The Mouse That Soared

During a birthday party for her kid sister on Sept. 1, Caroline tied a pair of helium balloons to Mousie and began pushing her around the house, partly to give her rodent friend an aerial view of his lodgings and partly to find out how many balloons it takes to float a mouse.

But someone left her bedroom window open and, as Caroline watched in horror, a sudden gust carried the floating Mousie out the window, past the maple tree in the backyard, over the rooftop and gone.

Caroline and her mother began running down the street, trailing the floating mouse, until it drifted past the Claremont Hotel and over the East Bay hills.

"I don't think he wanted to see the world,'' Caroline said. "He wasn't that kind of mouse."

Mother and daughter were holed up in Caroline's bedroom, staring at a basket full of 15 other stuffed animals, none of which is Mousie. Caroline did promote a stuffed bunny onto Mousie's shelf of honor, but if Mousie manages to find his way home to Berkeley, the bunny is going back to its basket on the floor.