts deeply. We don't
only grieve human deaths, but we grieve the deaths of the animals whose lives are as
precious to them as are ours to us.
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