[Laurel]

Now Rich you have prompted one of my many "mouse" tales.

Friends, I have 4 kitties and I live in an old, stone farmhouse out in the country. My furry, feline children are not the brightest bulbs in the box truth be told. What is to follow is an honest accounting of an event that happened one April 1st.

I had to leave my home to meet a client at his condo. As I was about to head downstairs and out the door I noticed Meow-meow (don't ask; I know it is an idiotic name), who is our "dumb-blonde" of kittydom, was in the bathtub with a little field mouse she had apparently carried up from her morning hunt in the basement. Usually, being the aforementioned mouse lover that I am (by Rich in his post), I rescue these unfortunate rodents and return them to the safety of the great outdoors to either live or die from their injuries. However, as I was running late I simply closed the door allowing nature to take is course. As I was swinging the door closed Whiskers and Molly scooted past me to join Meow-Meow in the bathroom. I sighed and felt sorry for the little guy being locked in a bathroom with 3 cats, but after all I had not invited him to enter a home with 4 resident cats, had I?

When I got to my appointment the door was opened by a VERY tall woman. I was expecting to meet a man named Dana with whom I had been conversing via telephone about listing his condo. Imagine my astonishment when the woman with the Amazonian proportions extended her paw to give me a limp handshake all the while introducing herself as Dana! Then her "partner" greeted me from over Dana's shoulder. The partner was clearly female an (attribute Dana had acquired via a surgeon's skill). Thank God they had a little dog that I could kneel down and fuss over giving me time to recover my wits!

When I returned home from the morning's interview with the Odd Couple, I decided to release the kitties from the bathroom and scoop up the sure-to-be-dead mouse. Upon pushing in the door I spied Whiskers lounging lazily on the window sill, Molly asleep on the bath mat, and Meow-Meow still in the bathtub along with the very much alive mouse who upon seeing me ran and hid behind the cat!

It was April Fools Day and the world was completely upside down. I caught the mouse. Marched him outside placing him beneath a bush whereupon I informed him he was the luckiest damn mouse in the universe.

I decided to call it a day...