But Was It Ironic?

Note:  This story was told to me by Lori, but it happened awhile ago, and so some of the facts may be murky or completely fabricated as my brain tried to fill in the blanks.  But the end result was still the same! 


A colleague of mine was working in her office one afternoon.  Her two children had been dropped off by the school bus, and they were working on their homework while their mother was finishing up a few projects. 

"Mom!  My backpack moved!"  Her son moved nervously to her side, and her daughter joined them. They gathered together protectively and then turned to look.  Indeed, the outer pocket of the backpack was wiggling, as if something were trying to get out.  Momentary pandemonium ensued, as all parties freaked out a bit.

"C, what do you have in your backpack?" Lori was no idealist; she knew that boys tend to collect the random animal as the opportunity presented itself.  C. insisted that he had no idea what was in his backpack. 

Then Lori remembered C.'s teacher mentioning that a mouse had been spotted in the classroom that week.  Could that mouse have accidentally hitched a ride?  How did it get into the backpack? Was there anything else in that backpack besides a mouse--say two mice?  One thing was sure: whatever was in that backpack was not going to be set free inside her office. 

Down the hall to the elevator the three of them went.  Out the door to the small back parking lot.  The backpack pocket was opened...and the mouse scurried out and made a beeline for the other side of the parking lot, where a ditch full of tall grass offered a refuge from loud fourth graders.  Lori and her children watched the mouse's progress as it briefly hid underneath cars then raced ever closer to sanctuary. 

Finally, the mouse was there!  The trio watched as the mouse disappeared into the ditch.  They had rescued the mouse, released it back into the "wild" of  New Braunfels.  There was a brief pause,  to consider the entire episode before heading back upstairs.

...And that is when the cat ran out of the ditch with the mouse in its mouth.