Clarice and the Moment of Truth

Noah wanted to write children's stories. He knew they would sell. He had already sold one and had been asked for more. But his conscience was bothering him.

No matter how you cared, or what you did, things in the animal realm were not ideal.

He had the rescued mouse Clarice become a queen once she had been transported. Because when he saved a mouse and took it out of the house, it was to give the mouse another life, not crush it. But what was the truth? Would it indeed survive or just fall prey to a different predator, one with an appetite and therefore greater motivation?

The publisher wanted tales about Clarice the new-crowned queen. Yet Noah's own imagination was slamming the door on that, demanding truth, truth, truth!

Noah determined to write the truth and so perhaps expunge it from his mind.

"The instructions for the have-a-heart trap said free the unfortunate away from other dwellings, so you weren't making your problem someone else's. At the same time, there should be water. So the yubdegub, hoping for the best, transported his unwelcome guest to the nearest island. Trying to ignore the apparent preponderance of seagulls, he bid Clarice a fond farewell.

"It was like waving goodbye to a blue plate special."

Noah closed his journal. There, he had written it. He would not try to sell it.

Perhaps, he thought, he could try lawn mower motors. Surely there was money in fixing those.

15 May 2026
Texas Jim
Hopson Island, Nova Scotia