There's a damn rat in my room
Or maybe a mouse? It's a small one. Feisty and fast.
I was at my desk when I heard something move in the back. I thought it was the curtains rubbing against a drawer near my window at first. A while later, while in bed, I heard it again. I looked around and thought I saw a black mass on the floor. I went to turn on the light and it was gone.
At that point, I figured it was a rat. Or a big-ass spider. So I went and got a mouse trap. One of those strips of sticky stuff. I placed a few around and waited. And then I saw it. I saw the little head poke out behind a drawer and scram back when I moved closer.
Now, I don't like rats. You don't know where they've been. You don't know what they're carrying. What's worse, is that my bed is essentially a futon. It's on the floor. It's not resting on a bed frame or anything like that. So I'm stuck practically on the floor with this damn rat scurrying around.
I went ahead and ordered a bed frame which should arrive soon. It'll give me some peace of mind while I take care of this rat.
Anyway, on that night I couldn't sleep. I just sat at my chair, swiveling around, looking for it. I figured out it takes a precise course around my room. So I made sure to put those sticky traps in its course.
However, the traps didn't work. At least not yet. The rat just ran across no problem. The sticky stuff ain't too sticky, apparently.
So I'm sitting in my chair with a broom so I can swipe at it. I haven't slept. My head hurts. My eyes hurt. My back hurts. And I'm hearing this little rat scurrying around. I can't even see it half the time because it's so small and fast.
Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. It was like four in the morning and I had been watching and waiting. I had to sleep. So I rolled myself into a cocoon with two blankets. I didn't want it to get to my bed and bite at my toes.
And you know what's really funny about all this? I was reading The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft when it happened. Obviously most of the contents of that story don't apply (yet, hehe), but I thought it was funny how the rats and going mad by hearing them seeped into my reality a bit. I'm over here sitting in my chair, holding a broom, eyes tired from a lack of sleep, my head pulsing, as I watch for any sudden movement at three in the morning hoping to catch a rat. I'm going to lose it one of these days.