The Essential Guide

The mice are wily. You can see why scientists use them all the time. I set a trap with Nutella and put it in the mouse drawer. Nothing, but less Nutella. I put a blue poison pellet on top and the pellet was gone. I wedged in a little piece of the pellet. That was gone too. Then I got some cheese and pushed it under this little vent on the plastic platform of the trap. This morning I checked and the trap was gone and there was blood about five inches away from where the trap had been. I figured we'd caught the mouse and L had thrown away the trap and mouse.

For some reason I opened the drawer further. There was a mouse in the back of the drawer, with his feet caught in the trap. He looked at me with his big black eyes. He hopped around. I knew I had to kill him. I called L and he said he'd heard him jumping around but figured he'd die soon. Thanks a lot. He advised me to put the mouse and trap in a plastic bag and bang it against the concrete. But that involves getting dressed. I knew I had to put the mouse out of its misery.

First I covered him with cardboard--an empty cracker box that I made flat. I was thinking I should get a hammer to smoosh him with but then decided a big book would be better.

This was probably the first time I've used the Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers, 14th edition. I recommend it highly. This is definitely an instance when the spiral-bound AP Stylebook, which I use more often, would not have been as useful.