An Enemy Becomes a Friend Essay Example

hiding place. The human never stays in the garage long after getting out of the car, but this mouse was determined to keep eating until the last second. Finally, he came to his senses, and he tried darting across the path of the car. I know he planned to dive into his family hole with no time to spare. He didn’t make it.

We all held our breath. His mother wailed. The woman had spotted him. She couldn’t help but see his sleek little body darting behind the stacked tires and the parked motorcycle. We were all discovered. Now we know these things could go one of two ways. The woman could scream, and within the next few days there would be an attack. Those wooden death contraptions coated with peanut butter or cheese would appear. Senseless death. Our whole family would need to uproot and move. But, it didn’t go like that at all. The woman didn’t scream. She just sat very still in the front seat of the car with the lights on. The boy was long one, and we all watched from the hiding spot, but nothing much happened. She got out of the car and went in the house just like she did every day at this time. We were nervous for the next few days. No traps. No spray cans of poison. The Indian corn wasn’t moved. We all seemed to have escaped the incident unscathed. But then things did change. One day there was a box of animal crackers on the garage floor next to the Indian corn. We just watched them for a day or so to be sure

it wasn’t some genocidal trick. Then my grandfather volunteered to move closer and give them a try. He’s a generous old man willing to risk his life for his family.

He took the tiniest nibble. We looked on in horror, waiting for his report or the loss of a patriarch. Nibble. Stop. Consider. He turned back to us and gave us the thumbs up. We all moved to the box and the cookies now scattered on the floor. They were stale. There were dozens of them. We were ecstatic. A few days later there were pretzels. Mice aren’t crazy about salt. We prefer sugar, but free food is free food. Then half a raisin bagel showed up. This was mouse paradise. A few hot dog rolls. A Christmas cookie. Some half-eaten pancakes with syrup. The treasures were varied and nearly limitless. We gained weight, and winter seemed easier.

Most days the car roared in the garage. We scattered and hid, afraid of the big vehicle but no longer afraid of the woman. We kept a wary eye on her. We haven’t survived the battle between mice and men for the last ten million years by being careless. More than once, she got out of the car and walked slowly to the spot where the treats appeared with some regularity now. She would just look for a minute, glance around the garage and go in the house. They can’t all be trusted, and we know for sure she keeps a cat in the house, but this woman has become a friend. Maybe this year we won’t gnaw on the wires in the bedroom walls, but no promises.