The Mice in Hiding

"Ever at home are the mice in hiding
Dust and trash and the truth abiding"
E.B. White


Part 1: A Visitor

The clothes were flapping in the wind. The white sheets snapping at white clouds and the brilliant blue autumn sky. She heard the back screen door slam as a few of the children bolted out. From here she could not tell which of them she watched racing into the woods beyond the yard. They were all blond and constantly on the run. She was sitting in her place, removed from the house. A long way to lug a basket of wet laundry, but the view from here was sweet. From here she could see most of this property that had belonged to her grandparents, the white farm house below her, the garden she and her husband spent their evenings piddling in, the barn used for go carts and and four wheelers and her oldest son's hobby of rebuilding a truck. The only animal that ever stayed in that barn now was Shep, their German Shepherd. From here she could even see a sliver of the pond that had caused her years of worry before her children learned how to swim. There was just the baby now to worry about, and he couldn't crawl yet. She sat down beside the wiggling mass of perfection laying on a blanket in the grass. Delia had toted him up the hill to her when he awoke from his nap. His eyes were brilliant blue and still she marveled at how such an unexpected thing as this middle life baby could bring her such absolute joy. Nothing on earth could have shocked her more than learning she was pregnant that day over a year ago now, but never once did she question it. Never once had she done the math, as many others had done for her, to figure how old she and Pauly would be when their son graduated high school or college or got married. It simply did not matter. Micah was always just another baby to adore. Nothing more or less complicated than that. He gave her a rare smile now and she couldn't imagine life without him. She picked him up, lifted her shirt and began nursing him. She could here the children from a distance, and another sound. It was a car traveling down the long drive way. She could see the dust the car was kicking up long before it topped the hill. Pauly wasn't expected home for hours. She covered herself, hoisted herself and the baby up and hurried to the house expecting company.