The Mouse in the Walls

The best thing about the Madison Ave Lofts was that it had movie set size air vents. The absurdly large vents that movie stars would crawl around when they needed to pull off a heist or hide. Marissa Miller wasn’t a movie star, but she did crawl around the Madison Ave Lofts air vents. 

Marissa had the perfect shape for vent crawling. She was full-grown, some might call her an adult, but could only reach five feet tall on her tippy toes. She had a slender and limber body. Her face housed a small nose, big brown eyes, and unfortunately large ears she tried to hide in her long dark hair. This unusual combination of features prompted the neighborhood boys to jeer at her and call her “Little Mouse.”

Aside from the obvious ill will behind the jeering, Marissa didn’t mind the title of “Mouse”. In fact, owning the identity of “The Mouse” helped her grow an affection for her features. When she used a pseudonym, it was Marissa Mouse. She even thought about legally changing it. If only it didn’t cost $60 to change your name. She also didn’t want to offend her father by letting him think she didn’t like his name.

So what was Marissa Mouse doing in the vents at the Madison Ave Lofts? She didn’t live in any of the apartments. She hadn’t lost anything in the vents. And she spent an awful lot of time in there for someone just trying to see what spaces they could fit in. 

Truth be told, it had started out as just trying to fit in. Marissa had a habit of seeing where she could fit her small body. She had thus far managed to fit herself in the family dryer, the kitchen cupboard, a supplies self in a church closet, and between the fake walls in a Macy’s fashion display. But she enjoyed the vents in the Lofts the most. It wasn’t just the smooth surface or the cozy feeling of warm air flowing past her. She said it was like her own personal sitcom. If she ever got caught by the police, she decided that her excuse would be “artistic research," and her alias, a screenwriter gathering material for a new show. 

On Tuesday the 17th, Marissa was crawling around the vents on the 4th floor. She witnessed the tenant in apartment D4 leave in quite a rush. That tenant had never been late before, and unfortunately, the tasks he sacrificed to keep that record would cost him. The tenant had left his door slightly ajar. His little schnauzer, Max, found his way out the open door and into the stairwell left open by the building manager on his weekly rounds. 

On Friday the 20th, Marissa noticed that Max had been taken in by the reclusive Mr. Toten in F6 on the 6th floor and was now being called Moony. In the days following, Marissa noticed a great change in the moods of both D4’s tenant and Mr.Toten. Mr.D4 began arriving home late and looking worn out. There was also a lot of takeout food delivered to his door. And on Saturday, when Mr.D4 usually spent the day out, Marissa saw him spend the whole day in his grey bathrobe watching crime dramas from his couch.

She noticed almost the opposite change in Mr.Toten’s routine. He had groceries delivered to his door rather than Chinese food. He left the building to take Moony for walks around the local park. And on Sunday night, Mr. Toten had his sister over for dinner for the first time in over a year. She noticed that during the meal Mr. Toten put a few small pieces of beef in Moony’s dog food. 

Marissa watched the escalations of these changes for nearly a month. She watched Mr. D4 grow more miserable as Mr. Toten started smiling on a regular basis. The mix of bitter-sweet feelings started to grate at Marissa’s conscious like sandpaper. She was happy for Mr.Toten and felt pity for Mr. D4. She kept hoping the situation would work itself out. That Mr. D4 would pass Mr.Toten on his way to take Moony/Max for his walk. But Mr.D4 always took the elevator and Mr. Toten the stairs. It was nerve-racking to see them come so close so many times. Finally, Marissa decided to take matters into her own hands.

She wrote a note to Mr. D4, whom she looked up in the directory and found was named Jason Grey. The note read:

Dear Mr. Grey,

Concerning your lost dog: I think you should try apartment F6 on the 6th floor. 

Your friend, 

The Mouse in the Walls

Mr.Grey didn’t go up to the 6th floor right away. Marissa watched as he looked at the note four times over the next two days. Finally, after sitting alone in his apartment for several hours that Saturday morning, Mr.Grey crumpled up Marissa’s note and took the stairs to the 6th floor. 

Marissa couldn’t make it up to the 6th floor in time to see what unfolded. But when she returned the next day, Max was back in Jason Grey’s apartment. After seeing Max and Mr.Grey on the couch watching Law and Order together, Marissa tip-toed her way down the 6th floor hallway. She stopped in front of door F6 and silently slipped a flyer for a local animal shelter under the door. Two weeks later, Mr.Toten was seen in the stairwell carrying a small chihuahua-mut named Miggsy. 

