The Fateful Pardon…
At fish camp, in Wa-Wa Canada, the bunks were sheltered from the rain but not from the rodents. The morning routine was to live trap mice and then have “Swim for your Life!” competitions.
Each morning 15 men had their mice and would meet at the dock. The morning lake was smooth like glass where even the Water Strider’s were respectful enough to not disrupt the calm, but not the men, the men were bent on competition.
Each man made a sacred bond with their mouse, “Swim out alive and you shall live.”
At the count of three the men cast their mice out into the lake as far as they could throw them and the little mice swam for their lives back to the safety of the shore. Between the hungry fish, the swooping gulls, and the whooping of the men, the mayhem was electric. Fifteen mice turned quickly to ten, to five, and then finally to one which was the only mouse to be granted the camp’s pardon.
As the lucky swimmer emerged onto the shore, and frantically scampered toward the safety of the camp shelter, it luckily avoided the jaws of fish and beaks of gulls but not, unfortunately, the jowls of Penny the camp’s playful Labrador.