After all, if she called the zoo, she wouldn’t know what to say. She could already imagine the conversation.
«Are you saying, madam, that you’d like to get rid of a two-meters tall mouse?».
«That’s right. I can’t keep him anymore, he’s destroying my house».
«Have you ever thought about deratting?».
«I’m not joking, he’s really two meters tall. And he talks. Are you interested?».
No, no, no, she couldn’t even think about it! And even if they believed her, how could they accept the rest?
«How did you acquire him?».
«I bought him in an animal shop».
«Are you kidding me?».
«No, I swear! But he was a normal mouse then, very small. He was lovely».
«And you didn’t realize there was something strange?».
«Well, at some point he started growing. Yes, of course I realized it! I had to change the cage, there wasn’t enough space».
«But two meters!».
«What could I do? I was fond of him. Should I have sent him away just because he was growing too much?».
«Now you’re not ok with it anymore, though».
«It’s not that. It’s that he started talking. And he always tells me bad things. He makes me cry. To think he was so cute at the beginning!».
Here, her imagination didn’t go beyond that point, it was unlikely that her interlocutor wouldn’t have hung up already.
No, no, there was nothing to do: Little Mouse was her problem and she had to deal with him.
«I brought you apples, little mouse. And the cucumbers you like so much. And look, what a surprise… asparagus! I know you love them».
«Go away, turd».
It was always like that, now he wouldn’t even turn to look at her anymore.
«Can’t we go back to how we were before? We got along so well!».
«I can’t remember it!».
Stubborn, Little Mouse wouldn’t turn.
«It’s Cricket, right? He’s the one who’s turning you against me».
«Cricket only tells the truth! He tells me how things are».
«Well, he must have told you to accept it then! That you can’t get out of here!».
Of course he’d told him, but Little Mouse didn’t care.
«I’m going crazy here! Crazy!».
Yes, it was true, Little Mouse was right, but she didn’t know what to do.
«You should stop listening to Cricket, it only serves to hurt you».
Little Mouse turned, furious. He was disturbing, towering over her, his red eyes not so cute anymore.
«You’re the one who hurts me, turd! Only you!».
Eleonora ran away crying.
«That’s Eleonora. She’s all crazy».
It was a normal occurrence that the housewives would point at her at the supermarket.
«She was a teacher, you know, but she went out of her mind when he left her. Renato, remember? But how could he be with someone like her?».
«Does she still teach? I don’t see her at school anymore».
«No, no, she stays at home all day, cooking. Maybe she’s hoping for him to come back. Can’t you see how much stuff she buys?».
«The neighbours say strange things about her».
«Don’t listen to them. Those ones, they’re even crazier than her!».
And they laughed.
«Cricket, get me out».
«You don’t listen to me! The world out there doesn’t want you!».
«I don’t care what the world wants or does not want! I don’t want to stay here anymore!».
«Why? What do you miss?».
«What you talked to me about».
«It’s just words, how do you know I’m telling the truth? How can you miss something you never had? How do you know it actually exists?».
«When the sun sets the sky colors pink, pink and orange, yes, and you must be quick to see it, because then it soon becomes dark. And dawn, dawn is different, it’s a lightness in the air that expands, like the slit of a door».
«I told you that, so what? What does it mean to you?».
«I want to see it».
«You know she can’t open the windows, they could see you. Don’t even ask».
«I don’t want to open the windows! I want to go out! I want to see it with my own eyes!».
«I wish I could help you».
«But you won’t».
«I can’t».
«You don’t want to, it’s different».
«I can’t».
«Are you sure?».
«Yes, Miss Eleonora. That’s what’s written here».
«And it couldn’t be wrong?».
«Well, no, not wrong. There could be exceptions, sure. They won’t all behave the same way».
She was crying. She didn’t even understand what was happening to her. The shopkeeper was embarrassed. «Don’t do this, Miss Eleonora, come, sit down».
She gave him a desperate look. «You sold him to me!».
The shopkeeper tried to remember. «Are you talking about the mouse?».
She nodded. «Little mouse, I bought him here. Three years ago».
He immediately understood the problem. «Oh. Well, you don’t have to obsess about it, it’s not sure…».
«Three years! More, almost three years and a half! And he wasn’t even just born, how old could he have been?».
He shrugged. «Two months. Maybe three».
Eleonora burst into tears again. «Why didn’t you tell me right away?».
«What?».
«That mouses live so little!».
He gaped. «But…».
«He should have died already, right? He doesn’t have much left».
The man was confused, that woman’s reaction was too weird. What fault did he have if he sold her a mouse three years before? And most of all what fault did he have if that was the maximum life expectancy of a mouse? If he’d died the day after he would have given her a new one, but after three years what did that crazy woman want?
«You must accept it. Yes, your mouse doesn’t have much time left».
«I knew I shouldn’t have shown you».
Little Mouse was crying in floods. His red eyes were even more red. «No, no, you did well, it was beautiful».
