There was an activity not often seen in the usually languid and silent Second West Street. After months, the house that had been for sale had finally been sold, and around 9:30 that Thursday morning, a large moving van had arrived. Three movers, a rather burly brown bear, a leopard and a quite muscular fox, were walking back and forth from the large van to the house, carrying boxes and furniture, of which the latter was more than often wrestled in through the opened front door with a certain degree of awkwardness. Their voices, talking or shouting to one another, carried through the sudden activity-filled air, causing drapes or blinds before the windows of other houses in the street to be moved aside, curious eyes peeking out at what was going on.

A little further down the street, far enough behind the moving van to allow the movers free room to step in and out of the back of the van with the boxes and furniture and other items, was the car of the new inhabitant of the house. It was a classic, but a somewhat decrepit classic; a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, in a two-tone paint scheme of mint green and white, although the fresh, light colors on the car were mainly overshadowed by a layer of rust-brown covering most of the sheetmetal. The white soft-top was down, showing the also mint green and white interior, which was almost as worn as the outside of the car.

Owner of the car, and now also the house, was a woman who certainly looked unusual. A mousette, apparently in her mid-twenties, slender of build, a bit under-endowed and short as mousettes go; she didn't measure over 5'2" with only a meager 34A cup bust. Nothing unusual about that, but it was her fur and hair that caused gawped stares. Her fur was a clear, soft green in color, her hair green-blonde, her skin, visible on the tiny pad of her pointy nose, the insides of her large round ears, and of course her hairless tail, was a turquoise-ish tint, her eyes a bright, almost venomous, green. Her name was Mindy Verde, but because of her colors, she had been nicknamed Minty Mouse, and had gone by that name for so long now she was completely used to it.

Standing in the living room of her new house, looking around at the assortment of boxes that littered the floor, she sighed. Moving; it was such a drag. It didn't help that the movers weren't too happy with her having arrived almost three hours late that morning to let them into the house. It hadn't been her fault; the old Bel Air had been temperamentful as it usually was after cold nights and had refused to start. Much like herself before her first cup of coffee. But she refused to part with it; it had been a graduation gift of her now late parents, and she was very attached to that car. When she had finally arrived, she was met with disgruntled movers who now had to work extra hard to make up for the lost time, and who kept, in passing, making sexist remarks. They weren't very careful with her belongings, either; she was going to have to call the company about that.

Another sigh escaped her lips as she looked at all the boxes. Her bright green eyes slid across the felt-tip lettering on the sides of the boxes, spelling out "Books", "Glassware", "Knickknacks", "Music" - that box was already opened and partially unpacked - "Desk Misc", also "Clothes", "Linen", "Utensils & Tools". It only reminded her of how much work there still was waiting for her once everything would have been out of the moving van and inside her house. Unpacking, and putting everything away where it belonged... as well as cleaning; the house was very dusty. Each time she moved around, her feet and swishing thin tail drew up a cloud of small dust motes that glittered in the beams of sunlight slanting through the blinds before the windows. How could an empty house gather so much dust?

She sneezed as she pushed some boxes to the side to create more room on the floor. There was less room that she had thought. The house had looked much larger on the broker's website photos and when she had toured it with a representative of the broker's office a few days earlier. Why had she bought it again? Well, for one, it was much closer to her work, and her boss had offered a good deal of help in her relocating. For another, it beat having to rent yet another overpriced apartment that would have inadvertently been even much smaller than this house, and it would simply be a much better feeling to have a place she could really call her own.

Gazing around while patting the dust off her clothes, Minty's bright green eyes livened up just a bit when she caught sight of the one feature that had mainly made her decide so quickly to buy the house. Outside in the back yard, on the deck stretching out from the rear porch, was the loveliest, bluest, most inviting hot tub she had ever seen. Wispy tendrils of steam rose up into the air from the warm water, coaxing a wistful sigh from the green mousette's lips as she again remembered her promise to herself to have a nice, long, relaxing soak... [i]after[/i] everything had been moved into her house and put away, and the most basic things would have been unpacked.

A grunt and a sound of struggling from near the front door drew the mouse's attention in that direction. The bear and the leopard were wrestling with a massive walnut breakfront, tilting it this way and that to get it through the front door.
   "Careful with that!" she said in a slightly snappish tone. "It's antique walnut!" '[i]And worth more than both your miserable hides combined[/i],'she added to herself in her mind. "Don't scratch the varnish! Here, let me take out the drawers." She did that, enabling the movers to tilt the large piece of furniture forwards and maneuver it through the front door and into the living room. "Against that wall there. No, not like that, more to the side. Yes, that's better."

