I asked Jemima if she'd like to give Spike the nut and she nodded. She gave the nut gently to the dormouse, who gladly accepted it. It tickled her hand which made her laugh, then when she saw how Spike opened the nut, she shrieked with laughter and the dormouse disappeared.

Easy As Falling Off A Dormouse.
by Angharad & Bonzi
part 213.

We drove to the university followed by Janice and Jemima. Tom grumbled most of the way there, I ignored it, in some ways he was worse than Jemima.

They followed us into the department and I took Jemima aside. "The dormice are very nervous creatures, so you need to be very, very quiet."

"Mima be vewy quiet, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she put her finger to her lips.

We went into the lab and I put my finger to my lips and Mima copied me and hushed everyone. Her mother and Tom were talking and Mima hushed them very loudly. She actually made more noise than them, which made us all smile.

We tiptoed up to the cages, which are really special tank like structures with controlled temperature and humidity. They also have darkened glass which means the animals are less troubled by people passing all the time, although they can be viewed without knowing they are being watched. We use red light when we need to see into the tanks, because that doesn't disturb them. There is also an artificial day light period each day to make sure the plants growing inside get some photosynthesis but the air quality is computer controlled, with back up system. This is why it is so expensive, but we've put quite a few little furry things back into the English countryside, so I think it's worth every penny, but I would being the architect of the scheme.

We have nesting boxes in there too, but with glass, or rather perspex sides, so we can see into them. It's important for counting babies and so on. Most were hibernating, and by lifting Jemima up, she could see into the nest boxes and was giggling softly.

We went round all the tanks and at the end one Spike was munching on a hazel nut. This was when I made the mistake, I opened the cage and picked Spike out, grabbing a fresh hazel nut.

I asked Jemima if she'd like to give Spike the nut and she nodded. She gave the nut gently to the dormouse, who gladly accepted it. It tickled her hand which made her laugh, then when she saw how Spike opened the nut, she shrieked with laughter and the dormouse disappeared.

I knew I should have left well alone. I was cross with myself but Jemima thought I was cross with her. Her mother was cross with her because she had been told to be quiet, but you can't tell a three year old something like that and expect them to do it.

I didn't see where Spike went, she sort of leapt into the air and Jemima made another squeal and I took my eye off the flying dormouse. In an instant she was gone.

Janice took her daughter home and Tom and I searched the lab high and low, with no sign of our furry escapee. He walked over to the pub for something to eat, while I stayed and searched desperately trying to find my favourite rodent.

I'd even got a red lamp and an image intensifier, which was no use indoors. I sat at my desk feeling really stupid and quite tearful when something fell from the ceiling, catching my hair as it fell.

I shall never know how I didn't stand up scream and knock whatever it was off my hair, but I didn't. Had it been a spider, I think I should have fainted, but it was of course a low flying dormouse which scurried up onto my shoulder and down the neck of my jumper. Instead of grabbing her I just let her nestle into my bra, which she did a few moments later.

I sat very quietly with her snug in my underwear. Tom came back with a sandwich for me. "Any sign of the little bugger?"

I hushed him and pulled the neck of my jumper down a little and he could see the tail and the nose sticking out of the centre of my cleavage.

His jaw dropped and then he started to laugh, he laughed so much he began to cough and had to go off and get a drink of water.

When I told him how she had parachuted in from presumably an air conditioning duct, having found me in the whole area of the lab, which is hundreds of square feet, he had to go and get another drink.

I almost felt like having a photo taken to show it wasn't my imagination, but so little of her showed, the picture would have been a semi pornographic one of my breasts. Tom did offer, but I declined.

To my mind it set off many strange thoughts. Spike was different to most dormice and was used to being handled and fed by me. That she had sought me out and then got to me was quite a feat in itself, if that is what happened. Maybe it was just a random event and she fell out of the duct and just happened to land on something soft - me!

For once I allowed my sentiment to rule me and I decided she had come looking for her mum, and not only that, had found her. Well it was Christmas after all, a time of magic and miracles.

It was some time later when we had an engineer in to clean out the ducts that he declared some mice had been using them, there were some droppings, part of a hazel nut and some footprints. I wonder how they could have got there.

I finally managed to pop her back into her cage and went home. Tom still didn't believe me, neither did Simon, although when we went upstairs, he wanted to play 'dormice'!

Simon went to get Stella from hospital, I went to the university to check the tanks and feed and clean as necessary. When I got back they were home.

"I gave Janice my mobile number, she is going to call you on it to see how Spike is. I hope that's okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Simon told me how she turned up, looking for her mummy."

"Maybe, maybe not," I said feeling far less secure with the idea in the cold light of day.

"Well it was quite a coincidence then."

"That might be all it was, I have no idea how she got into the duct in the first place, except they are nimble climbers."

"She came back safe, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Stella's mobile rang and she answered it. "It's for Wady Caffrin," she said passing it over and giggling.

"Cathy, hi it's Janice Scott, did you find the dormouse?"

"Yes, she turned up later, safe and sound."

"I am so sorry that Mima frightened her."

"It's okay, no harm done."

"She wants to apologise to you herself."

"It's not necessary, she didn't do it on purpose."

I heard the phone fumbled and a familiar voice said loudly, "Mima is vewy sowwy. Did you catched Spiky?"

"Yes I did, so don't worry, she is quite all right. Did you enjoy seeing the dormice?"

"Oh yes," she squealed and I felt part of my brain turn to mush by the high frequency of her voice. "Goodbye Wady Caffrin."

"Goodbye Jemima." I said at the same time thinking, I'm sure that isn't the last time I will see her and being a little hopeful that was the case.