«Judging by how sad you are, I wouldn’t have said so».
«And this is a movie? Not reality?».
«Well, there are movies and movies. Even if they’re not real, they are inspired by reality. I mean, this is what’s out there. There was a dawn too, did you see? And a sunset!».
«Am I like him?».
«King Kong? No, what are you talking about! I showed you this one because I had it lying around. It was for the sunset. And the dawn».
«He was put in a cage too».
«But it doesn’t matter! He’s not real! He’s a fictional character!».
«And he had a horrible end! Horrible! Is that what would happen to me if I left this cage?».
A long silence.
«I’m afraid so. The people wouldn’t accept you. They would be afraid of you. Like of King Kong».
«What am I?».
«You know. A mouse».
«Are people afraid of mice? The turd isn’t».
«Stop calling her a turd, she’s not».
For once he obeyed. «Eleonora isn’t afraid of mice».
«You’re not just a mouse. It’s different. You’re different».
«How?».
«How would I know? You’re just different! Maybe you come from some secret lab where they did experiments on your DNA. Maybe the animalists freed you. Maybe a ray from space changed you. Maybe you are a genetic mutation».
«What are you saying? I don’t understand a word!».
«I’m sorry, I watch too many sci-fi movies».
«Are you not afraid of me?».
«Of you? Are you joking? No, no, absolutely!».
«Crickets are not
afraid of mice?».
«I’m not… No, crickets are not afraid of mice».
«And neither is Eleonora?».
«Look, stop it! It was just a movie. If I’d known it would end like this I wouldn’t have shown you!».
«I treated her so badly».
«Stop crying, now. Do you want a handkerchief?».
«He was so sad, Cricket. Alone, in that cage, and everyone wanted to hurt him! So sad».
«Oh, hell! What a mess I’ve made!».
Eleonora came home very late. It was almost sunset. She’d cried a lot. She’d been to the park, sat on a bench, thinking.
She had to accept it, the storekeeper had said. But he didn’t know Little Mouse.
He didn’t know how different he was from anyone else. She’d always treated him so badly, always closed inside that cage. And now it was too late to fix it.
She’d understood he was getting old. She’d known for a while. It had nothing to do with his strange growth, nor his intelligence. Oh, inside his mind he was still young, just a child. But not his body. His body had come to an end.
Cricket said he was an experiment, there was no other explanation. She’d never looked for explanations. Little Mouse filled an empty life, and that was all that mattered to her. Let them call her crazy, Little Mouse was everything.
It didn’t matter that he insulted her, she deserved it. She’d been allowed to meet something special, unique, and she’d just been able to lock him in a cage.
And now it was over.
«I’m sorry, Little Mouse».
«No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have treated you like that».
Eleonora gaped.
«I know you do it for me. You protect me».
Those words, she’d hoped to hear them, but not in that moment, now they just hurt.
«I locked you in a cage».
«How do you know? Maybe you’re in a cage. Maybe I’m free here».
The room was dark, the huge mouse was too far for her to see him well.
«Little Mouse…».
«Am I a monster?».
«No, no».
«Would you bring me a mirror?».
«I…».
«Cricket brought me one. He showed me how I am. I’m very different from you. And from him».
«No, it’s not true».
Eleonora was sobbing. Then, before she changed her mind, she pulled out the keys and opened the locks on the cage. There were many, because Little Mouse was very intelligent and there was the risk he would find a way to get out.
Little Mouse didn’t move.
When she finished, she opened the cage and left.
«Eleonora?».
He was at the kitchen’s door. A gigantic mouse, taller than the jamb. But for her he was her little mouse, he would always be.
And he was. Despite the size he was still just a mouse, not a horror movie monster. An old mouse with the mind of a child.
«Dinner’s almost ready».
He didn’t dare enter. He’d kept himself away from the windows, because they scared him. They could have seen him. There was so much light, inside that house.
«Is it dawn or sunset?».
«What?».
«This light… is it dawn?».
«No, the sun is about to set. It’s evening».
«Oh. Can I see it?».
«The sun? No, I don’t think so. It sets on the other side. You can’t see it from these windows».
He didn’t move, he stood on the threshold.
«Little Mouse, you can come in. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter anymore».
«Am I free?».
«What?».
«Am I free? Did you free me? Or do I have to go back to the cage?».
«No, no, not the cage».
«Then am I free?».
«Yes, you’re free».
«I can go out? Out of this house?».
«Why?».
«To see the sunset».
She started sobbing like an idiot. «Yes, yes, you’re free to do what you want».
«Thank you, Eleonora».
Little Mouse went away.
Was she losing him? Was he leaving her alone? Would she ever see him again? Maybe he was just going to see the sunset and then he would come back to her. Where else would he go? He would see that the world outside is ugly, she was sure of it.
She kept making dinner. Then she remembered that maybe Little Mouse wouldn’t be able to open the door and almost went to help him, but then heard it slam and realized she didn’t need to.
