Of Mice and Men (opera) George, at the urging of Candy and Lennie, reads the want ad aloud to them once again as the curtain falls. SCENE ONE. Lennie is disconsolate at having inadvertently killed his puppy, and is hiding it in the loft of the barn when Curley's wife enters, carrying a suitcase and obviously preparing to leave the ranch. She and Lennie begin to confide their dreams and fantasies to each other, neither aware the other is speaking: hers, a glamorous career as a movie star; his, to have pets on his farm. Lennie tells her of his love of stroking soft things,
Of Mice and Men (opera) Lennie's pathetic inability to stay out of trouble. In the opening scene, they are once again fleeing the police and this provokes a reenactment of one of their almost daily rituals: exasperation and angry threats from George, followed by injured feelings and sulking from Lennie, and eventually yet another reconciliation. Lennie has a mouse with him which he has killed by petting it. George forces him to surrender the dead mouse and, when George throws it away, Lennie protests, telling George of his love for soft things he can stroke and pet. Lennie is consoled by the promise of live