Danger...

This morning it was time to pick up some prescriptions that had been waiting for me at the pharmacy for several days.  I had pulled into the parking lot, parked the car and headed across the asphalt toward the store.  I was looking down, as I often do these days, looking for obstacles?  When I saw something small and grey that almost matched the color of the pavement.  What was that?  I looked closer.  It was a baby mouse.  Tiny and grey and staying very still as this giant loomed overhead.

Such a predicament.  I couldn't leave that little guy there.  He or She might get smashed flat as a pancake by some car driving along.  So I bent over, thinking I would try to pick him up by his tail.  Squeak.  I was worried he might bite.  I let go of him before I could lift him up.  What else could I do?  I dug around in my bag and came out with a magazine which I put down in front of him, hoping he would climb right up on it and I could lift him to safety. 

No such luck.  He wasn't tuning in to my good intentions.  He tried to climb the curb but it was too high.  Then he started to run away, along the corner where the curb met the parking lot.  My goodness those tiny little feet moved so quickly.  He turned around a couple of times, but I kept the magazine behind him, not sure exactly what I had in mind, but it was better than what reality might very well dish out.  We made our way down the curb, when a mother and a little boy came out and noticed what I was doing. 

"A mouse?  We need to get him up on the sidewalk..."

"Yes."  And she produced a piece of paper.  Between her paper and my magazine, we got the mouse up onto the curb.  The mouse promptly ran for the cover of the grass and bushes near the building.

I thought a proper mouse blessing..."may you never hunger, and may mousetraps and poison stay far, far away from you." 

There are some lovely people out in the world.  And some really angry people as well, and some others that are just cold hearted.  How does one determine someone's intention?  It isn't easy.  Poor mouse didn't know I was only trying to help.  For all he knew I was some fiercesome monster trying to capture him for medical experiments. 

Of course, there are times when someone greater than ourselves sees our whole situation and is trying to steer us away from something terrible that could be looming, but we can't see it, because we are relatively small in this vast universe.  Hopefully the someone greater has the just the right thing in their bag to corral us and lift us to safety.