I Smell Rat

#Start your story with a character looking out of a window in the middle of the night #

It was so much of a blessing and a joy to see my bed at last; to bask in its warmth and embrace its comfort. Alas! A whole day’s woes to dump on such a poor inanimate object. I wished it could hear my sorrows and my silent pleas! Could it find solutions to my pertinent questions for the day? Oh! But soon I was fast asleep in its arms and did not care a hoot. It had been a long Friday and I was tired and weary from the day’s activities. It was time to get myself some well-deserved eight good hours of uninterrupted sleep. It would do me some good. It would have been far easier had it been a waterbed or an orthopaedic mattress and pillow, but no! I had to settle with the normal homemade mattress of all times; the standard one. I have been very ambitious before but I haven’t realised my dreams yet and it makes me laugh aloud at my ego and unfulfilled aspirations. I have not yet reached the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I must confess I’m nowhere near partial fulfilment. I was stuck and I surely needed help somewhere. My husband heard my laughter but I could not help letting out another burst or two. He did not care though. I had taken to that habit lately. He was fast asleep by the time I had finished appeasing my emotions. I was alone to my own deliberations. Had he made an effort to share in my joy, I would gladly have obliged, but no, it was time to shift gears and zoom in to cruise control mode! I turned the other way and tried to get myself some sleep. I had wasted about half an hour or two in my own world of thoughts as usual. When would I ever get over this habit and treat my body well? This day would not go down into my calendar as one of the best nights of my life ever. Sleep had eluded me as usual. Could I not beat it by sharing it with my best friend? Both of us had no time to listen to each other at this time of the night. That, I could understand perfectly. No one was to blame for my insomnia.

 I closed my eyes and hoped a dream or two would come consoling me, but no, it didn’t. I tossed and turned until I was convinced that sleep had eluded me. I turned towards the window; the light so bright. How could a light console me when I needed the darkness to soothe my body and heart, to help me welcome the greatest gift of nature for a weary soul?

 Light! Light! Light? How could it help me in such moments? Was it not supposed to dispel the darkness within my heart? But this was a physical light meant for physical purposes. Oh! what an irony of occurrences I had to bear! It had dispelled all the shadows. I could now flee into its safe arms…Shhhhh….don’t say it too loud! I must be fast asleep now. The illusion continues….unabated……

This day, the light was not here to soothe my sorrows. It was a silent enemy oblivious of my trouble. Why would I blame it? It had not appeared to make light of my struggle with insomnia. It had been employed to do the job it was good at: shining’ so all men would escape from the prison of darkness! Except I renewed my mind, it would be to me what I wanted it to be in this most miserable moment! It was going to take a pretty long time to shift into this mode of positive thinking at this time of the night! But please be careful not to say that too loud. The proponents of hard work and sharpness of mind would think I was too lazy to think hard! Yes! I’d laugh that aloud too. The night was for rest, not for thinking. Unfortunately, I’ve been caught up in the net of sleeplessness and thinking about unnecessary things! Now, my thoughts were my friends. They had also become my judges. I have allowed them to put me down. My own thoughts? Yes. Believe it or not.

I turned my face to the wall. The results were futile. Oh! what a miserable comforter I was of myself! You, my thoughts! You refuse to comfort me this very night! I definitely have to put an end to you before you do too much damage to my ego.

 I counted the squares on my ceiling and studied the nature of the bulb, then I turned towards the wardrobe and admired the straight lines the carpenter had perfectly put together, all to no avail. I had now spent two more hours awake and watching out for nothing. Would I not have been better off watching someone’s house for a fee? Yes! You can laugh aloud again and again! Make money out your misery. Not so?

Suddenly, I heard a noise. At first, I thought it was an intruder, a thief perhaps. I could prepare my pepper spray or find an object, ready to defend myself any moment; but no, there was no cause for alarm! It was an unwelcome guest for sure! Praise God it was not inside my house! I’m so sure I might have let out a shriek or two and woken everybody up. Surprisingly, I just stared in wonder because it looked like a poodle, well fed and rounded. Who must have let it out at this time of the night? I studied it closely, looking straight at it , opening up the curtains so I would not miss a moment of this strange occurrence. I might be the fortunate witness describing vividly my experience during the day when my neighbours came lamenting the disappearance of their dog. How proud I would be that I was up all throughout the night on a good cause! Now, everybody would admire what seemed much of a problem than a solution! What did I have to lose anyway? I could not sleep and that was the unfortunate fact.

As I peered at it with my spectacles, I realised with much disappointment that it was no poodle after all. It was a huge rat; too huge to be true! What a waste of resources! Even some dogs were not fortunate this fortunate! It probably had been feeding illegally on something precious, something probably belonging to someone unsuspecting. I just hoped that person was not myself because I would have beaten myself up for it. I could tell clearly how well it had feasted itself on a source I was not so sure of. I watched it carefully as it tried to climb the plantain tree in my backyard garden. I think it was trying to get into the next house; but its weight would not allow it to. I also assumed, from the manner in which it was struggling, that it weighed far more than the tree itself. It was amusing to watch though, and very intriguing. Had it been daytime, I would have ran outside to scare it away, but since I was indoors with all the doors shut and well secured for fear of intruders, I stayed put and watched it helplessly going about its business as usual like nobody else mattered.

It climbed for the umpteenth time and dropped down to the ground. Suddenly, I found myself empathising with it. If only it could find itself a springboard! It could achieve its aim in no time. But what was I doing empathising with an animal so destructive in its ways? Was I aware of its agenda? My neighbour’s house was its target, for crying out loud! It did not deserve any sympathy! Hei! Don’t say it too loud! Animal rights activist might take me on! I ‘m laughing out loud for thinking out aloud.

 I kept watching it as it went round and round, wagging its tail like a poodle, freezing right in the middle of its acts. What could possibly have cut short its endeavours so soon? I was just beginning to enjoy the show! I became restless as if I was in its shoes. Then I suddenly saw the cat which had made so much of an impact in its royal strides walking slowly towards my object on which I was fixated. It was unaware that the rat had already noticed it. It was trying to find a way to control its body so it could escape from the paws of death, imminently edging its way into its life. It’s current mission was about to be abruptly terminated! The adrenalin lying dormant in it organs suddenly rose to its aid and then it suddenly fled like a prisoner let loose in the middle of a highway! The cat, noticing that it had been spotted, abandoned its original idea to remain hidden and chased and incessantly until the rat was nowhere to be found. Its eyes were roaming about like a lion, seeking its prey, that it might devour it.

This delicious rat had just denied it of its savoury meal. It was furious and panting for breath at its wasted efforts. Wasted efforts, wasted ways! Wasted wits! The rat had surely been feeding on its master’s meal perhaps, and it needed to be punished for sure. He had noticed with jealousy how it seemed to weigh far more than it did now so much that it could match it boot for boot with much courage which obviously was not forthcoming. Its eyes were fiery with passion as it scrolled around like a Close Circuit Television. The rat had escaped its jaws for sure!

My eyes felt so heavy that they could no longer watch them anymore! Would I like to see what happened to the end? Surely, the rat had kept me company but alas! Sleep was beckoning me into its parlour now, I could not resist. As for what happened to the rat, I cannot tell. Perhaps another day, that one too I cannot tell.