1 In the Library

The Sparrow and the Mouse

　

　

　

   Clouds are the funniest things. Way up there, not really doing anything but lazily moving across the sky. At least that is what a little brown mouse thought as he gazed up at them. His curious, bright eyes moved from one to the next, half expecting one to suddenly blossom into a multifaceted design of mist or at least take the shape of a goat or something! But, it was not to be. The clouds continued on their eternal quest and the mouse grew impatient, turning from the window and retreating to the book he had been reading.

   “I should still like to touch one some day,” he said to no one in particular. “And with any luck, this will be the book that shall teach me how!”

   And with that, he hopped down off of the sill and onto a particularly cluttered and water stained desk. As he made his way across the desk, he would gesticulate his paws wildly and mutter to himself, obviously in the deepest throes of some inner conflict of thought. An ancient, dog-eared book rose before the mouse like a circus tent. With speed and nimbleness, he instantly appeared at the top of the yellowed, moldy cliff of pages from where, a moment ago, they had towered over him.

   “Hmm, now let me think,” he said, as he walked to and fro over the page, reading the words carefully. As he studied the text, he would absentmindedly pull at the tips of his whiskers, which left them curling in all sorts of directions. The look was quite comical, but the mouse paid no heed, for his mind was intent on more urgent things.

   His face scowled suddenly, as if he had read something quite offensive on the page. He walked back to the beginning of the paragraph he had just read and started it all over again, only this time, reading the words aloud to himself. As he spoke the words, a sudden look of enlightenment swept across his features. His little fists began to clench and rise above his head in triumph at the understanding of what he had just read.

   “It can’t possibly be that simple” he gasped, as a smile was beginning to curl the corners of his mouth. “How did I not see that. This could change everythi.....Oh, drat!”

   His eyes fell upon the two or three words in the next sentence that made it obvious to him that it was not, in fact, going to be that simple.

   “Where in the world am I to get that amount of jet fuel? No, no that will certainly not be the way to go about this!” He held his hands out in a show of surrender to the words on the page.

   “ Enough of you for today,” he told the old book as he climbed back down to stand once more upon the desktop. The book gave no indication of caring either way, so the little mouse walked to the edge of the desk, looked once more at the clouds through the window, and with a sigh, turned and dropped from sight.

Author's Note

Please feel free to comment and/or critique. I'll take all the help I can get.