The Big Mouse
[St. Paul, Minnesota; 1959]

"You boys upstairs go on to bed now" ?go to sleep, make sure you've turned off all the lights,"? mother was saying. "Go on now!"? she repeated herself, hearing me getting into bed; Mike was lying back in bed with his cloths on. I sat back up a moment, to say my prayers, on my bed in the hot attic bedroom, my brother Mike on the other side of the room, both of us about three feet between the window, and no wind.

I heard our door, which led into her bedroom, close downstairs, she'd be in bed soon I figured; but first she'd go and see how grandpa was, and be back in the bedroom thereafter. Mike was preparing, just waiting, as if he had it all timed.

"I'm going out tonight, as soon as moms in bed,"? said Mike.

"Yes,"? I said, as he was wiping his forehead of sweat from the heat, there was not much ventilation in that attic, and one window on each side of the upstairs attic did little to cool the place, it had to cross the whole length of the house to the other window, and the chimney was in the way so we got no cross breeze to mention.

Mom was sleeping now, and Mike grabbed his keys, out the window he went, tucked the screen back into place climbed over the porch by the kitchen" ?which was over by the stair way, on the other side of the attic, opposite from where we slept. He climbed down the roof, to a ladder he had set against the small porch, he'd come through the front door when he'd come home, and put the ladder back in place as soon as he descended to the ground, as he did often. He'd be romping around with the guys in the neighborhood, in a short time.

It was 2:30 AM, he came back I could hear him coming up the stairs, step by step, he sounded like a creeping something. I heard mom down stairs, Mike had to go through her bedroom, and then open the door to the attic, and then climb them stairs, to get back into his bed. I heard mom again,

"Go away, get awy..."? she sounded, "...damn mouse...get out of here!"? her arms had even come out from under her sheets, shooing the mouse away in a combative way; but it was my brother, he was the big mouse. (I was but twelve-years old, back then, Mike two years older than I).

I heard Mike get in bed,

"Mom been sleeping all night?"? he asked.

I was barely awake, "Dont know...I think so."?

He then laid on top of his covers, "...man its hot."? He said waving something in front of his face to cool himself off.

"If mom asks, I was up here all night ok?"?

"You mean lie to her?"?

"No, not really, you were sleeping, and I went down to go to the bathroom, and you just heard me coming back up and woke up, so you don't know one way or the other" ?right?"?

"Yaw, I suppose...go to sleep..."?

The arc light was shinning through the screened-in window, it lit the street and sidewalk, and the tree in front of our house, and above the porch's gable, right into our attic bedroom. The fair was going to start pretty soon, it was August, and it started the last week of August, and went up to the first day of school. Thinking about that, I fell back to sleep. Incidentally, my mother never found out who was the: Big Mouse.