Crying Rat

   Today I had a mini heart attach. I was at work, bored as usual, talking to my sister on the phone. In between conversation with Whitney, I kept hearing these scratching, almost tinkling noises.  I seriously thought something was in the ceiling tiles. Sara Beth (my Boss/Owner) has told me about critters making their way into the roof sometimes, so I thought maybe this was one of those times.

   Later, I forgot about it and got busy doing something else. All was normal in the world of Giggles. Then, while studying my GMAT book I started hearing it again. This time it was louder and sounded like it was coming right at me. This is where I played the role of the dumb blonde, big boob, horror film girl and decided to investigate the disturbing noise. At that time, I got off my stool and took half a step before that fury little thing popped out from the side of a shelf.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh HHHHHOOoooollllllyyyyy UUUUUHHHHHHhhhhh SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhiiiiiitttttttttt”

   I could have won a gold medal in the 100-yard dash, maybe even the hurdles, because I totally cleared the counter and stool without even trying and was out the door in .5 seconds. However, once out there I realized I had no options. I had no phone, no keys, and no idea what step to take now that there’s a “GIANT RAT” loose in my store. Even if I wanted to go home I couldn’t lock up the store or drive my car since the keys were in the store with the mutant attack rat, trained in ninja moves.

   IDEA>>>>So I went next door to Spells Dancewear and borrowed Rachel’s phone. Luckily I have memorized Sara Beth cell phone number, but unluckily she didn’t answer. Rachel actually had her home number, but she didn’t answer it either. While waiting for Sara Beth to call back, Rachel and I are on stakeout waiting for the next “SITEING”. That’s when we saw it….

   A chunky, brown, ball of…feathers? Are you kidding me? I could still feel my heart beating outside my chest and it was all over a bird! Something was wrong with it because it wasn’t flying, only walking and sort of hopping around. There were a lot of similarities as far as coloring between my bird and a would-be rat, but still I was super embarrassed by how I acted. Thank God I didn’t have any customers in the store.

   It took a while to shoo it out of the store, since I wouldn’t touch it. It might not have a tail but it was still able to bite me or beak me, which was just as scary as a rat bite at that point. Finally, with Rachel’s help, the bird became one with nature again. We watched it hop away and saw it was going to be ok before returning to work. It tried to go into Fleet Feet, then that was the last of it. What a way to begin the day. So much excitement before lunchtime, the rest of the day was a breeze! Now I guess I know, when it concerns wildlife inside Giggles…

If it’s all gonna happen sometime…then why not now?