Five weeks before the Moony/Max situation was resolved, Marissa often found herself snooping on another 4th floor affair. Which happened to be an actual affair. In the months prior, Marissa had been giddily swooning over the budding romance between Angie in D1 and Todd in D13. 

Marissa liked Angie. They shared the same taste in musical theater. If Marissa wanted to kick back and relax, she would go to the vents above apartment D1 and watch Meet Me in St.Louis with Angie. Of course, Angie didn’t know she had company. And Marissa did feel bad about that. Marissa promised herself that one day she would try to make friends with Angie. But she was finding it difficult to approach someone whom she knew very well but who had no idea who she was. Someday she would have to solve that puzzle. 

In early June, Marissa had noticed Angie humming around her apartment more often than normal. She also noticed that Todd and Angie could often be found talking in the halls together. And in late June, Todd and Angie began watching movies together on Tuesday nights. Marissa was ecstatic for Angie and was certain that an official declaration of coupleship would soon be announced. 

But in mid-July, just after Mr. Toten picked up Miggsy from the shelter, another girl started visiting Todd's apartment. She had long black hair and big red lips. Marissa didn’t know who she was, but she felt obligated to hate her. In a state of emotion—that she regretted later—Marissa wrote Todd a note.

Todd,

Lover her or lose her.

-The Mouse in the Walls

Todd looked confused when he read the note. Marissa supposed it was a bit cryptic. 

Later that week, Angie found out about the other woman visiting Todd. The movie nights continued for two more weeks after that. Then they ended. The Tuesday following the not-quite-break-up, Marissa found Angie staring at an empty TV screen for 30 minutes before putting on the FoodNetwork. On Friday Marissa slipped a copy of Harvy Girls under Angie’s door with a note that read:

Dear Angie,

I am sorry Todd is so clueless. 

I would gladly watch this with you Tuesday or any other night.

Your friend,

The Mouse in the Walls.

Angie slipped the DVD into her player on Sunday night.

Marissa witnessed quite the scene that following Wednesday.

“Come on Angie, it's not like I was dating either of you,” Todd half-shouted at the door of apartment D1. 

Angie stayed behind the door as she rolled her eyes. 

“Oh,” Angie groaned in frustration. “The Mouse called you clueless, but they had no idea.”

Todd leaned back from the door and hesitated before speaking again. “You got a note from the Mouse in the Walls too?” Todd took Angie’s silence as the answer. “Well, I don’t know any Mouse, and therefore it is safe to say that no Mouse knows me.” 

Marissa felt a stinging sensation in her sternum, but she couldn’t turn away. 

“Well, Mouse or no Mouse,” the sting turned into sickness as Angie continued, “they were right about you being clueless.”

Angie waited for a response from Todd. But before waiting long, she gently grazed the door with her hand. “Now, please go away Todd. I don’t want to argue with you.”

“If you say so, Ange.” Todd immediately walked away. 

Marissa felt just a little bad for Todd at that moment. 

He had lost her. 

#

The next day, Marissa met Angie in the elevator. This time Marissa was standing next to Angie as she hummed “One Day More.” 

“I love that song,” Marissa commented. 

Angie looked startled at first, but the two had a pleasant conversation between floors 4 and 1. 

The elevator dinged for the 1st floor and they both walked out the opening doors.

“I am Marissa by the way.” Marissa held out her arm and shook hands with Angie.

“Nice to meet you. I am Angie. You in the building often?” 

Marissa pointed to the logo on her grey work shirt. “My uncle owns the compy that is contracted for building maintenance. I am here all the time.”

“Well I hope I run into you again sometime,” Angie said.

“I hope so too,” said Marissa. 

Angie started towards the main exit while Marissa headed for the 1st floor supply closet. The closest was an excellent entrance to that floor's vents. 

On her way to the closet, Marissa passed Mr.Toten. He had Miggsy in his arms and was preparing for their walk.

“Hi Mr.Toten, how is Miggsy settling in?”

Mr.Toten almost dropped Miggsy. Miggsy, fortunately, barely seemed unsettled despite his close call. Mr.Toten squinted at Marissa for a moment before answering politely.

“Very well, thank you.”

“Glad to hear it. See ya.” Marissa waved as she entered the supply closet. 

Once in the closet, Marissa took off the grate from the unusually large vent of the Madison Ave Lofts and became The Mouse in the Walls once again.