Norita and Hermanino

 

Norita and Hermanino

A story in honor of my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary

 

Today began like all other days. The sun was shining and all about the trees the birds and squirrels were moving and singing and jumping.  The garden was bursting with color from flowers in bloom. “Ah me…..I wish I could see what was outside my garden house.”  Chewing on a peppermint leaf, the better to make her breath ever so sweet, Norita the mouse stared at the high brick walls and decided today was the day to climb up and out.  Today would be a day for adventure. “Hmph.  I’m going to do it!  To see the world outside my garden house!  But how,” she thought aloud.  Looking about the high walls Norita noticed a black bird resting on a limb.  “Excuse me.  Mr. Bird!  I say excuse me!  My name is Norita the mouse and I do so want to see the world outside my garden house.  Will you help me?” “You’ve never seen it?  Why it’s very big out there and lots to do and learn.  Can you jump high and I will catch you and fly you over the wall.”  Norita thought about this for a while. “You promise you won’t eat me?”  “No, no not me.  Don’t care for mice myself.  Now, a good squirrel or two, mmmm, that’s good eating!”  Norita was not so sure.  “Well, if you eat me I’ll bite your leg; so don’t try it!”  “Ha! Ha!  You are a feisty little mouse aren’t  you.  Do you want to go or not?  “OK.  What do I do?”  “On the count of three jump up and I will catch you.  Norita closed her eyes and counted, “one, two, three….I’m jumping!  Weeeeee!” Black Bird caught her and flew up in the air swooping and gliding.

 

Norita opened her eyes and looked down from the sky at her garden house.  “It’s so small and pretty.  I hope I like the big world outside.  Black Bird flew down to a field near the garden wall and gently dropped Norita on the ground.  “Bye bye Norita.  Good luck in the big wide world.  And be careful!”  “Thank you Black Bird!” 

And off she went.   The trees were taller here.  The sky was a bluer blue. All around there were mushrooms.  “Oh they smell so tasty.  I must eat one.”  Chomp, chomp, chomp.  Norita sat and ate her fill of mushrooms when she decided to walk around to see what she could see.  On the other side of a tree she looked and saw another mouse!  She could not believe her eyes.  Norita had never seen another mouse and lived all alone in her garden.  Slowly she crawled on her mushroom filled belly and crept closer and closer to see this mouse.  It was a he mouse. The he mouse was standing on top of a mushroom with his eyes closed.  Suddenly, with a stick in his hand he raised his arms and began to move them about.  He swayed to and fro, never opening his eyes. Whatever can this he mouse be doing, thought Norita. 

 

“Excuse me.  I say excuse me Mr. He mouse.  Whatever are you doing?”  “Beethoven.  I am conducting a symphony.”  “But I don’t hear the music Mr. He mouse.”  “My name is Hermanino Mousito.  And who are you?”  “Norita.  But I don’t hear the music.”  “It’s in my head.”  “You must have a big head then because I don’t hear anything.”  “Don’t be silly.  You have to use your imagination.” “Oh….I see.” 

“I don’t remember seeing you here before.  Are you new here?”  “Well….what happened  was I was curious and wanted to know what life was like outside my garden wall and Black Bird picked me up and flew me far away to this place. “Oh….I see.” 

“Would you like a piece of cheese?  It’s very good.  The best.  It’s blue.  Blue cheese.”   Norita said yes and in her excitement to try this delicious delight she bit Hermanino on the hand. “Ow!”  “Oh,  sorry.  It’s so delicious.  Thank you for my cheese. “

Norita and Hermanino talked and talked and walked and walked and soon Norita forgot about her garden house.  Hermanino taught Norita about imaginary music and Norita taught Hermanino how to dance.  “Watch!  I’ll show you!”  And she jumped off a mushroom and giggled and wiggled a mousey hula dance.  “La da dee, la da dee……”  Hermanino laughed and said OK.  That’s funny. 

Many months flew by and it was not long before Norita and Hermanino decided to get married and become Mr. and Mrs. Mousito. Hermanino surprised Norita with something big!  A lovely shoe house! With two stories! It had every modern convenience and what’s more… you can move it if you want to!  The perfect place to have baby meeses. 

Very soon four meeses came into the world:  Peetee,  Keithie,  Jeika, and Yick.  Jeika pretended to play dead in the skateboard car when Norita and Hermanino went shopping.  Jeika! Play dead, cried Peetee.  And Jeika pushed out her mousey belly and said….huhhhhhh, I’m dead.  Keithie would stick her mousey feet in the air and pretend to turn on the stinky and kill everybody with the imaginary smell.  “Th, th, th…it’s on full blast.  Smell my feet!  Yick, being the smallest, copied everything that Jeika would say.  “I like books”  “I like books.”  “Stop it!” “Stop it.”  Mom!  Yick is copying me!  Mom Yick is copying me.  And on and on it went.  Such a silly little family.

And so…as life would have it….the minutes turned to hours, the hours turned to days, the days to weeks, the weeks to months, and month to years.   And today is fifty years.  Not bad for a little mouse who decided to fly and see the world outside the garden house.