You may not believe this, but the rodent war, which formerly was confined to our little gravel road, has gone citywide. The invasion began yesterday, on a Sunday morning, if you can believe it, during church. Our congregation currently meets in our high school auditorium, and about halfway through the pastor’s sermon, a mouse joined him on the stage.
The little critter stuck to the shadows as much as possible and didn’t make a sound, stealthily scampering across the stage behind the pastor. But as we all know, cameo appearances can be show stoppers, and this one certainly was. So sermon waited until the newest member of our congregation negotiated his way past the set for the next high school play, jumped over the worship band’s power cords, and made his stage right exit.
Apparently, the little fellow was as impressed as I was with the pastors exposition of Mark 6:33-44, where Jesus feeds the five thousand, or maybe he was really, really hungry. Because a few minutes later, Mr. Mouse joined the crowd seated in the auditorium. Well, as you can imagine, things went a little crazy for a little while, until two valiant men, Mick and Perry, armed with empty coffee cups, live-trapped the little guy into Perry’s wife’s book bag. Wild applause followed them out the building where they released the interloper. By the time they returned, the pastor had ended his live feed, internet coverage of the action and resumed point five of the sermon.
As far as we know, the mouse did not return. He certainly didn’t come forward for communion, which would have been the logical next appearance. I mean think about it, a school mouse subsists on gum stuck to the bottom of chairs, which has to lead to poor nutrition and miserable digestion. The poor little guy must be continually plugged up. Some fresh bread and grape juice would be just what the veterinarian ordered, but then again, maybe the trip in the book bag shook things loose, so to speak. Hmm…I sure hope Perry’s wife did laundry yesterday afternoon.
Anyway, I’m wondering what the high school fall play is. Based on the set and the sneak preview, I’m thinking Of Mice and Men. But if you have another idea, please leave a comment. And keep your eyes peeled for rodents in all the wrong places and keep your book bags open. This could get ugly, folks.
