Adventures of a Little Girl and a Mouse

One cloudy day, a small girl by the name of Virginia rode her bike to the store. She had no friends, and every day she hoped for one.

Just one. She thought. Just one.

As Virginia's footsteps found a good pace, she started down an aisle of the market with cereal...grain ...

Ah! There it was: granola.

She gingerly picked up the box and tucked it under her arm to leave. Just as she turned her head, her eyes caught an unfamiliar object. She turned back, and on the shelf was a mouse; his eyes were big with wonder as he swiftly folded his ears.

"Hi, Little One, what's your name?" Virginia asked, watching how his tiny feet tilted, making his body sway.

"My name's Took. And yours?" The mouse tilted his head.

"Virginia."

"Do you know where I am?" He inquired, his small nose sniffing the air.

"You're inside a market," she replied.

"What's a market?" His eyes grew bigger to emphasize the question.

"Well..." Virginia thought for a moment of how to put it in terms for him: "It's a big place with a lot of aisles and food."

His whiskers twitched as he considered the answer.

"I'm lost." He meekly stated, looking rather sad with his big, glistening eyes.

"Would you like to come home with me? You could be my friend," Virginia began.

"That would be great! How do we get there?" His little hands waved into the air as if he were conducting a great symphony of joy.

After she picked him up, letting him scurry onto her hand, she placed him gently in what would be his own pocket of her shorts.

She quickly paid for the granola and ran out of the store, her eyes glistening in a smile as she treasured her find.

Took now poked his little head out as Virginia crinkled the granola opened.

"Would you like some?" She asked, holding a few kernels in the palm of her hand.

"Yes, I'm starving." Took's whiskers twitched at the generosity before him.

She carefully poured the granola into her pocket, letting the kernels slide from her fingers as she watched Took's head bury itself into the sound of munching.

"Do you like it?" She asked as he quickly drew his head out from the pocket in a response:

"It's great!" His whiskers were covered with remnants of his meal.

Now that his stomach was full of grain, he tried to fill his mind with the things he saw outside the market.

"What's this?" He inquired, peeking his head over Virginia's coarse pocket as she rode her bike.

"It's a bike, like something on wheels that you pedal and can go from place to place with." Her voice trailed to him by way of the wind.

Took's eyes now widened with satisfaction as the wind hit his face, running through his hair. The wisps seemed to play with his whiskers.

As they reached the orphanage, Virginia jumped carefully from her bike.

She ran quickly up the stairs as she carried the granola with her.

She set Took down on her bed and scurried around the room, looking for her shoebox: she once received one at Christmas with many treasures inside.

Virginia scooped the box up into her hands and filled it with tissues, cotton, and a cloth for a blanket.

"Do you like it?" Her eyes danced at her creation, holding it in front of Took.

"It's amazing. Is it for me?" His modest hands pointed at his slim frame as he carefully crept up to his gift, eyes traveling to and fro along the edges of the shoebox.

"Yes, it's your bed."

He tried it out as he jumped on it, laughing, with Virginia's eyes still twinkling.

The earth was becoming dark as the sun set. Virginia looked out the dirty window as Took climbed up her back. He tugged a small piece of her hair as she looked down at him.

"Won't the sun come up again?"

"Oh, yes! This is just how it says goodbye to us and hello to the moon. It stays for a moment as God paints a picture."

"Oh." His eyes grew admirable. "God sure is a good artist ..." He whispered.

As the clouds closed in on the sky, the two laughed and drew pictures and played games.

Then, the sky let loose a torrent of rain.

Took quickly scurried underneath Virginia in response to the shivering drops, whose voices pinged against the orphanage.

"Are you all right?" Virginia asked, looking at his shaking body.

"What is that? Is it going to be all right?" Took squeaked, hoping for relief from the sound.

"It's just rain. It's how the plants are watered from heaven." She illustrated with her hands as she wiggled her fingers like the droplets.

"Phew, I thought someone was crying." His paw was cautiously poised in the air now, as he made himself ready to jolt back under the bed in case of a greater sound.

Then, a rumbling roar rolled through the air.

"The thunder is loud." Virginia commented as Took inched his way back out into the open, only to scurry into her hands.

"What is that?" Took began.

"Thunder. The angels bowl...and when they get a strike, they make a big clap." "Where did you learn all this?" He asked humbly.

"My parents...Do you have any parents?" She set Took down on the bed so they were at eye level.

"I don't remember." His big eyes silently closed as if to try to see a memory.

"My mom and dad said they loved me too much to let me live with them. They could hardly afford to live themselves." Virginia pushed her back against the bed frame, hoping the memories would be less painful this time.

Took then climbed from the comfort of the bed as he scampered to see Virginia's features drowning in her sad memories.

Her eyes filled with tears as Took put his small hand on hers and stroked it.

"Let's not think on sad things. Let's think on joyful and amazing things. Like bike rides and sun paintings ..."

"Took, you're my best friend," she whispered as her breathing settled itself down into a regular rhythm, no sign of tears.

He smiled at the compliment, only to return the same words.

They grew up together and were like knots on the same string. Took's favorite game was always hide and seek. He loved bike rides, and most of all: he loved Virginia.

Many years later one day, when Virginia woke up, she found Took with his walking stick in hand, on the floor.

He didn't move when she said good morning. She quickly knelt beside him and cupped him in her hands.

He was gone.

They had shared every memory from the day she found him and every day since...Christmas...rains...seasons...her first real home ...

She missed him.

Virginia took his shoebox and buried Took in the ground.

She talked to him as the sky turned bluer and the sun shone brighter with birds chirping along.

"Tell Jesus hello for me, Took. You are still my best friend. Wherever I go I'll remember your ears in my pocket. Let God show you how the sunset is painted. He knows the sun always rises in His hand. You're in His hand forever now. Remember to wipe the clouds' tears and see the angels bowl strikes. Remember the wind in your whiskers. And, always remember that I love you, Took."

A tear fell to the ground as a small wind met her ears in a familiar tone:

"I will!" Took's joyful voice disappeared into the clouds.

Virginia smiled then as she knew that one day she would do all those things with Took again.