oh help. last night i was innocently trying to fall asleep when i heard a distinct scratching noise under my bed. "what was that?!" i said to myself. the first time, i convinced myself that it was just the bedspread tag scratching against the wall. but the second time, i thought for sure it was a mouse. in the back of my head, i wondered if it was a bird...but i didn't want to panic yet. so i made my roommate come and check under the bed for me. she didn't find anything. so i tried to turn off the light and go back to sleep. scratch, scratch....flutter. FLUTTER??? did i hear feathers and wings??!!! was there a bird under my bed?? maybe it had a broken wing and it had limped up the stairs earlier in the day, and now it was laying under my bed, gathering up the strength to flutter away in my face the moment i drifted off to sleep!! noooooooooo!!
being the totally rational, completely sane person that i am, i yanked my bedspread and pillow off of the bird's hiding place, and ran downstairs to what i was sure would be the comfort of our living room couches. i decided it would be advantageous to be closer to the front door if i should need to get away. i tossed and turned all night, haunted by nightmares of birds with their claws and wings.
today, i corresponded via email with our landlord who currently lives in france. i casually asked if they had ever had problems with mice. this is how he responded:
No, I dont think we've ever had any mice - we did have two bats - both within 3 days of each other, and sometimes we can hear something (a mouse?) in the attic, but never anything inside.
so. here's the situation. my irrational (but very real to me) fear has officially been realized. i am living in a house that has had WINGED OBJECTS ON THE LOOSE. i can hardly function at this point. i'm sitting here, typing, looking all over for what i'm sure will be the nightmare to end all nightmares, because it will be real.
paralyzed,
laurenfaith
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I'm so sorry Lauren. Why is that strange noises and uninvited "guests" always seem to appear in the silence of the night? it was probably more afraid of you ~~that's what I'm told about my fear of tarantulas appearing in our shower.
There has to be at least one brave soul who can come into your house and chase the critter away! Where's your brother? he could help right?
I really will be praying for you ~~strange sounds under your bed at night can be most disturbing!
Other than the strange sounds, how is college going?
Life is great down here in the Dominican.
That stuff creeps me out. I'll never forget the time I was talking to Teressa in our living room (a month after we'd moved into this house) and saw a mouse scamper across our kitchen countertop. I'm sure my scream is still ringing in her ears.
I think Rachel is going to be sending you some of her "special artwork" next week. Be looking for it! :-)
can you believe JanAl and Cleyo keep a trantula for a PET?! david HELD it at Tues. nite (LIFE group was a their house). UGH, *shudder*!
Lo, praying that the wing-ed things evaporate and that everything creepy stays away from your person, esp while sleeping.
I am praising God that there is no pet spider in MY house- or at least none of such enormity.
PS. sometimes when scary things happen I find it useful to breath, even if i have to repeat it over and over. oh, and remember, "Jesus' angels watch over you" (dad's good-nite saying from childhood)
personally, i'd start sleeping with the light on. noises aren't as scarey if you can see everything.
darkness is scarey enough. darkness plus noises are what bad movies are made of.
Lauren - I suppose you don't want to hear the story about my dad and I spelunking in a cave no more than 4' across, on our hands and knees, with dozens of bats hanging from the ceiling. So I won't tell you about it. I will refrain from giving detail about how we heard something fly past and looked up to see them in the flashlight beams, hanging asleep from the roof of the small cave, inches from our heads. I won't say a word about their leathery wings or tiny claws, won't even mention their potential for carrying rabies. I wouldn't do that to you.
Charity - I expect more from a rational individual like yourself. Scared of mice?!
1. anna
i'm not usually afraid of spiders (i mean, what's a spider going to do to me?!) but i think that a tarantula in my shower might inspire me to stay dirty.
2. charity
mice don't bother me either, excpet for the fact that they are GERM CARRIERS and masters of destruction. but i would hate to have a mouse in a house with kids!
3. lyndie
more mind-boggling to me is the idea that some people keep BIRDS as pets, and how everyone thinks this idea would be theraputic (doubt i spelled that right)for me. MISS YOU!!
4. mrs. finch
i can't sleep with the light on or off if the idea of a bird in my presence has entered my mind. however, given the options, i guess i would want to see what was flying into my face.
5. david
i just threw up a little bit in my mouth when i read your bat story. you're a horrible person for telling me. however, i'm sure i will never find myself exploring any kind of a cave in my whole life, so i'll tell myself that your story does not pertain to my own. MISS YOU TOO!!!
6. everyone
my landlord emailed me back about the bats and said that they got in through open windows (so we will never be opening the windows again). but then he said that since bats weren't really birds, i shouldn't be afraid of them. this statement always intrigues me. people always tell me that! "well, you know, bats are really mammals, so why are you afraid of bats?" people. why am i afraid of birds? is it specifically because they hatch their young as opposed to a live birth? or, maybe, is it the scary wings, the claws and the flapping around that sends me into a panic-stricken fetal position? seriously, folks.
ps...a certain lancaster resident and i have been talking again. DON'T HATE ME!!
interesting, but not hate-worthy. email me. i'm dying for details.
Lyndie thanks for the warning about JanAl and Cleyo's pet. Have seen too many of them here to ever imagine willingly having one in my home that I intentionally keep alive.
Lauren, birds don't bother me, but the thought of a tarantula coming around is equally as terrifying for me!
Was it quiet last night? I prayed for you about 11pm Dominican time...so don't know how that relates to Indiana time. remember you are safe in Jesus!
I should clarify: it's not that I'm all that scared of mice in general. I think they look perfectly adorable from within pet stores. However, seeing them run across my countertop and finding pellets around the food in my pantry doesn't make for pleasant thoughts.
ps. who ever said i was rational??
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