There are four bedrooms, each with a bathroom, in this house, but no bathrooms for guests or on the same level that Fahim and I normally park ourselves in – the lowest level, aka the living room. So during the day, we frequently use the bathroom in the bedroom on the main level that’s just off the sitting area.
A week or so ago, I noticed some leaves on the window sill, so I pulled back the curtains to take a closer look, and a whole pile of leaves between the grill and the security bars fell down from above the window.
It didn’t make sense to me that they were blown in by wind – we never open those windows. And now, we never will. (This is called foreshadowing. It’s a device writers use to hint at events to come. :p)
Today, after using the bathroom in that bedroom, curious about the leaf situation, I pulled back the curtains again. And saw something scurry past.
I screamed.
I scream at geckos, and since this was measurably larger than a gecko, this should come as no surprised.
I yelled down to Fahim that I didn’t know if it was a rat or a mouse, but he’d better come quick.
He came, he pulled at the curtains, and it scurried past again, only this time, it left.
It had found a hole in the grate, or perhaps it had made the hole in the grate, so it had easy egress, which it used. Fahim said it was a rat.
I’ve never seen a rat before that I remember, but in any case, it was small enough that it could have been a large mouse. It was a medium greyish-brown, and most definitely rodent shaped. That was all I knew for sure.
With hammer, nails, and chair in hand, we headed outside and saw the extent of damage to the wooden slats that form the grate over the window. Pulled off by rodents or humans, we’re not entirely sure. Could be either. If it was humans, they probably gave up after they saw the metal security grill fastened on the inside.
Either way, it needed fixing. Fahim did a slapshod job, but who cares? It just has to work long enough to keep the rats out until he can go to the store and get nails that aren’t big enough to split the wooden slats. That’ll be later today.
Ick!
Ick! Ick!
