A New Year’s tale – a family of church mice
By Reina Free
… Part 2
After the sudden and cruel death of both their parents, the church and especially the vestry with the cupboard of robes and cassocks did not feel like home any more. And so after lengthy deliberations the two orphans decided to leave. On a sunny morning in spring they left, sad but also quite excited about the unknown.
The first night they spent in the wreck of an abandoned car, but it was cold and draughty and it would have been better by far to have lodged in the small hole in the roots of the holly tree.
The next day they crossed the still unploughed wheat field and had a good feed on some grain left behind – but were then scared out of their little hearts by the sudden swoosh of a hunting kestrel.
They moved from a garden shed to a small bungalow lived in by two elderly spinster ladies. There was plenty to eat in the old-fashioned larder, with its heavy stone slab to keep fresh bacon and cheese. They thought they really had it made until they were spotted by a well-fed tabby tom.
In a house with a large family with children, again plenty to eat, crisps on the carpet, even a little left-over pizza under the settee – until they spotted in one of the children’s bedrooms a cage with one of their own; only this one was white.
So they left again, onward, ever onward, until they decided to return to their home in the church. Yet on their arrival they discovered to their dismay a large family of squatter mice had moved in.
The one who ruled with a loud squeak, more like a squawk, was a big mother mouse. The intimidated father mouse kept out of the way as much as was possible. The two orphans, overwhelmed, hid themselves in a corner of the pulpit, where she found them.
“What’s the matter with you?” she said, “Come on down and meet the family. Grandpa and grandma have just arrived. Is not this called God’s house, so plenty of room for everyone? You are just in time for a night-time snack. We gathered all the left-overs from the Carols by Candlelight”.
The two orphans were famished and they certainly wanted to tuck in. “Wait”, mother mouse squeaked, “Prayers first. For what we are about to receive”. So each of them clasped their neighbour’s paw and bowed their heads. Father mouse was the one who said the prayers. It was the first time they heard him squeak.
After the meal mother mouse said “It has been a long day, let’s go to sleep. In the cupboard is still part of the old nest you must have made. You may use that. Here we are all the same, and share and share alike”.
And so they said goodnight to their new family. They were so happy. And God looked down from Heaven and said “This is what I always had in mind. I am so very pleased”