Sylvia lives in the attic of a bookstore in Paris. She’s named after the original owner and founder of the shop. Every mouse who has ever lived in the bookshop has been named Sylvia. And a mouse has always lived on bookstore premises, because everyone knows that having a mouse in a bookshop brings good luck. Certainly Ms Beach knew it, when she invited the first mouse inside. And since a cat always lives in the shop as well, a deal was struck stating that the cat would always protect the mouse from harm. So far, everything has been fine and the bookshop is one of the most famous in the world.
Sylvia takes her job, as bookstore mouse, very seriously. She scampers around, cleaning up small messes, putting books back in their proper places and dancing in front of small children. Her nest is decorated with the pages of old books and it’s comfy and warm. Sometimes she sleeps with the cat, but she’s most comfortable in her own bed.
Although, when it’s very hot, she sometimes sleeps in a small basket by the register, so she can catch a breeze and greet customers, while listening to all the different languages and accents. She’s very good at guessing where people are from. She said that she learned that skill from her mother, the former bookshop mouse. She inherited her position and her love of words, from her. She misses her mom terribly, but knows that she was happy to pass the job of bookshop mouse, into her capable paws.
Now and then she goes out in front of the shop, in order to pick up a leaf or two. She likes to have a few in her nest. She knows it’s dangerous, but the cat usually watches out for her.
She’s very happy with her life and with her job. She gets plenty cheese and crackers, as well as other delicious snacks and treats. She also gets a lot of pets and kisses. Although, it seems that some people are afraid of her. She’s not sure why, since people are a million times bigger than she is and she would never hurt them in any way at all. One of the girls who works there said that people have been taught to fear mice. She asked her why, but the girl said she didn’t have any idea why anyone would teach that, or be afraid of her. Then the girl picked her up and kissed her a bunch of times and put her back into her basket.
When someone comes in an asks for a particular book, she knows just where it is. There have been times when the staff needed her help and she was able to take them to the right shelf immediately. But she does live there, after all, and she spends a lot of time reading and looking at the books.
The new Sylvia, the owner, is very nice. She’s made some big changes for the better, but the one thing she didn’t change was the position of the bookstore mouse. She knows how much luck the bookstore mouse bring to her shop. Like the wonderful woman she was named after, all the Sylvia’s have to stick together.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Rethinking Life 
Written
on March 9, 2021