Mice ?

Last night, little after midnight, I was awoken by … something. I don’t know what, because I didn’t actually hear or see anything unusual. Maybe it were my new downstairs’ neighbours again, who since they moved in last October in rather obscure circumstances, have been ‘terrorizing’ the other tenants with their nightly shouting, loud skyping with their friends and relatives on another continent, slamming doors, ... I’m almost certain that the apartment has been sub-let by the young man who initially had his name on the doorbell. Since February 1^st, his name has been replaced by a very exotic sounding one. I may be mistaken, but I think that the landlord isn’t even aware of what is going on.

Asking to be a bit more discrete only has a temporary effect and even a visit from the local police only tempered their ‘enthusiasm’ for a short while. I finally mentioned the problem to my landlady, who immediately decided that she would bring it to the janitor’s and other landlords’ attention during their annual meeting. That meeting took place last week and since then I have the impression that the situation has changed for the better. It’s not completely quiet yet, but the nightly skyping and shouting has almost stopped.

Back to last night. After waking up, I waited, listening to what could have caused my sudden state of insomnia. I heard nothing, except for the occasional shushing sound of cars speeding by. And then, suddenly, I heard it, an ever so tiny squeaking, and rustling noise. I turned my head and strained my ears to find out where it was coming from. The more I listened, the less I heard. All was silent again. After five or so minutes of intensive listening, I decided to give up and to try to fall asleep again. And then, just when I was on the verge of falling into Morpheus’ arms, there it was again. I could hear it very clearly and it was coming from the corner opposite the bed, near the window. The window was open, and I could see the curtains moving. Don’t worry! Nobody was trying to gain access. It was just a gust of wind, accompanying the heavy rainfall we are experiencing after a few days of sunshine.

My wicker trunk from Villaines-les-Rochers and my two resident 'rodents':
 a beaver and a racoon (or is it a badger?) Fluffy toys, house-trained and harmless...

I switched on the small light on the bedside table and peered in the direction the noise had come from. There it was again … ‘skrip-skrip’. I know this is not an actual word, but that is what it sounded like. A few seconds later I heard it again. It was definitely coming from the corner where my wicker trunk, which I bought in 2000 at the ‘coopérative’ of Villaines-les-Rochers, west of Tours, sits and in which I keep my spare sheets and blankets. Could there be mice residing in the trunk? Very unlikely … and yet!

I got out of bed and tiptoed towards the trunk. By then the noise had stopped and I was afraid that the little mice family had heard me coming and that mama mouse had told her babies to keep quiet because ‘the bad lady’ was coming after them…