One day when I was probably about 10 or 11, my mom asked me, as she often did, to run over to the barn to get some milk out of the dairy. So, off I went with a plastic jub in hand and headed down our short driveway towards the barn when...

About half way there, my eye caught something moving in the tall grass to my right... i stopped for a closer look and realized that there was a tabby barn cat reluctantly pawing at something on the ground... i had to step into the deep grass to find out what was going on and was surprised to learn that a tiny, little gray mouse was standing right up on his or her hind legs and with both front paws, punching toward the cat who was nervously attempting to paw back in response...

I couldn't believe what i was seeing and how i was a witness to what seemed an implausible bout... at one point i'm sure the mouse made contact with the cat's nose! I stood there shaking my head in disbelief...

Still clutching the now squashed milk jug under my arm, I squatted down and as spectator, watched in awe for quite some time... taking in the quiet, slow-motion boxing match... i was astounded as to how persistent both the cat and mouse were... The mouse was not going to back down, nor the cat... a definite stand-off... and there was no sound from either... Just a continual, silent endless round of cat pawing and mouse boxing... I wondered if the mouse was silently saying to itself, "Put ‘em up!... Put ‘em up... Just try it... Just try it!"

I eventually broke the match up by shooing the cat away... thinking i was rescuing the incredibly brave mouse.. but also wondered if i was really redeeming the wimpy cat...

Later, when i returned with the requested jug full of milk, my mom wondered why it took me so long to get back and i simply responded that she really wouldn't believe why...

Now i know where the idea for the Disney cartoon "Mighty Mouse" might have come from... maybe?

And to this day... that little event often pops up for me as a reminder that it really doesn't matter how small you are or how insignificant you think you are... all that matters is, what you think, feel and "know" who you truly are and what you feel inside... what is it that you "really" want and not focus on what you "don't" want... and what can happen or be as a result, is truly amazing...

It was really a day that a true mighty mouse roared... quietly!

• written by carol weaver, June 2005 (c) copyright - not to be copied without permission from the author http://www.carolweaver.com.