Found

"Did you find it?!?" Ellen worried at him as soon as he'd stepped inside. "PLEASE tell me you found the mouse!" "I ... uh ... found the mouse," Adam replied, "... although ... " "WHAT?!? OMG, WHAT?!?" she shrieked, her eyes darting to and fro on the floor (expecting to find it moving). "It's not a mouse and it's not a rat," he said carefully. "It's a quokka." "A what?" Ellen responded, freezing in place. "A ... quokka," Adam repeated, "from Australia. I think it's escaped from the zoo. Happiest little munchkin you've ever seen in your life. It's in the shed. I think it went a little apeshit last night, because it was hungry and got into the catnip." Ellen stared at him, holding her breath. "Fine," she whispered after a minute or so. "Show me." She fell in love with it, of course (because how could you not?). It was used to people and wanted to play, giving little hugs and nuzzles, cooing and chattering away when they brought it some alfalfa sprouts from the fridge. They waited a long time to call the zoo - long enough to take a nap with the quokka and get it comforted. "Amazing," Ellen said, pouring them a nightcap before bed. "This whole day was amazing." Adam took her hand very gently and said, "More days could be like this. ALL of the days could be like this ... if you reacted with curiosity rather than fear." He'd told her this before (very tenderly) but, this time, she heard it just as softly.