Here I am, in a trap once more. I should have ignored the rumbling in my stomach, but the cookie smelt so good. Why does that lady always have to put delicious things into traps?
Hi. My name is Garry. I’m a field mouse. I’ve lived behind the walls of the McKenzie family home for the past two years, ever since I was born. Occasionally, I will wander too far out into the living space and be spotted by one of the family members. This is when the lady will put out something called a humane trap to catch me. Typically, I’ll avoid it, knowing that getting caught means separation from my family. Thankfully, I always seem to find my way back in.
Early this morning, while everyone including my family was still sleeping, I crept out from behind the wall in the kitchen in search of any scraps. Usually, the lady is an impeccable cleaner. However, they have a dog who tends to knock bits of food under the stove and refrigerator. It was my sincere hope to find some of those bits and bring them back to my home.
Unfortunately, my insatiable nose smelt the cookie in the trap. I sniffed and sniffed around the room until I discovered where that delightful scent was coming from. I looked into the trap and knew that the chocolate chip cookie had to be mine.
I know what you’re thinking. Of course, my mission was going to end in failure. However, I have had luck in the past with her older traps. The trick is to balance your weight on the side of the trap and not on the floor of it. If you can do that, you can easily get the food out without getting caught.
Today, I entered the trap as I always do, paws licked as to suction them to the side of the trap. I slowly began my approach towards the cookie, taking gentle breaths. I was in the zone, my focus fully on the sweet delicacy. When I at last reached the cookie, it took all of my self-restraint to not pounce upon it and gobble it up. Instead, I simply took a deep breath, taking in the intoxicating scent of chocolate.
“You’re almost mine.” I thought to myself. I was so naïve.
Suddenly, the house’s heating system turned on and the vent beside the trap started to blow air. I clung onto the trap’s wall, thinking I could wait out the heater. However, the air started to blow stronger and, before I knew it, I had landed on the trigger and the trap’s door had slammed shut.
I immediately started banging on the trap’s door hoping that it would open. It did not. I next started making a lot of noise, hoping it would wake a human so that they’d let me out. No one arose. I looked at the cookie and considered eating it, but I was no longer in the mood. I just wanted to get out.
I scratched and scratched the sides of the trap. I pushed and pushed the door. I saw the sunrise. Repeatedly, that stupid heat came on. I waited. It felt like days, but it was probably just a couple of hours. Eventually, the lady came downstairs to make her breakfast and saw me in the trap.
“Oh, hunny.” She said, picking up the trap and giving me a sympathetic look.
“Where were you?!?” I wanted to scream at her, but I couldn’t find the words.
The lady walked to the back door, opened it and we went outside together. She opened the trap and I hopped out, running into the tall grass for dramatic effect. I turned and watched her walk back inside and close the door. I waited a minute before I scurried up the wall of the house and hopped in through the hole in the second floor bathroom’s window screen.
