Revelations of a great cleaning
It all started with a daily cleaning that resulted in a BIG cleaning. That doesn't sound very impressive yet, but it was my first major cleaning in ten years. Maybe 12, but I don't look at a few years.
Below you can read about my first great revelation.
But the sequel to my big cleaning was just as surprising. Read on quickly:
Rat family
November 11
My wardrobe used to serve as an office closet. It is a large, old but solid oak furniture and I have been using it with pleasure for years, also for things other than clothes. Of course I knew the inside, but the top still housed an undiscovered area and in the context of the great cleaning this day was coming.
Talking myself into bravery, I climbed the ladder that would lead me to the top.
Carefully — balancing on the highest step — I hoisted myself up and looked over the edge of the cabinet. That's where I saw them: The family rat. Just waiting for me!
For years I've heard them between the walls; gnawing, whispering, running with their little fast legs. It drives me crazy. Often they welcome me when I go to bed. As if at that moment their alarm clock was going. From underneath my bed sheet I listened to the sounds that seem sometimes so close that my flashlight regularly plunges into the darkness in search of their shiny mustache, but until now they remained invisible.
Mom and Dad looked at me with their little, curious bead-eyes. It was an impressive sight.
A hypnotic staring followed. Who would respond first?
Suddenly they break up. In their midst appeared...
I don't know if I heard it right or if my imagination took over, but I thought I heard Dad yelling: “Get him junior!”
That was the moment my ladder unexpectedly began to shake. For a moment, I staggered from the abyss, but a horrible scream took over the silence and I fell...
Three weeks later, I woke up at the hospital.
That was part two of my big cleaning. Part three will follow soon...
