nighttime invasions

many nights after “little thunder” has gone to his peaceful sleep, i find myself wide awake and wandering. sometimes it is more of a prowl, but mostly i just meander around the house in confusion, thinking, “what were all those things i was supposed to do today that i can only remember when there is no actual possibility of doing them?”

one such night, a few days ago, i had settled down to read a novel that can only be characterized as scandalous in its stupidity. all was quiet in the holler, when, from the back patio, i heard the distinctive clang of the cat bowl hitting pavement as some nefarious minibeast knocked it off of the low wall where it sits.

this happened once before. the first time, k’tigu apparently felt the need to protect her food source, because we were alerted to the presence of the intruder by her battle growl. that time around, however, we arrived on the porch in time only to see k’tigu peeking out of the holly bush.

this time i was prepared. with sloth-like stealth, i made my way though the mud room to peer out the door at the unwelcome guest. the “guest” peered back at me over its shoulder. at first i thought we had drawn the attentions of a rat, but i soon realized that the only animal stupid enough to stand there staring over its shoulder at a full size human is a baby opossum. i could just see the thought slowly trudging towards its brain, “oops..... i’ve been caught..... i’m supposed to do something now..... what is it?..... maybe i should run away.....”

before the opossum had fully comprehended the gravity of its situation, i was flapping my arms at it, saying none-too-sternly, “get out of here. who invited you?” eventually, it reached the same conclusion. with astounding stealth, it waddled foreword to the end of the wall, tripped over the cat’s water dish, and fell off the wall onto its head. then it ambled at full tilt, somewhat drunkenly, into the darkness, disproving the old adage “too stupid to live.”