Her Little Mouse was so smart!
«Cricket, you stole my dvds again! Mom, Cricket goes through my thing!».
«Cricket, leave your sister alone! You know how she is, she makes a tragedy out of anything».
«Mom!».
The mother was forced to intervene. «What are you looking for?».
Cricket puffed. «I need a movie with the scene of a sunset. Or a dawn. Better both. I need it for school».
«School!», snorted his sister. «We all know what you need it for!».
Cricket kept rummaging through the dvds. Godzilla didn’t seem appropriate, and neither did Jurassic Park. «Don’t you have anything normal?».
«Look who’s talking! Normal! You don’t know what that word means. You and that madwoman of the apartment next door!».
«Leave Eleonora out of this, it’s not about her».
«What are you always doing there, I’d like to know. But surely among crazy people you understand each other».
The mother had to intervene again. «Lisa, stop saying those things about Eleonora, poor woman. She suffered so much. What’s wrong with Cricket keeping her company?».
«Poor woman my foot! You don’t realize it, but my bedroom is just beside hers. You should hear what noises come from the beyond the wall, it’s like a horror house».
«Stop it! Always criticizing everyone! Follow your brother’s footsteps instead».
«That madman? What are you talking about, mom? Everybody knows he’s as out of his mind as Eleonora! He became the neighborhood’s joke!».
«Apologize to him right now!», the woman shouted.
«It doesn’t matter, mom,», said Cricket. «I don’t even listen to her».
In that moment a terrified scream came from outside. The dvd Cricket had in his hands fell and broke in a thousand pieces.
«What did you do?».
«Don’t shout like that, Cricket, it was the right thing».
Cricket was literally tearing his hair out. He’d immediately gone to see what had happen and he’d found the door wide open. And the cage empty.
Eleonora was grateful to that boy, the son of her neighbors, that had helped her so much with Little Mouse. At the beginning she’d not been happy that he taught him to speak, but now she’d changed her mind. After all he was the only real friend Little Mouse had ever had.
«Do you understand what you did? They’ll kill him, they’ll tear him to pieces!».
He didn’t even contemplate that Little Mouse would hurt anybody, he could eat whoever he wanted, first of all his sister.
«Don’t exaggerate, Cricket. He needed to be free».
«Free, not dead!».
«He’s dying!».
Silence. Finally she had softened the kid’s anger.
«He’s dying anyway. His time has come. He’s too old already, he won’t last long. It’s fair that he gets to see the world».
«What the fuck are you talking about?».
«No swear words, please. And stop teaching them to Little Mouse. You know I don’t like it».
«What the fuck are you talking about?», he shouted louder.
Eleonora sighed. «Mice live for three years at most, and he went further than that».
«Is that all? Did you throw him out of the house just for that? Does he look like a mouse to you? A normal mouse? There are no others like him, we don’t have the slightest idea how long he’ll live!». He ch
anged his mind and went back to tearing his hair out. «What am I saying, he could already be dead, and it’s all my fault!».
«You didn’t notice, but he changed, really. He’s losing all his hair, he’s not the same anymore. He’s old».
And it was possible too, it was always dark inside the cage. Little Mouse didn’t care, or rather, he preferred it. He’d been keeping himself away for a long time.
«Is he sick?».
«Yes, he’s sick. He’s dying and we’ve kept him inside that cage all his life. He has the right to see what’s out there».
«Where did he go?».
Eleonora sighed and slumped in a chair.
«To see the sunset».
Cricket had shown him many movies, read him books (a few), told him a lot of thing. Little Mouse could say he knew the world a bit.
What he had in front of him must be stairs. They were used to go up or down. He needed to go up, yes. Like King Kong. Go up, on the top.
The stairs were tight, he could barely pass. It was also a bit uncomfortable, the steps were too short, he had to jump. Who knew how far was the top. King Kong’s house was very tall. He’s gone up from the outside, but Little Mouse doubted he could do it. Would he be able to see the sunset up there?
A person, a woman, was coming out of her apartment, and she saw him. She let out a frightful scream, just like the people who met King Kong. Little Mouse wasn’t surprised, not even grieved. By now he understood, he was resigned. He would have liked to talk to her, but she’d already locked herself inside.
He kept climbing.
It wasn’t a skyscraper, just a four-story building, so Little Mouse was quick to reach the top. He had to open a door closed with a key, but that wasn’t a great problem because it was so fragile.
It wasn’t a roof, it looked more like a big terrace. He looked around, but there was no sunset. The buildings around were all taller and blocked the visual. Little Mouse sighed, resigned. Cricket was right, the outside world would disappoint him.
He reached the edge of the roof and looked down.
Now the planes would come, the helicopters, they would fire at him, launch missiles, and he, struck to death, would fallen down the building, crashing to the ground.
Yes, the end was waiting for him, the end of everything.
«Get away from the edge right now!».
Lizzi Bizzi and the Red Witch Page 33
