Goodbye to a Christmas Mouse

It was the week before Christmas, and Johnny was feeling anxious to get home to see his Mom, Simon and Lizzie. When he moved away to the big city to go to college, he never imagined how much he would miss them.

For as long as he could remember, all he wanted was to get out on his own and be away from the nest. But everyday he was gone, he thought of his house in the country and the people he left behind.

College was proving to be more challenging than he thought it would be. He had always done well in school, but this was so different. His grades were still highest in his class, but it was not easy to keep them there.

His roommate Jimmy was nice, but he snored terribly loud. So loud, that it would sometimes keep Johnny up all night. A lot of the times, he would already be uptight about an exam he was taking the next day and Jimmy would be sound asleep and sawing on logs. Johnny usually spent the night with his head buried under the pillow in attempts to muffle out the snoring. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

One night, Johnny actually took his pillow and threw it at Jimmy. But Jimmy just mumbled, and started snoring again. It was insufferable, but after a long while Johnny became somewhat used to it and it was easier to fall asleep. But there were still times the pillow would fly and the snoring would then resume.

Morning came, and not too soon in Johnny’s opinion. He packed his duffle bag the night before to make sure that he would have no delays in getting to the bus station.

Last year was a fiasco. Jimmy kept him up all night with his snoring and Johnny had slept through his alarm clock. Just as he got to the station, the bus was pulling out. The next bus didn’t come around for three hours. Those were the longest three hours of his life. But he did meet some very interesting people that would make great characters for his books when he finally got them written. So at least there was an upside to it. His mom always taught him, that for every negative, he had to come up with at least two positives.

This time was different though. He made sure that he was there thirty minutes early, and had his ticket paid for and in his pocket. He sat down and waited. Thirty minutes passed by slowly and he heard the air breaks. His face lit up and he rushed over, ticket in hand.

He jumped on to the bus and took his seat. It filled up quicker than he expected and before he knew it, they were on their way.

Next to him sat an elderly woman. She smelled of musky flowers and spearmint. He thought to himself, what an odd combination. But he didn’t mind because it wasn’t too strong of a smell, and the ride was only going to take eight hours. He could do that twice as long…….. as long as she didn’t want to have a conversation with him.

“So, where ya headin’ sonny?” she asked.

Johnny winced a little, not to be noticed, smiled and looked over, “Going to the country to see my family.” He replied.

“Oh that’s nice. I am heading to the country too. My granddaughter is expecting me. It’s so nice to have family that still cares enough to have you there for Christmas. She’s going to be at the station when we arrive.” She smiled. She had a nice smile. One that couldn’t help but make you smile too.

Johnny felt the same way about family. He thought back so many years ago when he first moved to the country with his Mom. He remembered that he didn’t want to go, that he wanted to stay in the city and with his friends. She had told him that he would make new friends. Better friends. How right she was.

“You know, she’s going to be at the station when we arrive. I’ll introduce you to her. She’s very nice, and single. I think you’d really like her.” She said, with an even bigger smile. Johnny felt his face redden and he just smiled. “Thanks. If she’s half as nice as you, I’m sure I will.”

“Oh you charmer, you. Yep, you’re a real keeper.” She said, with a little chuckle.

The hours flew on by and before they knew it, the bus was pulling in to the station where they were getting off. He helped her off of the bus and grabbed her bags and carried them to the curb.

As he sat down the last bag, he saw the elderly lady taking to the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen. She had flowing red hair and the most deep green eyes he could have imagined ever existing. They almost twinkled when she looked over at him.

He felt his face redden again as he realized she noticed him staring at her. He quickly turned away and tried to settle himself. He heard them walking up and he turned and smiled. The elderly lady said, “Johnny, this is my granddaughter, Nicole. Nicole, this is Johnny.”

They shook hands and though it was an awkward meeting, there was something that Johnny felt as they released hands. Almost as if she didn’t want to. He knew it was just in his mind, but maybe, just maybe, there was something there.

Johnny’s Mom came around the corner and when she saw Johnny, she ran over to him almost knocking over a baggage claim employee. She hugged Johnny and kissed him on the cheek. If he wasn’t embarrassed already by the introduction he just went through, he sure was now.

He looked over and saw Nicole with a big smile on her face. Maybe affection to his Mom wasn’t such a bad thing after all, he thought to himself.

On the trip home, Johnny knew that his mom was going to bring up the young lady. And sure enough she did.

