Well, Dear Readers, my worst nightmares have come true. Two of them, in fact, both dealing with the same subject matter. Not only did I just catch a mouse in my supposedly mouse-proofed apartment, I heard the damn thing die! I quite literally turned out my lights, climbed into my supposedly mouse-proofed bed and the moment I closed my eyes I heard SNAP! and then I heard what was probably the most horrifying part... You all know that when you behead a chicken, its body tends to jump and run about for a few moments before "dying?" Well, apparently a mouse can flop and jump and scramble while its head is caught in a mousetrap. I was led to believe that they died instantly. Apparently not. The trap was about six inches from where I had placed it, and the mouse--honest to God--was about five inches long from nose to tail. It was a long mouse!! Cute, long and deader than Michael Crawford's career.
My hope is that this mouse has been trapped inside my apartment since Monday afternoon, and that the chewing and gnawing sounds I heard was the mouse trying to chew and gnaw it's way OUT of my apartment. I'm thinking that it was in here for so long, and I cleaned out my apartment so well, that it finally became hungry enough to go for the bait on the trap. I'm also deceiving myself into thinking that this is the self-same mouse that knocked over the picture on my bureau. I'd sleep much better thinking those things. Being the pessimist that I am, however (I do live in New York City, for crying out loud), I am inclined to think that the mice have found another way in and that this is going to be quite the power struggle between man and rodent.
On a happier note, I failed to mention that I will not be going home for Thanksgiving this year. Wait, that didn't come out right. That's not the good news--I'm actually quite disappointed that I can't go home--but the good news is that my boss at the Met and his wife have invited me and my friend Jennifer to their home in Long Island to spend the holiday with them. These are the very people who had us to their home for Easter, as well. They're wonderful, wonderful people who have taken the two of us in as their own, I believe, and I am so grateful to have them in my life. Yay for happy things! Boo for mice...