Sleep Interrupted
Just a few days ago I was having a conversation with the boys about being frightened or startled. I am a fairly brave person for the most part. I keep my head together in a crisis, do what needs to be done, and I don’t fall apart easily. I am not someone who panics at the drop of a hat. I insisted to them that I do not “scream like a girl.”
Last night at 12:45 a.m. one of the dogs started barking and yelping in her kennel by the back door and would not stop. This is something that happens on occasion. Usually it is due to some sort of gastric distress brought only too many snacks from the nice neighbor lady, or chewing up whatever toy or odd item RM has pushed through the vent holes in the kennel.
The usual routine is that I let her outside for a few minutes to take care of things. Her usual response to this is a mad dash out the back door to either the water dish, or the privacy of the dark yard. But that’s not what happened this time. She ran for the corner of the deck sniffing around beneath the benches and chairs. Then she made a run down the stairs, around and under one side of the deck, out and to the other side then back up the stairs. She frantically prowled corner to corner, obviously searching for something; I was puzzled by all this and stuck my head out the back door to check things out myself.
I watched her for a few seconds and then glanced around the deck in search of the source of her agitation. I looked down the stairs, over to the left, then back up to my right. Then I saw it. Three feet away from me, nearly eye level on the railing sat a possum.
Possums are odd looking creatures at best. I suppose some might think they are a bit cute, but I’m not one of them. They are beady eyed, rat-like, filthy and menacing looking little things. And this one was looking right at me.
So, of course, I screamed like a girl and slammed the door.
I did not completely lose it. I didn’t even scream loud enough to wake anyone. It took me less than a minute to get my wits about me and figure out exactly what I needed to do.
I went and got V and made him open the door to let the dog back in.
