Village Squire, 1979-04, Page 8BY
THELMA COLEMAN
I wasn't asleep. I was lying with my eyes closed when 1 heard
the little scurrying sounds of tiny feet coming from the far side of
the room.
Turning my head slowly on the pillow I peered through the
misty grey of early dawn. There was a small blurred shadow
moving by the baseboard and then it was gone.
"It's Easter morning," I said to the empty room. "I'm alone.
Now this -a mouse!"
There was no point in trying to go to sleep again so I might as
well get up and make a cup of tea.
The first cup of tea was an eye opener. The second brought
wakefulness and a rememberance of other Easters, other years.
I closed any eyes as I sipped and could hear within the echoes
of my mind the gleeful shouts of Kevin as he searched for
hidden Easter eggs about the house. The treasured pictures
brought back again images of a little boy, a growing boy, and a
young man. His graduation, his marriage, and his acceptance of
a research position in New Brunswick. Roy and I had waved
goodbye; then suddenly, too soon, Roy was gone.
"Come and live with us," Kevin and Sara had said; but no, I
6 Village Squire, April 1969
fr]aster
a friendly
mouse
must learn to live alone, how to cope with holiday weekends.
such as this first Easter alone. I must not be maudlin and bask in
self-pity.
I put a slice of bread in the toaster and was buttering it when a
chip of toast broke off and tumbled to the floor. 1 was bending to
retreive it when a furry blur sped beneath my fingers and I saw a
tiny brown rump disappearing between the stove and the bottom
of the cupboard. The chip of toast was gone.
"That settles it." I know 1 shouldn't talk out loud when I'm by
myself but sometimes it's a relief.
Toast in hand, 1 padded down to the basement. I've seen the
mousetrap somewhere. but where? It was in a most unexpected
place and I remember Roy showing it to me and laughing.
remembering the old house we'd rented in the country when we
were first married. There had been mice running between the
walls at night and we'd bought the trap. We hadn't had to use it.
That day, while returning from town along the rural road we saw
someone toss a half-grown black kitten out of a car. We stopped
and picked up the kitten. Little Pud was with us long into Kevin's
growing up years. 1 know the mousetrap is in something that was
very much Roy's. But where? Going upstairs again. and draining
the pot of its final half -cup of tea, 1 try practicing recall.
Continued on page 22