2 Mice 2 Men

Lennie's Ranch

He'd finally done it. George had finally saved enough to buy the ranch he'd always wanted. He and Lennie had spent years dreaming of this before...well, before Lennie died. Yeah, died.

George counted out the last few dollars of his payment. He put it in the hand of the now former ranch owner. With a big smile stretching across his face, George showed Candy around the property. He showed him where the chicken pen was going to be built, where the horse stables would be, where the pig pen would be and finally where the rabbits--

George stopped short. The rabbits. The damn rabbits. A tear welled up and fell down George's face. Slim put his hand on George's shoulder. George looked at Candy and saw tears in his eyes as well.

"It's okay, George," Candy said. "You're in good company. You can let it out."

And so he did. George bawled, still mourning his friend. It had been seven years since Lennie died. Seven years that he worked on so that he could pay for the ranch. He and Candy had decided to name it "Lennie's Ranch" to commemorate their friend. Some days it still hit George hard.

He remembered that day like it was yesterday. He did what he had to do. He put the gun to Lennie's head, then...he...he did what he had to do.

"I had to do it," George said to himself. "Curly would've done it if I hadn't."

As if reading his mind, Candy said, "If Curly had gotten to him, it wouldn't have been as quick as it was. You did Lennie a kindness."

George hugged Candy tight. He knew Candy didn't have much time left, but he wasn't ready to lose another friend. After a few seconds, he let go and wiped his eyes. He tried to shake it off, but didn't do such a great job at it.

"Let's look at the ranch hand's quarters," George said. "This place hasn't seen any action in some time, so we'll probably need to focus on that first. Get some guys hired and they can help get things fixed and set up."

"That's a good idea," Candy nodded. "We'll need to get some guys to help us build the coops and stables and whatnot. Unless you want to do it all by yourself," Slim laughed.

George led Candy to the ranch hands' quarters. He unlocked the door and opened it. There were cobwebs all over. There were wooden bunks, but no mattresses. "We'll need to get beds," George commented. He pointed out the cobwebs, "We can probably get a broom and get those webs down."

"This place could use a hosing," Candy said once he got inside. "Is that a wasps' nest?" he asks, pointing to the back corner. Sure enough, a wasps' nest had been built between the chicken wire that wrapped around the building in place of windows.

George sighed. He knew he had a lot of work cut out for him. He knew he'd be doing a lot of it himself. He'd have to, at least at first. Once he got some reliable guys hired on and got some experience under their belts, he could ease up and let them take the reins.

Before he left, George had offered Slim a job as his third. Candy, of course, being his second. But Slim moved on just before George finished saving up. He found a better job with better pay. George didn't blame him. If he hadn't been saving up for the ranch, he'd have taken whatever offers came his way, too.

"I wish Slim had came along with us," George said. "He'd make things a hell'a lot easier for us."

"Easier for you," Candy replied. "We both know you won't be able to get much out of me."

"I know," George said sarcastically, "I was trying to be nice."

The two laughed together.

"Let's take a look at the big house," Candy said. "Maybe there'll be beds in there. Or else, we're in trouble."

George showed Candy to the big house where he'd be conducing business and where he and Candy would be living. Luckily, there were three bedrooms, each with a mattress. The big house was clean. George had figured as much, seeing as how the former ranch owner had lived on the property before George bought it. It came partially furnished, so he didn't have to worry about buying everything brand new.

"You take the big room," Candy said. "I'll take one of these smaller ones on the bottom floor."

George looked at the big room. It was much bigger than any bedroom he'd ever had to himself before. He didn't want so big a room. At least, not until he thought he'd earned it.

"Let's make this the office," George countered. "You and I will take one of the small rooms, the current office can be a sort of 'break room' for the workers."

"That's a good idea," Candy said.

"Now all's left is to hire some guys," George said. "But it's getting late. Let's go ahead and get some shut eye. Then tomorrow morning we can head into town and do some searching."

"Another good idea," Candy laughed. "We're gonna need all the rest we can get. We've got our work cut out for us for the next few months."

"Goodnight, Candy," George said.

"Goodnight, George," Candy replied.

The two went off to their separate rooms and set up their beds. When they were ready, they crawled into their respective beds and fell asleep.

--

George woke up early the next morning. He thought about leaving to go to town ahead of Candy, but he had a better idea. He wrote a note and left it by the front door for Candy to find whenever he was ready. Then, he headed out for the day.

It took several hours for him to walk back to that spot. George wiped the sweat from his brow. He found a rock and rolled it over next to Lennie's grave. He sat down on the rock.

"Well, Lennie," George said. "I finally did it. I bought the ranch. Our ranch. 'Lennie's Ranch'. I'm heading into town to hire some guys to help me fix up the place. Candy means well, but...he doesn't have much left in him."

George looked at the makeshift gravestone he had made when he buried Lennie. He carved a small "LS" into the stone. He rubbed the engraving with his finger.

"We're gonna get rabbits. Just like I always told you. Just like we always talked about."

Tears welled up in George's eyes. "It's been a long time since I've heard your voice," George said, his voice quivering. "I miss you, you big lug."

George wiped his eyes. "I wish I could take it back. I wish there was another way," he cried. "I wish you were here."

George continued crying, his tears streaming down his face and dripping onto Lennie's grave. "I wish you were here," he repeated as he wept.

George was so moved by his friend's death, he didn't even notice the dirt shifting next to his feet. A rotted hand broke the surface and reached out toward George. Zombie Lennie climbed out of his grave. He looked up at George and asked, "Why you cryin' George?"

George jumped off the rock he was sitting on. He gasped as he saw Zombie Lennie continue climbing out of his grave. He wiped the dirt off his coveralls. He looked back up at George and waved his decrepit hand, "Hiya, George!"

George was astounded. How could this have happened? He'd never heard of anyone coming back from the dead! How could he explain this to Candy? How could he explain this to anyone he was going to hire for the ranch?

"Do I still get to tend the rabbits?" Zombie Lennie asked.

"Um, yeah," George answered after a few seconds. "Yeah, you get to tend to the rabbits."

"Hey, George?" Zombie Lennie asked.

"Yeah, Lennie?" George replied.

"Happy birthday."

George was shocked he knew what day it was. It was George's birthday. That must've been what happened. It was his birthday. That, and his strong emotions. Maybe even the power of friendship. After all, George couldn't think of any kind of scientific reasoning for how Zombie Lennie was standing in front of him, alive. Maybe science wasn't at work here. Maybe it was something supernatural.