“So, who was your new acquaintance at the bus stop?” she asked.

No matter how hard he tried, Johnny could never stop his face from reddening, even if it was being caused by something totally insignificant. That’s how his mom always knew when something was going on.

“I think her name is Nicole. She’s the granddaughter of a lady that sat next to me on the bus. She seems like a nice enough girl.” A moment passed and he started talking about her again. “When we shook hands, I had a weird feeling come over me. It was almost as if she didn’t want to let go as much as I didn’t want to.” Johnny said.

“Sounds to me like something your father and I had the first time we met.” She said with a smile. “You did get her phone number, didn’t you?”

Johnny sat there in silence, turning to look out the window, hiding the look of disappointment on his face.

“You did get it, right? Please tell me you didn’t let this one slip away.”

“Slip away? Gosh mom, I just met her. I barely even know her name. How can you say I let her slip away?” Johnny said, with a little irritation in his voice.

“Well, I seem to recall a certain young lady a while back that you had a crush on. What was her name? Bernie, right? You let her slip by, and you really kicked yourself for that one for a long while. I was just hoping you had learned your lesson.”

Johnny was not in the mood to hear about Bernie. She made her choice, and he made his. There was no going back. He wanted to go to college and become a writer. She wanted to stay and work at her father’s company.

A year after Johnny left home, he heard that she fell in love with some guy and they moved to California. That’s that last he ever heard about her. He felt bad, but there was nothing he could do. Well, maybe there was, but what was done, was done.

He sat there thinking of a way to change the subject. “So, how’s Simon and Lizzie doing?”

“Lizzie’s fine, but Simon has had been fighting the same cold for a very long time. He’s strong, but he seems to be getting worse as the days go by.” His mom said.

Johnny remembered something about a cold in the last letter he got from Simon, but he didn’t say that it was that bad. Simon never did want Johnny to worry when he wasn’t feeling well.

They arrived at home and Johnny grabbed his duffle bag from the back seat and ran into the house. He threw it down and ran over to Simon and Lizzie’s hole in the wall.

“Simon.” Johnny whispered. “You awake?”

He heard a little bit of commotion going on inside and then Lizzie popped her head out of the hole. “He’s asleep Johnny. He should be getting up shortly. Go unpack and I’ll see if I can wake him up. You know how he can be stubborn when he first wakes up.”

Johnny grabbed his duffle bag, ran up the stairs and into his room. He threw the duffle bag onto his bed and ran back down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, there was Simon, standing outside of the hole, stretching and yawning. Johnny was very glad to see him.

He ran over and picked Simon up. “Whoa big fella! Be gentle with this old man. I’m not that young spry mouse I used to be.” He smiled, but the usual sparkle in his eyes was not as brilliant as Johnny had remembered.

“Sorry old man. I’ll be gentle.” Johnny said with a snicker. He put Simon down on the floor and they both went into the kitchen.

Johnny’s mom was making some hot chocolate, and they could smell it even before they walked in. They sat around and talked for a while, drinking hot chocolate and when they were done, Johnny realized what time it was. “Well, off to bed I go. I have a busy day tomorrow. I noticed that you still haven’t fixed the third step on the porch. That’s job one. What else have you been waiting for me to get here to fix?”

Johnny’s mom laughed. “This is your vacation. You don’t have to fix anything. I’ll get around to it when I have the time and energy. But, since you’re asking, the back screen door keeps squeaking and it doesn’t close all the way.”

Johnny got up and walked over to his mom. He kissed her on the forehead and said, “Job number two.” He said his good nights and Simon followed him out. As Simon was going into the hole, Johnny stopped him.

“Simon, are you alright? I heard you have been fighting a cold for a long time. Can I take you to the vet? Maybe he can give you something.”

“No way! I’m not going to some quack to tell me I have the flu. I’ll be fine. I’m old and I just need more rest than usual. Don’t worry.” He said with a smile.

“Alright.” Johnny said. “Well, good night and sleep tight. I love you old man.”

“Good night Johnny. I love you too.” Simon said and scampered into his hole.

The next morning, Johnny was up and outside, already getting prepared to fix the step, when he realized that they didn’t have any nails.

He went in and got the keys to the car and when he went to put them in his pocket, he found a slip of paper. When he opened it, he started to laugh out loud. His mom came out of the kitchen and asked what he was laughing about. Johnny showed her and she laughed too.

