A Dead Thing and I

One early morning, I was told of a little mouse spotted running around the workplace. And as soon as I heard of it, it was clear to me that in the end I'd be the one to pick it up if or when we find the little critter dead. I was not sure if we'll end up executing precautions to trap and eliminate the small animal. I was not sure if we'd even see it again. But at the time, I did know that, like I said earlier, I'd be the one to pick up the lifeless carcass of the poor little critter. And I prayed that we wouldn't have to find it again.

Two days later, I was then told that it has been once again spotted at a different part of the place. It was clear to me that it did not leave at all after the first contact we had with it. It is either lost or just decided to stay with us for reasons I do not know. Shortly after, I was given the order to search, locate and if possible, destroy the little threat. The females were mostly disgusted and were quite terrified of the cute little guy. I can understand that these animals have a bad history involving diseases and terroristic tendencies towards human possessions, and so the fear and disgust towards them are understandable. One of my co-workers might not be willing to do the task. And the other, I always tend to do things for him as a token of my acknowledgement and respect for his rank. The other guy is barely there and so I really knew it would be my responsibility to do the dirty work in the event that a confrontation between us and the tango presents itself.

After I received orders to search and destroy the threat, I went ahead and scoured the area where it was last seen. I checked my corners and all possible interior locations where a miniature terror could camp itself in hiding. I did not obtain visual of the target and I was forced to RTB for retasking immediately after the failed search. Negative effect.

A week passed and maybe another one. Mike EDI told me that he had seen the target but it had no signs of activity. I went to the back to see it for myself. And there it was, lifeless and floating in a bucket of water. The poor little mouse turned out to have fallen in the wheeled-bucket filled with water that we use with the mop. It was there floating and motionless. My initial reaction surprised me but at the same time, it really didn't.
I felt bad and sorry for the little thing. I did conduct a search when I was ordered to do so. And I did search and had the intention to find it when I did. But one thing I did not have the intention of doing was eliminating the mouse. But at the same time, I did not know what to do anyway if I decided to spare its life.
It made me sad to see an innocent animal perish in such a way. But at the same time, I understand that life can end so abruptly for any living being and it is just the natural order of life. It made me think of how afraid the mouse could've been while it struggled to keep afloat. It made me think of how its parents could be wondering where the little mouse is now. If they're even capable of such mental ability.

And so the day has finally come. I have foreseen this outcome and I knew exactly what to do. And it was the least I could do for a dead thing.
I went to grab two small garbage bags. The clear ones. I put my arm right in both of them. I walked towards the bucket of water and picked it up. I turned the bags inside out keeping the lifeless critter in them and isolating it inside. I then proceeded to seal the bags by tying the ends of them and then dropping it in the garbage bin.

We always say, "I'm gonna kill you", "I wish you were dead", "Die!" or use the words, "death", "die", "kill" and other words synonymous to these. But to a certain extent, we do not realize the gravity of the meaning behind these simple to use terms. Life is short, fragile and can either be predictable or otherwise. Death is a great liberator. But it leaves sadness behind. Those left behind end up more hurt and loaded with the pain caused by one's departure to the afterlife.

And that is the story about a dead thing and I.