The Tragic Death of Henry David Thoreau?

This is a story about the tragic death (?) of Henry David Thoreau.

1817-1862

Not that one.... keep reading.

I was in the kitchen the other day, preparing my delicious dinner of avocado toast, when Erin, who was sitting on our couch in the other room, suddenly cried out, “a mouse!” 

I peeked my head out from the kitchen and asked, “seriously?!” 

Yes, seriously.

There, under the table, was an itty-bitty grey mouse.  I’m not sure how it pulled it off, but the little thing was both very cute and very gross at the same time.

Henry's Doppelganger

Neither Erin nor I had any idea what to do about it, so, naturally, we left it alone.  Erin dubbed the little rodent Henry David Thoreau and I, hoping he would embrace the chance for freedom, opened the front door for him.  Perhaps he would leave peacefully and gracefully. 

Then, with the front door wide open, we went on with life.  I went back to the kitchen to get my dinner; Erin finished the TV show she was watching on her laptop; and then, we watched some Dr. Who together.  We noticed Henry darting back and forth across the room a few times, but we didn’t really pay much attention and took no note of where he finally settled.

When Martin (roommate) came home and we explained why the front door was open, he laughed at us for expecting little Henry to leave of his own accord, and then, went looking for the little ball of fur where we thought we’d last seen him – under the shelves against the wall.  When Martin jiggled the shelves, however, no Henry darted out.  Hmm… wonder where he went.  Oh well.  No pasa nada. 

Martin gave up trying to scare poor Henry out from under the shelves and withdrew to his room.  Pretty soon, however, Martin darted back out.  Upon entering his room, he’d found….

 a giant cockroach. – Nope, not Henry. 

How exciting!  Two visitors in one night!

As the cockroach (named George)  was quite large and disgusting, Martin needed assistance vanquishing the villain.  He enlisted Erin and I to save him, and after Erin bravely captured George and set him free outside, Martin bid us goodnight and Erin and I finished watching our show before heading to bed ourselves.

After all the excitement subduing George and then the craziness of the Dr. Who episode, Erin and I had all but forgotten little Henry.

The next day, I was sitting on the couch doing something (reading? watching a movie? I don’t remember) when, in came Giacomo (other roommate).  Giacomo had been out with friends during the excitement of the night before, so he was, I thought, unaware of our new friend, Henry.   As we were talking, however, he started telling me about how he’d seen a mouse in his room the night before – a small grey mouse – and how he’d caught it and thrown it out.

Thrown it out?  Like, set it free outside?

Nope, thrown it out, as in, he’d flushed Henry David Thoreau down the toilet!

NOOOOOOO!

While I was secretly relieved that I wouldn’t be getting the plague any time soon from our rodent friend, I was also saddened by his tragic death.  He was so little, so young, so full of life.  And I had no idea if Giacomo had flushed him dead or alive down the toilet.  For poor Henry’s sake, I hoped he'd been dead before the flushing.

When I broke the news to Erin, she was heartbroken.  Henry was her friend.  How could he be dead?!  What a tragic end!  Poor Henry!

We were both very sad.  But THEN, Erin made an excellent point.  What if Henry wasn’t dead?  What if there’s a secret rodent city in the sewage pipes like in the movie Flushed Way?  What if Giacomo had flushed him alive down the toilet and now he’s living happily in the secret city?

Yes! Yes, I agreed that this was probably the case...  In my heart, I took back the hope that Henry had been dead before being flushed and began to imagine his lovely life in the pipes.  … Dear Henry is probably already on his way to mayorship by now, due to his sunny disposition!  What an excellent twist to the story! 

This is what it's like for Henry.

So, in our opinion, Henry got a “happily ever after” in a secret rodent city and escaped a tragic death after all.

(Now, we just hope that Henry doesn’t hold a grudge and seek vengeance on Giacomo.   Picturing the secret rodent city coming back up through the pipes to our piso to teach Giacomo a lesson is not an image that neither Erin nor I enjoy.  Thankfully, we think Henry is much too good and peaceful for such notions.)