The next day at noon, Percy, Harry, and an obese guard were finishing their lunchbreak at the main end of the mile. Percy whistled as he combed his hair at a mirror, while Bill Dodge and Harry looked at papers.

Little did they know that a little brown mouse was grooming himself at the mile. When he was done, he scurried off towards Harry's and Bill's desk as Del watched happily. The mouse scratched his nose; he was two feet away from Percy, who was still combing his hair. As Percy heard a squeak, he slowly turned around to look at the creature and gasped in shock. "You little son of a bitch," he said softly.

Bill and Harry heard Percy gasp and focused on the mouse, standing on the green floor. "Well, I'll be damned!" said Harry, "Biggest billy-be-frigged! I thought Brutal was pulling my leg."

"That's a goddamn mouse," said Bill.

"Yeah," said Harry, "Brutal says he was in here last night, begging for food. He came on right up to the desk."

Meanwhile, Percy set his comb down near the mirror.

"Give him some running, Percy, and see what he does," Bill said.

Percy nodded in agreement, but stepped back away from the mouse and stood on a chair in fear.

The mouse looked up at Harry and Harry said, "He's a brave little bastard, gotta give him that." He broke off a cracker and dropped the crumb onto the floor. The mouse scampered over to eat the crumb.

As Percy still cowered, Bill tossed another crumb and the mouse came and nibbled it. Percy finally screamed and threw things at the mouse, causing it to scurry away.

Harry got up from his chair and yelled, "Percy, are you crazy, you little son of a bitch?"

The mouse still ran away from Percy.

Percy banged on the door as Harry called out, "Are you listening to me? PERCY!"

Percy stopped himself and said, "Sorry, but that mouse scared me to death."

…

Paul came in to see what the commotion was about.

"Percy met your mouse," said Harry.

"Sorry, I yelled and scared all of you," Percy told Paul. "I was scared of the mouse. That explains why I threw things at it."

"You're forgiven, Percy," Harry told Percy, "It's okay to be afraid, but try not to frighten anyone, okay?"

Percy nodded and said, "Yeah, okay. I'll keep that in mind next time."

…

Later on the same afternoon, the janitor named Toot-Toot rehearsed for Arlen Bittbuck's execution for the guards until they walked over to Old Sparky, the electric chair, where Percy was standing next to.

As Toot sat on the electric chair, Percy asked Paul curiously, "What do I do?"

"Watch and learn, Percy" Paul answered.

"Watch and learn!" Toot repeated.

Percy walked over to Van Hayes, who was in charge of the switches.

Once Toot was strapped to the chair, the guards stepped backward and Brutal called, "Roll on one!"

"Roll on one means they turn the generator up full," Van Hayes explained to Percy, "You see the lights go bright in half the prison."

When Brutal asked Toot, who was playing Arlen Bitterbuck if Toot had anything to say, Toot said he wanted fried chicken with gravy and potatoes, and take a dump in his hat. This made everyone laugh except Paul, who told them to shut up.

Toot pretended to scream in pain, "I'm frying! I'm frying! Oh! I'm a doggone turkey!"

Meanwhile, in the main part of the room, Paul shook his head in disbelief and Brutal smiled.

"This is a shocking experience!" Toot cried out, feigning pain.

As the janitor continued rehearsing, Brutal told Paul, "One of the witnesses showed up a day early!"

Paul looked up at the mouse, scampering on top of one of the doors and looked away from the tiny creature and said, "All right, let's do it again! Let's get it right this time. Get that idiot out of the chair!" Everyone agreed and chose to rehearse Arlen Bitterbuck's death again without Toot's help.

…

That night, below the prison, Arlen's dead body was lying on a stretcher after the real execution ended. Percy stood beside him. "Arlen," Percy said to the dead body, "I hope you go to a better place, where you will be happy."

"Percy," said Brutal, "I feel sorry for him, too, but he's probably in a better place right now."

Paul gave Percy a sympathetic look.

"Paul, what are you doing here?" asked Percy.

"Oh, I just came to check on you," Paul said.

"Oh? What did I do?" Percy was getting worried.

"Nothing, Percy, but there's that good paying job at Briar Ridge after saying your goodbyes to Del and John Coffey."

"If I don't get the job, I can make a career here and stick around...boss."

Paul smiled and walked upstairs.