4:15 am
Rustle. Rustle.
Thump!
Pad. Pad. Pad.
Thump! Thump! Rustle.
Mew.
“Kurt,” I groan, “I think she’s got a mouse again.”
“Yeah,” he says.
I burrow under the covers and pull them up around my ears. Maybe she’ll just stop on her own. We lie there half asleep, each trying to out wait the other, or hoping the cat will just go away.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Rustle. Mew.
“It’s your turn,” I finally complain. “I got the one the other night.”
After a few more minutes and ongoing thuds, thumps, and mews, I feel the blankets move back. A small light turns on.
“Is it a mouse?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says. I hear him rustle around a bit and then leave the room. The door outside opens, then shuts. A few minutes later, the bed sinks as he climbs back in. I roll over and snuggle back into the blankets, drifting off contentedly.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Thump!
Rustle. Rustle.
Mew.
“Oh, no,” I moan. “It must have been a twin!”
Juniper…mouser extraordinaire
Nix the comfort zone 
As winter approaches here, we often wonder: we could use a rent-a-cat …
Kevin
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We’d charge a reasonable rate 😉
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This made me chuckle! Can relate to the “we try to out wait each other” been there before! Thanks for sharing!
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Unfortunately my husband is typically better at “wait it out” than I am!
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I love so much about this piece: your husband’s short answers, how you use sound to create the scene, your sense of humor.
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Thanks, Adrienne. It was one of those moments!
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Love the moment. It reminds me of Hannah and me lying in bed when one of our preschool cries out in the night. One night is mine, one night is Hannah’s to get the kid. There are rules to be followed!
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Rules definitely help. I thought I was set when I remembered I’d dealt with the last mouse. Then the second one appeared!
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And this is why cats are the finest pet on the planet! Hahaha!
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They are indeed!
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I miss our inside cat, snuggling up with us on a cold winter night! While we’ve never dealt with the mouse problem, Slick would chase the occasional inside bat, which lead to “it’s your turn” more than once! 🙂
Thank you for the awesome slice!
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I think I’d prefer a mouse over a bat!
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