Getting rid of housemates

I guess this story all began one evening when I boasted to a friend that I used to be afraid of mice but now I not nearly as wimpy. I think my exact words were, "I'm getting much braver."

The very next evening my sister Emily and her husband Shawn came to my apartment for dinner. We are sitting at my kitchen table eating black bean salad and solving the world's problems when Shawn stops in mid-sentenct to point at my toaster. He whispers, "Look over there," as a mouse runs from behind my microwave all the way across my windowsill and darts into the top of my stove. Yep, you guessed it, the recently-claimed "brave" spirit vanishes and I begin to scream. Shawn quickly rises to the challenge and starts dis-assembling the stove. Each time we hear scurrying noises or see glimpses of brown fur dashing to a new hiding spot, there are more high-pitched squeals and freaked-out, knee-kicking dances around the kitchen.

Shawn finally gets into a face-off when he opens the bottom drawer to find not one mouse, but two squinting at him with their beady eyes. Now try to imagine- Shawn is halfway hidden underneath the disassembled stove with an oven mitt in one hand, a pair of tongs in the other staring at two mice, one in each of the back corners. Emily and I are his "back-ups", standing safely removed on kitchen chairs, one wildly waving a spatula in hand, the other with a broom. Shawn corners one of the mice as it makes its mad dash behind the wastebasket and catches it with the tongs. The other runs across my feet on its way to the storage closet while I do some more "high knee kicks". In the end, we set two traps, tried to put my kitchen back in order and called it a night.

I think the moral of this story is: Always have an extra pair of tongs and a courageous brother-in-law around to get rid of unwanted housemates. Oh, and leave a bit of "growth room" when you talk about your conquered fears.

P.S. When I came home after my family Christmas, both traps were full.

P.P. S. I emptied the traps myself. Perhaps I should get some of my brave points back.