With the massive piece of furniture finally in place, the movers walked back out to the van for the next item, while Minty knelt down by the breakfront to put the drawers back in, meanwhile inspecting the finish for any scratches. The moving company had been provided by her boss as help to her, but she was definitely not pleased with the way the movers handled, or rather mishandled, her valuables. She would call the moving company or her boss next Monday for indemnification, even if it had to come out of the hides of those walking rugs.

Rising back up, the mousette once more patted herself down a bit to dispel of the dust that covered her soft green fur and made it look dull and peaky. Gosh, she felt dirty... the hot tub in the back was tempting her more and more. But no, first everything had to be inside the house and those walking rugs had to be gone. She sneezed again as she brushed the dust off herself, her large round ears flicking sharply as she in the same motion wheeled around at another unsettling sound coming from the door.
   "Careful!"
The leopard mover was this time accompanied by the fox mover, carrying inside a mahogany desk of epic proportions. Grunting and muttering under their breath, the two movers maneuvered the large piece of furniture around to fit it through the living room door. And not really managing. One of the legs got caught behind the door jamb, the fox lost his grip on the edge of the desk, and it tilted sideways. With a thud, it landed on its front side on the floor, the caught leg taking with it a chunk of the door frame. Minty's bright green eyes shot venomous sparks.
   "That's it, out, out, [i]out[/i]! The lot of you, out! Out of my eyes!" she snapped, the words snapping through the air like whip cracks as she chased the movers out the font door.

With her paws on her hips, she stood in the front door, looking at the movers diving into the safety of their van's cabin and wishing she had a broom at paw to sweep dust after them. She honestly didn't know if she should laugh over three such hulking men cowering from such a small mouse as herself, or be even more upset that it would now most likely take even longer before everything would be moved in. Still, the fresh breeze outside soothed her somewhat as it scattered the dust motes she brushed out of her fur and off her simple work clothes, which consisted of nothing more but a cut-off and tied at the front yellow shirt and a pair of very short, dark green denim daisy dukes with frays dangling from what was left of the legs. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes while she ran her paws down her front and her sides, flicking her thin, turquoise-skinned tail and her large round ears white twitching her short green whiskers to the caress of the breeze for a couple of moments.

Sufficiently calmed down, the green mousette stepped back into the house, putting the large desk back upright on its legs and pushing it over towards the corner by the window she had designated for it. The box labeled "Desk Misc" was placed on top for the time being. Her deepened breath from pushing the desk around was clearly audible in the hollow living room.
   "Gah... music. I need some noise," she declared to the still air.
A few steps brought her over to the counter between the living room and the semi-open kitchen, where her small portable radio/CD player was standing, surrounded by a jumbled mess of scattered disks and jewel cases, some opened, some empty, some holding CDs that were not supposed to be in it. There was a CD in the payer, too; hitting the play button made U2 sound from the speakers. The "Bloody Sunday" did not disguise the statement her stomach made, however.
   "Great... I need food, too."

Minty looked around her a bit helplessly. Where did a girl get food in this town? Her own fridge was empty and... still standing in the front yard, as a matter of fact, wonderful. But surely there would be take-out restaurants or something in this town? Of course there were. But where were they? How could she reach them? She could not drive into town and leave those movers alone; she didn't trust them enough for that. So; call a restaurant and have them deliver something? That was a good option, but where could she find phone numbers?

For the first time, a sinking feeling crept into her stomach. She felt... really alone for a moment. A stranger in town. Not knowing anyone. Not knowing her way around. Not knowing where things, shops, enterprises, were. The sinking feeling only lasted for a fleeting moment, though. Then the green mouse regained herself and drew herself up a bit. '[i]Come on Minty, brace up! You're a big girl; act it, for crying out loud![/i]' she mentally scolded herself. And that's when her eyes fell upon a small stack of papers at the far corner of the breakfast bar, held in place by a small box. A few envelopes; notifications from the water company, the electricity company and the gas company about re-instating the utilities at her house. A "Congratulations on your new home" moving card from one of her friends. A bill from the garage in the town she had left behind. A flyer from the local church, along with an invitation. And thankfully, also, a flyer from a local pizza parlor, advertising their week's specials.

Grabbing the flyer, Minty scanned over the options that were advertised. She felt her mouth watering at the Pizza Tagliatelli Quattro Fromagi, and her stomach made another distinct statement. She also looked over the cheaper sales; regular pizzas. She'd probably have to get some for those walking rugs in the moving van, too. As if it wasn't already bad enough she had to tolerate them mishandling her belongings, now she had to feed them too... ah well. At least they wouldn't be able to say she had not treated them right. She stuck the flyer in the hip pocket of her green denim shorts and looked around, muttering to herself.
   "Phone, phone... Phone. Where did I leave that damn thing?" She shook her head as she remembered. "Damn, I left it in the car."