On the piece of paper was Nicole’s name and phone number. “Looks like that old lady didn’t want you to let her slip away either.” Johnny’s mom said.

He tried to hide the embarrassment, but as always he wasn’t successful. “I’ll call her when I get home.” He said.

“No way. Call her now and then mention that you would like to meet her for lunch when you go to get your supplies.” Johnny’s mom suggested.

“But what if she asks how I got her number?”

“I think she’ll know. Don’t worry. Just call her.” She said, pushing Johnny to the phone.

With a couple minutes of blundered speech, he hung up the phone. His face sagged and his mom thought the worse. “She didn’t want to meet you?” she asked.

Johnny walked over and hugged his mom. “We’re meeting at 12:00.” And he laughed. “Gotcha!”

“You little rascal. My heart almost broke. You’re gonna pay for that one.” She said as she punched him in the arm.

Johnny drove into town and pulled up at the hardware store. He walked in and made his way over to the lumber section. When he got what he needed, he made his way to the screws and nails section. As he exited the store, he looked at his watch. There was plenty of time to stop in at the vet’s office to talk about what was going on with Simon. When he left the vet’s office, he wasn’t happy with what he heard.

He walked over to the diner and went in. Nicole was already sitting down and motioned him over. She was prettier than he remembered from the night before.

As Johnny sat down, she said, “So, you got a note from my grandma, didn’t you? She does that all the time. Most of the guys she tries to hook me up with are total losers.”

At first, Johnny wasn’t sure if she was referring to him being in that category, but the way she smiled at him, made those thoughts vanish.

“I’m glad that she left that note for you though. You’re not like those others. You’re different. I felt that when we shook hands.” She said, growing a little red in the face.

Stuttering, Johnny said, “I’m glad she did too.”

They sat there for hours talking about nothing in particular. It was nice. Johnny enjoyed talking to her because he didn’t feel he had to try to impress her. As the time passed, he relaxed and he felt that she did too.

When they walked out of the diner, it was already dark and Johnny realized that it was too late to get started on the front porch. He was disappointed that he didn’t do what he intended, but he was glad because of the reason.

“Can I call you tomorrow? Maybe we can catch a movie or something?” Johnny asked.

“Sure. I’d like that.” Nicole replied.

They hugged and it felt like neither of them wanted to let go. Reluctantly Johnny pulled away and smiled. She returned the smile and they both said goodnight.

The next morning, Johnny woke up with the smile still on his face. He walked down stairs and into the kitchen. Lizzie was sitting at the table with Johnny’s mom. They both just sat there, with blank expressions on their faces.

“What’s up?” Johnny asked.

“It’s Simon. He’s dead.” Lizzie said and started crying uncontrollably.

“That’s impossible. I just talked to him last night before going to bed. He didn’t look that bad.” Johnny said trying to suppress a tear. But it was too late. They were already falling down his face.

“I know. He came in and almost didn’t make it to his bed. He was trying to be strong and not let you know how bad it was. He didn’t want you to worry about him. You know how stubborn he is. He wouldn’t even go to the vet!” she said, half crying, half angry.

Johnny still couldn’t believe his ears. He sat there in total disbelief, sobbing.

The next day, they took Simon out to the back yard and buried him. Johnny stood there a moment, and then he finally spoke.

“Simon. When I first met you, I knew that you and I would be best friends for life. It seems like only yesterday Mom and I moved in and I found you stuck in that remote control car. And then, you spoke to me. I was so shocked, I almost dropped you and the car.” He let out a painful chuckled. “We were inseparable. I even remember that time you almost got caught by Mrs Schuler in History class. What a laugh we had after school that day............”

The editor threw the story down on his desk. “Are you kidding me? You are killing off Simon? What in the world are you thinking? Simon is one of the best characters this publishing company has ever had!”

Johnny cleared his throat. “Boss, I was just thinking that it was time to maybe give the old fellow a break. I was hoping to start working on other projects.”

His editor shook his head. “Johnny, I like how you brought this young girl in to the story. Work on that. Give Simon a full recovery and marry the two love birds. Everyone loves a happy ending. Just make it happen.”

As Johnny stood, he smiled. “Okie dokie boss. I’ll get working on that when I come back from vacation. Merry Christmas.” and he walked out of his editor’s office. When he closed the door, Simon poked his head out of Johnny’s pocket and said, “Told you so.”