Norval Arbogast

Grandpa’s Favorite Song

It’s four in the morning and the house is quiet, even the dogs are asleep, I decided since I don’t want to start another piece of work this would be a good time to tell the story of George.
It was late fall in 1956 and the weather was turning cold. I was 13 and dad had passed away after a long illness the last February, so there was just mom and grandpa and I. My sisters and brother were married and lived in other states. It had been a sad year and we were not over the loss, then George came into our lives.
Here in rural Missouri we do have singing mouses. In late fall when it turns cold the field mice invade the houses looking for warmth. Thats how George came to our house. Only George was special.
The other character in the story was not Boo [aka Mr. Horrid], but his great, many generations back, great grand mother. Had the same imperial attitude as Boo, but had to be the fatest and laziest cat that ever lived.
One night great grand mother cat, Blue Bell, was laying infront of the coal parlar stove as always and Grandpa and I were watching TV. George came in, wasn’t a bit scared of us, ran across the room to the warmth of the stove. Blue Bell didn’t even move, I said she was lazy. George crawled up on her and sat up and stared chirping. Now thats what we in Missouri call a singing mouse. You don’t touch them, they bring good luck to your house.
Grandpa and I were having crackers for a TV snack. Grandpa quietly placed a piece by George. George picked it up and between nibbles continued to sing. When he was warm and full he left.
George showed up every night and entertained us with his singing. Mom even started coming in to watch him perform even though she hated mice. We were enjoying him so our sadness over the loss of dad was passing. This went on every night untill past Christmas, only by this time George wasn’t running across the floor to crawl up on Blue Bell. He was to fat, he could barely waddle across the floor. One night he didn’t come, I don’t know what happened to him. Grandpa said he either found a lady mouse or had gotten so fat he couldn’t get through his hole into the house. But George had served his purpose he had brought us joy. God is good.