With a shrug, she stepped outside and off the small front porch, walking down the driveway to where she had parked her car. Not even looking at the three movers in the van wincing a bit as she approached, she stepped over to her car and looked inside, finding her small apple-green colored Nokia on the dashboard. Of course, just as she reached out to grab it, the small thing slid from her grasp and fell to the floor before the driver's seat. With a grunt, Minty leaned over the side of her car to try and grab her phone from the floor, tail swishing energetically, one foot lifted into the air. Her grunts of annoyance became louder as she felt her already too short daisy dukes riding uncomfortably up her rump from the silly position.

And as if to tease her, when her fingers touched the phone, the devilish little appliance made another tumble and hid itself under the accelerator. The green mouse grunted even louder, now all but hanging over the side of her car with both feet off the sidewalk as she tried to get a grip on the digital escapee, her shorts riding up even further. When she finally managed to grab her phone, Minty flopped back to her feet and rubbed her stomach from where the rim of the driver door had pressed into it, uncomfortably aware of the position of her shorts and the stealthy glances of the three movers in the van. She huffed, realizing she would look even sillier if she would try to tug her pants back down behind her back right there at the side of the street, so with her buns almost hanging out of the frayed legs of her daisy dukes, she brazened the walk back up the driveway and into the house, ignoring the movers in the van as best as she could.

Only in the safety of her living room, she pulled in a deep breath and shook herself a bit. Laying the phone on the breakfast bar for a moment, she undid the button-down fly of her shorts, pulling in another deep breath at the less restricted feeling while she reached behind her to unfurl and tug down the cut-off legs that had crept almost into the crack of her tush. Finally done and feeling more comfortable again, the green mousette fastened only the top button of her fly again and pulled the pizza parlor flyer from her hip pocket with one paw while taking the phone with her other paw. She found the number and dialed it, bringing the phone to one of her large round ears while she glanced over the sales on the flyer again.
   "Mmm... delicious. Oh! Hello? Yes, this is Minty Mouse. I would like to order some pizzas, please," she said when the phone was suddenly answered. "Yes. One small Tagliatelli Quattro Fromagi with extra cheese, and three medium Calzones with the works, please. Yes. That's ten-forty, Second West Street. How long do you think it'll take? Okay, sounds reasonable. Thank you, goodbye."

She rung off and put both flyer and phone down on the kitchen counter, rattling some of the scattered jewel cases around the little portable stereo. A small sigh escaped her smirked lips as she pushed the loose disks and jewel cases back into a small heap. She had vowed to be more organized in her new place... well, the resolution starts tomorrow, as they say. Killing the fifteen minutes the pizza parlor had said it would take for the pizzas to arrive, the green mouse stepped around the counter and rummaged in a box placed on the floor inside the kitchen, digging out a few glasses, a plate, knives and a fork. From a cooler standing on the draining board, she took a can of Seven-Up, popping the top and filling the glass with the sparkling colorless liquid, after which she took a long, refreshing drink.
   "Ahhh... much better."

Noticing from a corner of her eye how the movers had started to, much more carefully this time, begun to bring boxes and furniture into the house again, Minty quickly buttoned up the other buttons of the fly of her shorts behind the counter before stepping around it with her glass of Seven-Up and giving directions to the movers. A few minutes later, the sound of an engine stopping in front of the house drew her attention outside through the opened front door. A small delivery car from the pizza parlor. Great! Finding her purse, the green mouse stepped outside to meet the young red tabby cat who took a few boxes from the back of the car. She ignored his more than surprised gaze at the sight of a green mouse.
   "Is this the Tagliatelli with extra cheese? Okay, thanks, that's mine. The other ones are for those walking rugs in the van over there," she said, indicating the moving van with a nod of her head while taking one of the pizza boxes.

She tipped the young tomcat generously as she paid for the pizzas. It never hurt to be remembered by pizza delivery boys, especially if it was for generosity in tips instead of her green fur and hair. She could even stand being referred to as an 'alien mouse' if it still meant she would get her pizzas faster - in fact, that had been a bit of a running gag between her and one of the guys from Luigi's Pizza in the town she had left behind. Little jokes like "Tell Jimmy to be here in five minutes or I'll atomize his butt with my blaster", or "I come in peace, earthling, take me to your pizzas". It would take a while to build up that kind of connections again in this new town, though, Minty realized as she carried her pizza into the house. But the generous tip to Francis - she had asked the red tabby tomcat's name - would be a good start.

