Hand Warmer

A threshold moment with an unexpected guest

One winter morning, probably January or February, I got up before sunrise, maybe 3 or 4 a.m., to use the bathroom.

I slipped on my slippers half-asleep, and felt something in the toe.

I figured it was just an old handwarmer or something, y'know? Didn't think much of it.

Later that morning, around 6:30, I remembered the lump and thought, "I should shake that out."

Nothing came out. I shook it again... still nothing.

So I reached in, expecting, I don't know, fabric maybe, but instead,

I felt fur. The softest fur.

At that point I figured, alright, it's probably a mouse.

I assumed it was dead. I really don't like dead things,

irrational fear that they might, I don't know, come back to life or something.

But then I shook it loose,

and it blinked at me.

Alive. Just... dazed. Weird-looking, honestly.

So I caught it and brought it outside.

For a second I thought, "Should I let it stay inside? It's freezing out."

But no, that's ridiculous.

So I compromised. I Set it down near a burrow hole under the house,

figuring if it wanted to get back in, it knew the way.

And the second I set it down,

it perked right up. Ears lifted. Totally alert. Totally fine. And it ran away.

That little cutie had ridden around in my slipper

for probably four hours, while I shuffled to the bathroom and back. Then it just hid there in the dark.

Too funny...

Even the Smallest Things A moment of unexpected connection
Even the Smallest Things
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