toilet excursions

There is a rat in my pit toilet. Not actually down the hole but actually running around the rafters of the superstructure (that’s a word I learned from Jason!). The first time I met him was with Katie and Teresa while they were visiting. We would take a nightly trip out to the toilet together, mostly because we all had to go but some times one of us would just go for the moral support. Katie was the moral supporter that night and since I’m the seasoned pit toilet frequenter, I was the first to go, to make sure nothing was lurking in the corners. I walked in and flashed my head lamp around and saw this HUGE rat in the corner of the wood beams at the ceiling. I ran out screaming, which caused Katie and Teresa to scream a bit, and then laugh. Then I was laughing trying to explain to them that the entire almost 2 years that I’ve lived here, I have never seen such a thing lurking around anywhere. While Katie is trying to stop laughing, I venture back to the toilet and see him again, in the same spot only this time my screaming startled him and as I ran out again, he scurried away, the noise of him running creeping me out even more. At this point we’re all laughing so hard we can barely keep our pee in and actually some of us couldn’t keep the farts in and as she laughed she tooted quite rhythmically (I won’t mention who so as not to embarrass her too much) – which made us laugh even harder. As this point, rat or no rat, I had to go so I braved it one more time and was happy to see that the rat had smartly vacated the premises.

We didn’t see the big guy again during their visit and I wasn’t sure he would ever make an appearance again but he did – tonight. I went out to use the facilities and as I walk in and flash the light again, he scurried away, freaking me out. I let out a quiet shriek and covered my head just in case he decided to lose his balance and fall on me. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t actually standing under the roof, I had to protect myself. And so I thought of Katie and Teresa, and wished I could share the moment with them. Alas, they are home now but I will always think of them when I’m going to the pit toilet after it’s dark, wondering if I’ll have another encounter with the rat again.