The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2546 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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I spoke to Daddy for an hour. He seemed genuinely surprised that I felt so overwhelmed by life. It was true that I had everything going for me, but at a cost. Being a little greedy, I wanted it all except life was suggesting that I couldn’t. The problem was I couldn’t physically do it all and a lot of it depended upon me being actively involved with a university. My role with the bank as ecological adviser depended upon it, as did the director of the woodland centre named after my daughter. Being a bank director wasn’t as onerous, except when I had to produce reports for them. My job as mother and homemaker was non-negotiable, as was being Simon’s wife. Housekeeper, I was prepared to let someone else do for the moment—perhaps a long moment.

Even once I found some woman to do the housework, I’d still have to supervise her while she learnt the ropes—basically how I liked things done. So it would be some time before I divested much of that. Who I wanted, I didn’t know, just someone reliable and safe.

I walked back to my office. Tom had told me to go home but I had things to do. Delia had got hold of the girl, Melinda Preston and she agreed to come and see me this afternoon at two. When Tom phoned to ask me to go to lunch, I didn’t answer, instead asking Delia to get me a tuna roll from the refectory. I ate this while signing letters and putting the finishing touches to what I was going to say to the bank board.

I’d just finished that and brushed the crumbs off my desk when Melinda arrived. I wasn’t going to enjoy this one bit. Delia announced her arrival and I invited her in. Where to start? Oh boy.

“I think we had a misunderstanding this morning.”

“I don’t think so, you were very clear, would you like me to play it to you?”

“Is there any reason why you can’t take written notes?”

“Apart from my dyslexia, you mean?”

“If you suffer from reading difficulties, we ask you to tell us before you start lectures. Had you done so and agreed to our terms of use, we’d have permitted you to use a recording device.”

“What terms?”

“That they are for the purposes of your own personal study. My teaching technique relies on some degree of novelty. If I want to use it on a second group, if they’ve seen a recording of it, it won’t have the same impact.”

“I was told you were one of the best teachers on the campus, if not the best. That’s why I chose to do ecology. Wish I hadn’t bothered now.”

“You’re perfectly entitled to switch courses if you want to.”

“I know.”

“So why don’t you?”

“Don’t know what else to do.”

“How bad is the dyslexia?”

“It takes me quite a long time to read very much or write it.”

“When you go, ask Delia for the forms to apply to do video assignments.”

“Doesn’t that imply I’m staying, I haven’t said I am yet.”

“They apply to any course, they’ll even allow you to borrow a camcorder.”

“I see. Thank you for the information.”

“You’re welcome. I’m just popping down to the dormouse lab to check on them, want to come with me?”

“Dormice? They’re hibernating aren’t they?”

“Yes, but we monitor them doing that too.”

“Oh—I uh.”

“Up to you, but if you came here to see dormice, if you’re leaving, it might be the only chance you have.”

“Okay.”

“This morning, you didn’t stick to the rules. Neither did I, insofar as I let my tiredness influence my emotions. I overreacted. For that I apologise.”

“Okay.”

“C’mon, let’s go and see some dormice all tucked up in their beds.”

An hour later I went to collect my girls from school. Melinda had accepted my offer to use video equipment for her assignments. I also leant her some audio discs of the textbook they had to read. I made them a few years ago, sitting down and reading them aloud for a girl I was teaching who couldn’t cope with reading the book. She went on to get her degree despite her reading difficulty. I’d have to do some more copies, they were good for inducing sleep in the most entrenched insomniac.

“I take it she’s not resigning the course?” asked Delia as I pulled my coat on, the weather had turned cooler.

“No.”

“Dormice?”

“Yep.”

“Your secret weapon?”

“Yep.”

“Can anyone resist them?”

“Occasionally, but rarely women.”

“They are rather cute.”

“I just remind people why they signed up with us.”

“The dormice.”

“The dormice,” I echoed. I know I can be grumpy, my kids tell me this all the time. Being with the dormice calms me down, reminds me why I’m here, in this building; why I cope with morons who think we’re somewhere to sit out a couple or three years before they go and sit out somewhere else.

Even hibernating, the mice caused a change of mind in Melinda, that and her superstar professor showing her softer side. “You love these little things, don’t you?”

“I love my children and my husband. I enjoy my work and I’m very fond of these animals, who I’ve spent umpteen years trying to understand so I can help to conserve them.”

“I’d like to help you do that, Professor.”

I offered my hand and we shook. “Get a good degree and there might be a chance to get an award to do post graduate research.”

“Yeah, but with my dyslexia, wouldn’t they look more favourably on other candidates?”

“Not if you declare it at the outset. It makes things different not impossible.”

“In some ways I’m glad we had that contretemps this morning, I was too embarrassed to say about my dyslexia.”

“Melinda, there are pathways for all sorts of things in the university, to help avoid the sort of thing that happened this morning. Confrontations are not conducive to learning.”

“But you’d never have shown me the dormice, would you?”

“Probably not.”

“Can first years help with the surveys?”

“If they are well up on their coursework.”

“Oh.”

“We advertise for new volunteers in April, he surveys usually start about then or even later if it’s cold.”

“I’ll try and remember to look for them—the adverts, that is.”

“Do.”

I felt lighter collecting the girls which lasted until I got home where a large sack of mail passed on from the advert for a housekeeper was awaiting some sorting. My heart nearly stopped. There had to be at least a hundred applications. Hopefully the others will help me sort them.