Cocoa's Nestled Warmth

Cocoa was a domestic mouse with rich, brown fur and a passion for interior design. Her cage was her studio, and her medium was anything soft. Toilet paper, tissues, nesting fluff, fabric scraps—she would gather them in her mouth, drag them to her chosen hideout, and weave them into a perfect, round, impenetrably soft nest. She would then curl in the center, a tiny, warm knot of contentment. She was shy but sweet, taking treats gently. Her life was a quiet cycle of nest-building, grooming, eating, and sleeping in her perfect creation. The cage is clean and bare now, missing the beautiful, messy, labor-of-love nest that was her masterpiece and her home.