THE WISE GUYS

THE WISE GUYS by JOHN M. ARRIBAS Duffy McCraw Was a Corn Farmer in Iowa. He Had Been Farming His Acreage for over 40 Years. He Was Very Good at What He Did and Eventually Found Himself in Need of a Larger Barn. So He Hired a Contractor and Work Began on the New Much Larger Barn. As Is Always the Case There Were a Number of Folks Concerned with this New Project. Long Time Residents Were Two Owls and Hundreds of Mice. The Mice Were an Unending Supply of Food. The Corn Was an Unending Supply of Food for the Mice. The Mice Had Become a Problem for Duffy. Folks Talked about His Corn Supplies Being Contaminated by Mice and Mice Droppings. No Corn Was Being Stored in the Old Barn, but There Were Ample Supplies That Were Left and Corn That Was Spillage. The Two Owls Being Rather Smart Immediately Recognized That Eventually There Would Be No Corn and No Mice. The Younger Owl Decided to Move to the New Barn, the Older One Said I’ll Join You When I’m Finished Here. And So it Was, the Old Owl Had All the Remaining Mice to Himself. But the Old Owl Knew That Sooner or Later There Would Not Be Any Mice for Him. This Became of Great Concern to Him Because He Was Old and Somewhat Hesitant on Starting Anew in a New Environment. The Old Owl Had Trouble Napping During the Day Due to His Worries. After Countless Hours of Thought on the Matter He Devised a Plan. He Would Capture a Mouse and Make a Pact with Him. If the Mouse Would Lure Other Mice Out into The Open for Him to Get, He Would Never Attack the Cooperating Mouse. Several Times He Captured a Mouse and Would Offer this Proposition to Them, Foolishly They Rejected and Were Gulped down by the Owl. One Night He Captured a Very Young Mouse That Was Not Much of a Mouthful for Him. Again He Offered the Deal to the Young Mouse. The Young Mouse So Terrified Agreed to Lure Other Mice into Open for the Owl to Capture. And So Began a Program of Systematic Elimination of the Mice Population. The Mouse Would Get His Fellow Mice out into the Open and the Owl Would Swoop down and Have His Meal. The Lure and Swoop Program Went on for a Long Period and the Owl Knew That Eventually There Would Be No Mice Left to Be Lured into the Open. He Began Preparing for the Final Day When He Would Eat His Fellow Conspirator and Move to the New Barn. The Young Mouse Now Much Older and Bigger Would Make a Great Final Meal. The Owl Mused a Fitting End to a Traitor. The Mouse Having Watched His Mates Slowly Torn Apart and Eaten, Decided That He Would Be the Sole Survivor and Subject to Being a Victim Himself. As the Mouse Population Dwindled a Plan of Survival Was Necessary. The Mouse Thought of Escaping to the New Barn, but That Was a Temporary Solution as He Would Be Subject to Two Owls. There Was Another Barn Quite a Distance Away, but Getting There Was a Hazardous Endeavor. Venturing from the Safety of this Barn Crossing Open Spaces? No Not a Good Remedy for His Dilemma. 1 WISE GUYS (2) The Mouse Planned for His Survival Knowing That There Were Only a Few Days Supply of Mice. Eventually One Night the Mouse Realized That He Was the Lone Survivor. At the Usual Time the Mouse Went to Open Space in the Barn and Called the Owl. Sure Enough the Owl Flew down and Grabbed the Mouse with His Talons. The Mouse Said I Knew That Someday You Would Try to Eat Me. The Owl Responded with Trying to Eat You. My Friend You Are as Good as Gone. And by the Way I Left You Alone Knowing, That When this Day Came You Would Be Large and Juicy. The Mouse Said Can I Have a Few Words Before You Reject Me. What Said the Owl, I’m in Charge Here and I’ll Do as I Wish. The Mouse Said Let Me Tell You a Story. Then You Can Do What Ever You Want. The Owl Laughed and Said Go Ahead. When I Was Really Just a Baby Mouse I Saw How Overrun the Barn Was with My Fellow Mice. The Farmer Recognized That as Well. So He Brought Large Sugar Cubes Laced with Arsenic. The Cubes Were So Tasty That the Mice Just Loved the Taste. Of Course, in a Few Days of Having Licked the Cubes the Mice Died. There Were Dozens of Dead and Dying Mice in and out of the Barn. The Arsenic Made Them Venture out for Water Where They Were Eaten by Cats and Vultures. Within a Few Days the Cats and Vultures Were Dead, Having Eaten the Arsenic Laden Bodies. I Was Too Young to Leave My Hiding Place and So I Never Licked the Sugar Cubes. It Wasn’t Long Before All the Remaining Mice Became Aware of the Poison and Refrained from Going near the Cubes. Look Around and You Can Still See The Cubes Scattered Throughout the Barn Untouched for Years. Owl Old Friend, I Prepared for this Day So Here’s Your Choices. The Owl Laughed and Said, Say Goodbye. Wait Said the Mouse, I’m Not Done Yet. When I Realized That You Would Want to Eat Me as Well, I Took Measures for Survival. Over the Last Few Months I Began to Lick the Cubes Every Day Just a Small Lick. Then I Increased it to Two Licks Every Day, Slowly Building an Immunity to What Otherwise Would Have Killed Me. Right Now I Am a Walking Cube of Arsenic and When You Eat Someone Loaded with Arsenic You Die an Excruciating Painful Death. So Here Are Your Choices. Eat Me and Suffer an Agonizing Death. Or Join Forces, Protect Me on the Way to the New Barn: and Setup Shop as Usual. Oh, by the Way, Tell Your Pal What His Choices Are. The Old Owl Said to Himself, I’ll Just Kill this Mouse and Go to the New Barn, but I Don’t Want to Compete Against the Younger Owl for Food The Old Owl Was Upset That He Had Been Outsmarted by a Rodent and Began Plotting His Revenge. He Thought, Here’s What I Will Do. I Will Not Tell the Younger Owl That this Mouse Is Poison. I’ll Have the Mouse Lure Himself into the Open, Tell the Younger Owl Where He Will Be. When the Younger Owl Eats Him and Dies, its Back to Having All the Mice to Myself. Business as Usual. Since When Does a Mouse Outsmart an Owl?

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