Seconds? Minutes later I'm shaken back out of my snooze with a louder, closer scraping noise. This isn't the usual mouse feet scurrying and my ears registers it before I'm fully awake and by the time I've caught up with my ears my brain has me sitting up in bed. It's dark in the room and my eyes haven't adjusted to the gloom so my only useful sense (my ears) are on high alert.
The scraping is right at the loft hatch, which from memory isn't closed properly. I 'ahem' loudly hoping to scare the intruder away from the entrance, but not only does it ignore my polite entreaty but it starts to dig the wood with its nails. My brain has now upgraded the little field mouse to a rat... a huge one at that. I can hear the joists on one side of the doorway being chewed and clawed and listening with growing horror I realise how very unprepared i've come to bed. I have a bottle of water and my phone with me.
I flick the phone into life and a tiny beam of light floods the darkness around me. Great... now the rat can see where to find me! My phone is locked and the light flicks off after 3 seconds. Logically, I know my phone light will stay on much longer if I unlock it but in my growing panic that idea doesn't even occur to me.. So i start a ridiculous round of pressing and point my phone towards the back of the bedroom.
Far from being discouraged by my exaggerated noises and woefully pathetic phone light, the rat rallies it's efforts and the clawing seems to be reaching a frantic pace. The phone has so small a light and the room is so dark that it's beam doesn't cast enough light to see far.
I'm not a great fan of horror films and every time I watch them I get frustrated by characters who go tip toeing towards strange noises or unexplained lights... it's utterly illogical surely. But here I am, gingerly getting out of bed armed with my mobile phone, which continues to abandon me every 3 seconds edging towards the back of my bedroom.
I imagine I can feel the warmth of the invader, even tho' the scrapping has momentarily stopped. The suspense is palpable and my heart is literally in my mouth. Little mice don't scare me, but large vicious rats are a different story. I've no idea what I'll do if it runs into the room but I feel compelled to investigate. My brain isn't listening to my survival voice shouting 'runaway! runaway!'
I flick my phone for the umpteenth time and the light finally falls onto the scene of the crime at the exact same time as there is a renewed effort on the house beams. I can see what's happened the opening is open but a box has fallen down to cover the bottom half of the doorway. I hold the phone higher to get some illumination into the loft space and there staring back at me are two huge eyes reflecting the phone lights!
That's too big to be a rat! I'm about to run when I hear for the first time a tiny apologetic 'meow'. It's a cat! Two steps and I'm at the entrance and there clinging on a joist by all four claws like a koala bear is my black cat 'Monty'!! He has a look on his face looks surprised to see me... like 'oh hello, your awake too huh?'.
I grab him unceremoniously by the scruff of his neck and pull him out the loft. He hot tails it out the bedroom and down to the kitchen with me in close pursuit. I imagine he's as frightened as I am angry by the time I catch up with him.... but no no... he's jauntily milling around the kitchen cupboard which houses his food, all hightailed and prancing. He stretches all pleased with himself and the thought of a bite of breakfast now I'm here.
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