Cheeky Rodent

My son, Luther, is a big fan of Redwall. A few years ago my crafty and creative wife decided to make Luther a Redwall toy for his birthday. It was Matthias with his shield and sword all ready for battle. It was a much liked toy until it met the same fate as many other small childhood toys; it disappeared. We haven’t seen it for quite some time.

Last night I made my way to the kitchen to make my wife a late night cup of tea. As I stepped into the darkened room, I heard a pattering noise in the corner. Flipping on the light, I caught a little grey fellow running along the floor and zipping into a tiny crack under the cupboard. A mouse! It was quite surprising as we’ve never had trouble with mice before.

Luckily we had some sticky glue traps left over from a couple of years ago when we had to battle off an infestation of spiders. For those inexperienced readers, the joys of homeownership are many and varied… I put out the baited traps in hopes that the little mouse would venture out once again in the pride of his strength. I went to bed knowing that the premises were secure, at least for the night.

This morning I woke up, eager to know if my trap worked. One of the four traps had been moved, dragged under an armoire. I slowly pulled it out and was immediately excited to see a little grey lump stuck to the trap! A second later I realized what the thing was.

IT WAS MATTHIAS’S SEVERED HEAD!

Is this an innocent murine practical joke? Were the mice under the impression that they had been “ratted” out, and were executing the spy among them? Or is it a ghastly warning that we humans better leave well enough alone if we don’t want to end up like our little friend?