Willy and His Buddy

Winter Blues

by

Bill Ferullo

© 2011

This time of year, as we all know,

                        The ground is deep with old dirty snow.

      Days still short and nights still cold ...

                         Frost heaved roads and oil burning low.

This nasty season makes us weary,

     Dragging on and on so dreary!

Just hang on to coming spring

     Returning life to everything!

**********************************************************************************
 
 

Willy and His Buddy

by

B.D. Adams ©

     What was that noise ... it jolted him awake!!! What time was it?! It couldn’t be Spring yet. He shook his drowsy little body and scratched behind both ears, as he awaked.

     Clank!! Clank!! Clank!!

     There was that noise again! What was that human doing?
     Squeaky’s the name ... gathering’s his game ... food gathering, to be exact. A field mouse ... who was startled by the racket, in this echoing building ... just a minor resident in a building where a human would go to ... play. Squeaky had lived in this building for ... for ... since he was a little mouse. It was usually nice and quiet in here ... especially, with the white ground outside.
     Squeaky poked his little head through the peephole in the discarded shoebox where he had made his home. It was in the far corner behind this big, round, smelly object that kind of protected his home. He stood on his back legs and watched the human.
     The human sat on a stack of those round objects, as he put fire to that thing he would burn up in his lips. Squeaky found it very curious why the human would put fire so close to his face, but ... he wasn’t a human.

********

     Willy was not happy about this new “twist” with the engine for his vintage 1934 Coupe that he had been restoring since ... since ... for a while.
     “Damn,” Willy sighed. He had become exasperated and sat on the stack of tires to smoke and think. He really should listen to his wife and friends, and stop smoking ... but, not today.
     Everything fit perfectly (outside of the engine frame) and the measurements showed there’d be no glitches with completely attaching the engine! However, that old saying kept echoing through his irritated mind ... “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry!” With his ire, he threw the ball peen hammer on the garage’s concrete floor. So frustrated!
     Willy had hoped if he went out to work on the Coupe, he’d shake his New Hampshire winter blues. Spring had to happen soon ... didn’t it. He just remained seated to smoke and think.

*********

     That human was not a happy-camper!! Squeaky was so startled when that heavy piece
of metal was hurled towards him!
     He tested the air with his little mouse nose to see if he could detect any more thrown objects. All he could smell was the smoke from the burning thing in the human’s lips.
     Squeaky could detect that the human was sad ... upset. Humans were so hard to figure out. He was so glad to live in this building and had a few litters here with his mate. The human usually seemed to enjoy this building, also, except for today. Hmmmmm .....
     Aha, Squeaky thought! He knew the male human was around most of the time, but it seemed that his mate was always gone to do their gathering. He had to find the female human ... get her to the building ... to make him happy! Squeaky was so happy with his decision ... but, how would he do that? He had no idea of how to find the female! He couldn’t pick up her scent at the other building (she had chased him out of that building). What to do ... what to do .....
     Then, Squeaky had a scathingly brilliant idea ... for a mouse. He scurried to a different pile of paper where he and his mate stored extra bedding for their nest.

********

     Willy finished his cigarette and tossed it into the ashcan. He still didn’t know how he might encourage the one thin wire through a tiny hole to allow the engine to fit more comfortably where it needed to go. His hands were a man’s hands ... thick and not delicate. Decisions ... decisions ....
     He grabbed the shop-light, so he could lay on his back to see a different angle for this dilemma. He began his quest.
     Within a few moments, however, Willy began to hear a curious ... sound ... near to him. At first, he ignored the sound ... he was aware of his little mouse tenant in the garage’s corner. He didn’t allow anyone to move that tire, which kind of protected the mouse’s home.
     However, the sound was heard a lot closer.
     Willy looked around and did not see anything ... right away. Then, he cranked his head in a distorted way, as he saw his little mouse buddy ... as he appeared upside down, close but not that close.
     Willy scooted to sit upright to see what his little buddy was up to.
     Squeaky had a corner of a photo in his mouth ... and dragged it closer to Willy. Squeaky dropped the photo, a respectable distance from the human, and scampered a few feet away. He turned to look at Willy, while he sat on his haunches.
     This rather flabbergasted Willy! Was his little buddy actually showing him a photo?
     Willy gingerly reached for the photo ... he tried to not scare the little mouse. And, as he scrutinized the photo, and of all things ... it was an older photo of his wife and him with the first ’65 Mustang he had restored. That was the very first project of that sort!
     So curious, Willy frowned slightly. A mouse couldn’t be trying to “talk” to him ... could it?
     “Well, little buddy ... what are you trying to say ... or show me?” Now, Willy felt dumb ... he had just talked to a mouse!
     And, on cue ... almost like Squeaky expected the human’s reaction ... he moved, in his
mouse way, and kept pointing his nose to the photo.
     Willy decided ... what the hey ... look at the photo. He smiled, as he remembered when that photo was taken. It was definitely in the summer.
     Then ... Willy saw what could only be “inspiration!!” His wife had been crocheting just before the picture was taken and still held the crocheted piece!
     A crochet needle!! He could use one of her small crochet needles to do what his fingers couldn’t do to thread that damned little wire!!
     “Thanks, buddy! You and my wife ... what a team,” Willy said while he chuckled at this event.
     Squeaky knew the human’s mate would make him happy ... and he was right. He scampered back to his nest to sleep a bit longer ... until spring!
     Willy went immediately to his house to fetch the needle ... the snow didn’t bother him this time because he knew he and his little mouse friend were on the right track! Also, he determined that he needed to slice a good sized chunk of cheese to reward his little buddy. He wouldn’t tell his wife about the cheese, though.


     Of mice and men ... who’d woulda thought, Willy asked himself.