Page 49 - Fall2013

We sat on a sturdy wooden bench and began ing, cleaning, washing and the like. His father
to hear some critters rustling under the leaves brought home fresh meat and whole-grain flour
near our feet. My nephews sat on either side of as part of his meager salary, so his mother was
me as they both leaned closer to hear me tell the able to cook roasts and bake wholesome breads.
rest of my story. As a result, Gary was growing into a strong,
obedient lad with a happy-go-lucky disposition.
Now it happened that one bright and crisp He always finished his homework, was good-
autumn day, schoolchildren were making a trip natured and kept his bedroom neat and clean.
to the country to pick autumn leaves. Those twin When Gary asked to have a pet mouse, his
mice were playing on the edge of this very forest, mother took him to the pet store and his father
rustling through brightly colored red and gold made a cage for the new mouse. The boy fed him
leaves. They were about kitchen scraps everyday.
four weeks old, which Gary loved to play with
in human terms made his mouse because it was
them about eight years so gentle and affection-
old, the same age as you ate. Whatever he ate,
boys. They happened he fed his mouse also,
upon the children’s pic- which he named Goody
nic, and never having for being such a good
seen humans before, mouse.
they crashed the party. "Gary, you have such
. . uninvited, of course. a strong appetite. Where
The little girls do you put it all? You eat
screamed on seeing the everything I put in front
two small mice scam- of you," his mother said.
per about their pic- "You just keep growing
nic lunches. Even the as big and tall as that
teacher was alarmed apple tree we planted out
enough to stand up and back."
hold her dress tightly "That’s why he gets
about her legs. Two all A’s and wins them
cousins, named Gary softball trophies," said
and Jason, proudly rose his dad, smiling ear to
to the challenge and, ear.
after much chasing His cousin Jason lived
around, captured the in the wealthy section of
two mice by using emptied lunch baskets. town. His father was a prominent banker who
A dispute arose among the boys as to who’d was often away on business trips; his mother was
get to keep the two mice. The teacher said, how- a popular professor of food science at the local
ever, that the field mice could be infected with a college and the public school nutritionist. His
dangerous disease. So the boys had to let them go. parents had so much money and so little time for
“Be extra careful you aren’t bitten,” she warned each other that they hired a governess to care for All that sugar
as they carried the covered baskets with the mice their son. His father had promised to be home for he ate made
to the edge of the forest. On the way back, Gary Jason’s eighth birthday, but failed to be there. He
and Jason planned to ask their parents if they later gave him a shiny bike instead, but it wasn’t him sleepy,
could have mice from the pet store in town. the same. Jason became confused, angry, and even in the
Now, Gary lived across the railroad tracks in unruly, perhaps to gain their attention. morning after
the poorer section of town, for his father was an So, when Jason asked for a pet mouse, his
apprentice butcher, and his mother worked as a father bought him one to keep him company. having slept
homemaker who took care of her family by cook- But Jason began to eat too many sweets from nine hours.
Wise Traditions FALL 2013 FALL 2013 Wise Traditions 47

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