Mouse by the Sea

Sitting in the dune grass

Along the beach’s edge…

Gulls swoop down,

Attacking crabs and trash,

And scraps of fish,

But I am not scared, no…

Seagulls are just problems with wings,

They fly away when faced head-on.

So I rest my old tired eyes

And tuck my cold feet into the warm sand.

‘It’s almost high tide,’ I think to myself

‘Yes, it is,’ I think again. 

Then the Ocean’s breeze

Ruffles my whiskers

And I think back

To when I was a young mouse

And the ocean was a bit younger, too…

“Look what you’ve done!” I’d yell at high tide.

“You washed away all my snacks!” 

But the ocean would just garble and grumble,

And continue nibbling away at all the forgotten sandwiches, chips, and half eaten apples sprinkled along the shore.

Some things you cannot change, I guess,

No matter how hard you try...

But, now my fur is grey

And the Ocean, well…

The Ocean is my oldest friend.

The crickets are my friends, too. 

And I often join them under the Raspberry Bush 

For an evening serenade. 

I sit in the crowd next to Grasshopper, Caterpillar, and Firefly

And when their sweet song comes to an end,

We all clap and shout “Encore! Encore!”

Sometimes they play all night.

‘But I don’t mind,’ I think to myself.

‘I like to listen,’ I think again.

The sun is setting now

And the Butterfly Ballet pirouettes above the dunes.

They dance for themselves, but…

They also dance for you, dear child.

But you, dear child

Have no time for butterflies anymore…

You, are busy working 

On what seems to be the finest sand castle my tired old eyes have ever seen.

‘Magnificent…’ I think to myself.

‘Too bad my old friend will gobble it all up,’ I think again.

Not long after you leave the ocean’s mighty waves leak into the castle’s moat.

‘Don’t worry, dear child’ I think to myself

‘I will save your castle from the tide…’

When the coast is clear, I hurry to the water’s edge

Calling “Ocean! Ocean!” as I scamper across the sand, “I demand you spare this castle from the tide!” 

It rumbles and sways.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Mouse”

The Ocean stammers,

“…You know I can’t do that.

The moon might find out and, well, frankly…

I’ve had my eye on that castle since this afternoon

And have been looking forward to swallowing it up WHOLLLEEE.”

“You will have many more castles to swallow up Ocean, but I… I am an old Mouse. This castle could very well be my last.”

“hmmmm” Ocean murmured, it’s waves hushing against the sand, and it stayed like that for some time, until finally it let out in a whisper… “Very well, you may have it, but only for the night”.

I jump and cheer, “Thank you! Thank you, Ocean!”

And with that, the Ocean tickled my feet goodbye and I scurried off to my new castle…

To my new home.

I leap over the moat, 

Crawl up the sandy mount, 

And gaze upon the castle towering above me

‘Magnificent…’ I think to myself

‘You already thought that, Mouse.’ I think again.

‘Well, because… it is.’ I think once more.

Vole was the first to come over, then shrew and then Ground hog

And together we hollowed out the Grand Hall…

Lighting the walls with some old matches 

And thatching the ceiling with blades of dune grass. 

“Well, look at that” Vole said when we finished, “It’s… It’s…”

“Magnificent?” I asked

“Yes, it’s maggggnificent…” 

Later, Dragonfly blew in to take a closer look. 

“Is this your house Mouse?!” She hollered in excitement.

“Just for the night.” I replied.

 “Well, it’s… It’s…“

‘Magnificent?” asked Vole.

“That’s it! Yes, magnificent! It’s magggggnificent…”

“Thank you, Dragonfly. Say… We were thinking of throwing a party. Can you tell the others?”

With that, Dragonfly zipped off. 

“She’s fast.” Vole said, turning to me. 

“Well, then… We better hurry.”  I said back.

We quickly dressed into our finest garments

And, soon enough, the Grand Hall was full of friends

And friends to be.

We sang and told stories,

Drank blueberry wine and stuffed our bellies with pumpkin seeds

All the while laughing, laughing, and laughing some more. 

“I can’t remember ever laughing this much,” Chipmunk whispered to me.

“Neither can I,” I whispered back.

She was the last to leave 

And she left a kiss on my cheek when she did.

I close the door with a warm heart

And look around the Grand Hall…

‘I can’t sleep here,’ I think to myself.

‘I have a whole castle, and the Grand Hall is no place to sleep,’ I think again.

I begin hollowing out the main stairwell, and

Step by step, I spiral up the inside of the castle’s tallest tower.

‘This is all much harder on my own,’ I think to myself. 

‘But I am not lonely,’ I think again.

‘I have too much fun by myself to be lonely,’ I think once more.

I poke a window into the wall, 

Toss out a few buckets of sand and 

Marvel at the parting tide. 

“Hello there Ocean, my old friend.”

“Hello there Mouse.”

I make my room at the very top of my castle,

At the very top of my home… 

And put my bed by the windowsill 

So my tired old eyes can watch the stars while I drift off.

‘If only I could bottle this day up, like blueberry wine. So, when I am old, I can take it out, pour myself a glass, and sip it… a little longer.’ I think to myself.

‘Ahh but, you are old, Mouse…’ I think again.

So I feel my tired paws, and my tired limbs, 

My tired back and my tired head,

All heavy and gently laying in the soft sand 

As the Ocean breeze ruffles my whiskers.

‘…Magnificent’ I think once more.