They had run out of milk and she suggested he try the fridge in the shed.
Neither of them were at all hopeful, as they couldn’t remember the last time they’d used it. She was sure that it had a carton of long-life in there, not opened. He went looking. The first thing he saw was the door sitting partly open. Not a good sign. As he approached, he noticed that there was no light on inside. Obviously the power supply had fused or something. He’d look anyway. When he opened up he found a family of mice, all gathered around a large plate. There they were, mum, dad and two little ones. In its centre stood a large block of cheese with much of its plastic wrapping peeled away. Scattered around the plate’s rim were dozens of tiny cheese crumbs. This had been deliberately managed so that the family could take up their allotted crouching spots and eat in relative comfort.
He was immediately impressed. It all looked so terribly civilised, he thought. He couldn’t help thinking about lunch time in the canteen at his place of work. The elbow-jostling queues lining up with plates being held out for food to be served.
One of the mice, he took it to be the father of the brood, looked up and appeared to wink.
He returned the door to where he’d found it and made his way out quietly.
Outside, he realised that he hadn’t even looked for the milk. Never mind, he thought, if there was any in there, they would need it. After all, they were a growing family…