Bringing the pizza box to the breakfast bar where her plate and her soda were waiting, her clear green whiskers twitching and her slender, pointy nose unable to stop rumpling from the beguiling smell so close before her face now, Minty found her stomach making another loud and clear statement that left little to the imagination. In fact, the only imagination it sparked was that of the carnivorous plant in "Little Shop of Horrors"; "[i]Feed me, Seymour, feed me![/i]"

Minty obliged quickly, all but yanking the top of the pizza box and sliding the hearty pie onto the plate, sniffing deeply and appreciatively at the smell.
   "Mmm... food!"
She cut a large slice out of the pizza, lifting it up high to catch all the dangling threads from the thick layer of four Italian cheeses topping the crunchy treat. As her, proportionally large, front buck teeth severed the first satisfying bite of pizza and the rich taste filled her mouth, all woes of clumsy movers, dusty air and aching muscles were forgotten when her ravenous hunger was finally stilled. Again her bright green gaze drifted over the assortment of boxes standing everywhere around, only to come to a halt once more at the more than inviting hot tub on the rear deck, of which the languidly rippling water glistened and sparkled in the sunlight dancing across the surface.

But no... moving van empty first, all boxes and furniture inside and in the proper rooms, at least [i]some[/i] sense of order in the chaos, and only [i]then[/i] take the time to soak in that so very inviting warm water. Minty silently vowed it to herself again; she would keep her promise to herself. This whole experience; the accepting of a new position in a subsidiary of the company she worked for, in a new town, moving into a new house, it had all been about starting with a clean slate, and the green mousette had promised herself she would fully start with a new slate, leaving behind also her somewhat shoddy, lackluster way of keeping things half-finished before starting on something new. She would not break that vow now, despite how amazingly tantalizing the prospect was.

The small double-four-cheese pizza was all too quickly gone. Maybe she should have ordered the medium or even the large. But even so, it had done just that what she had ordered it for; her hunger was stilled, her stomach silent now as it contently basked in the heat of the tasty pizza filling it. Licking her fingers and wiping some crumbs off her whiskers, Minty tackled the stacks of boxes the movers brought in with renewed vigor, hefting them off to the right rooms and stacking them into neat piles, in passing checking the position of the furniture in the different rooms. Bed in the right place? Check. Wardrobes in the right place? Check. Desk? Check. Vanity table? Check. Cabinets, tables, chairs? Check, check and check.

The sun slowly sank as the midday progressed into early evening, yet the temperature remained pleasant, spring warmth nestled securely in the air and the street which, despite the activity of the movers, remained remarkably quiet. Seven more boxes, six more, five more... another end table, a lowboy, four more boxes, three, a set of chairs, two more boxes, one more... A happy realization filled Minty's small, dusty form when she found no more boxes to carry off and spotted the fox mover rolling a cigarette and talking to the bear mover while the leopard mover closed the tailgate of the van.
   "Van empty?" she asked across the driveway, not even doing an effort to hide the hopeful tone in her voice, nor the slightly too jubilant "whoohoo!" when she got a confirmation. Almost tripping over her long, thin, turquoise-skinned tail as she wheeled around, she quickly trotted back to the front door. "Thanks for your help see you later bye now!" she called out across her shoulder quickly before disappearing through the front door and closing it behind her.

Unable to stop herself, she raised her arms into the air and jerked down one fist.
   "Yesss!"
Directly for the opened patio doors she went, only halting in her steps by the breakfast bar long enough to turn the volume of the small stereo up a bit more before darting out through the patio doors and onto the rear deck. In a few short motions, she stripped herself of her dusty yellow top, cut-off green denim shorts and bikini briefs, tossing them airily onto the floor and railing of the back porch as she made her way over to the hot tub. Finally!

She wasn't worried about being naked in her back yard. She was a naturist by heart, and besides, the rear deck holding the hot tub was screened off on both sides with bamboo latticework overgrown with ivy between heavy beams holding up the canopy of the glass roof, and the rest of the back yard had a hedge of ten feet high conifers, junipers and laurels around the perimeter. And even if all that hadn't been there, it wouldn't have stopped her from finally giving into her desire of having her so long awaited for and her so badly earned soak in that lovely hot tub!

Testing the temperature of the water with the delicate toes of her left foot, Minty shivered delightedly and flicked her thin, sleek tail, letting out a high-pitched chirring sound of contentment. Three low steps on the side of the small pool were quickly taken, a happy squeak uttering from the green mousette's throat as she lowered herself into the warm water and sank down into one of the pre-shaped plastic seats along the rim. Leaning her arms on the rim of the tub, she relaxed and closed her eyes as she felt the warm water soak into dusty fur and tired muscles, drawing in a deep breath, holding it for several moments, then letting it out in a long, slow, content sigh.

Ahhhhh... only now she really felt settled in. She was there. It had taken a long, exhausting, exasperating day, but now she was there. Her new life could begin. Minty Mouse was in town!