My Alternate Ending To Of Mice and Men…
The Salinas River glistened in the late afternoon. The sun neared towards the Gabilan
mountains, and away from the valley. A rosy haze evenly covered the hilltops. A little water
snake slithered down the deep green pool swerving its head from side to side. It swam until it
reached the shadow of a heron lurking for its prey. Its beak crashed down and clutched the snake
by the head. The beak bit the snake while its tail swung desperately. The little snake managed to
escape before it was devoured completely; it fell back down to its once peaceful home and
continued to swim down the green basin of the Salinas River.
A far rush of wind sounded and gust drove through the tops of the trees like a wave. Leaves
blew and trees swayed uncontrollably. The sycamore leaves turned up their silver sides as the air
blasted on them. The wind that was just sweeping loudly through the forest was gone now. It had
come so fast, but gone so soon. The clearing was quiet again. The heron stood in the shallows,
hushed and waiting. Another little water snake swam down the pool bending its periscope head
left to right.
Suddenly, Lennie popped out of the brush and slowly inched further towards the green pool
where the water snake swam. The heron pounded the air with its wing and glided down the river
without touching the water. It stalked the water for its next victim. The little water snake found
his friend and they slithered under the reeds at the pool’s side; away from the heron.
Lennie knelt down and drank from the pool, barely touching his lips to the water. Once he
finished, he sat down on the bank. He laid his sad and scared head in between his legs and hid
himself from the world for a few seconds. The light left almost completely this time and
illuminated the peaks of the mountains.
Lennie looked up towards the last specks of light and said softly, “I di’n’t forget, you bet… I’ll
stay hid in the brush an’ wait for George to come find me.” He stretched his hat down so that it
covered his face. “George is gonna wish he never knew me an’ give me al’ sorts of hell for what I
done this time.” He continued to stare up at the light. “I’ll go away,” he said. And he continued
sadly, “I’ll leave this place an’ build me a hut somewhere nice an’ find my own rabbits to tend.”
All of the sudden, a fluffy little rabbit hopped out of the brush and ran up towards Lennie.
Lennie almost burst into tears of happiness even after all his misery. He picked up the rabbit and
held it in his arms tightly. He gently rubbed the bunny with two fingers using extreme caution so
he did not cause it any harm. The bunny jumped from his delicate hands and ran back into the
brush. Lennie followed the bunny to a plateau where more bunnies roamed and little dandelions
blossomed everywhere. The bunny reunited with the others and Lennie stared in awe. He said to
himself, “I only wish George was here...
