The Invader

By Prathibha Sara Jacob

Frustrated with the never-ending chores, she was slaving in the kitchen as usual, when an unusual noise reached her ears. Although she chose to ignore it, the noise made its reappearance exactly after a minute. She suspected it was coming from the store and that made her turn her head so quickly. Could it be those annoying pigeons? She wondered as she very carefully made her way to the source of the mysterious noise. Absolutely no sign of those annoying ones this time, she left a sigh, right when the noise shook her once again. She realized it was coming somewhere from the floor. A quick scan and she found out the culprit; a tiny little rat. However tiny it may have looked, it still scared a whole lot out of her. No movement; neither from him nor from her. Both remained where they were, calculating their next move. Let me tempt his way out, she thought as she quietly retreated, to get her hands on some cheese she had in her fridge. Piece by piece, she left the cheese on the floor, the last piece being closer to the guy who hadn’t made his move yet. Come on boy, she did her best to get him to drool over the delicacy she just left for him. He made no such attempts, anyhow. Now, this one is tricky, she realized. This one is smart, she reckoned.

She continued her stare game, but this time, he didn’t participate. Quietly he remained still in the corner, staring at nothing else but the floor. Now this confused her. Is he about to jump on her? Is he about to escape into any hole that she is unaware of? What on earth is going on in that devious little mind of his?, she had way too many questions with no answers in that split second. Now, this could go on forever, she painfully realized. The situation demands a very drastic and quick action rather than a strategic “cheesy” manipulation, she told herself. Without wasting another moment, off she went and in she returned swiftly, lest she loses sight of that tiny savage. She returned with a big blue bucket which had always been waiting in the balcony to serve its purpose. Lets cover and catch, she conspired with the bucket. Although she had no clue as to what to be done with the rat later, she went ahead with preparing herself mentally to trap him inside. She was ready, so was the bucket. Slowly, steadily, with atmost precision, she made her move carefully. He remained still. With every new step, she prepared a bit more for the mission. With every bit of shadow falling on him, he continued to maintain his posture. Everything quietened down. This was the moment of truth. She was so ready and the bucket fell gracefully with a thud, supposedly to get the target right inside. What she didn’t expect was the killer move from the little guy. The move that he has been preparing himself for all this time. The move he has been contemplating upon while she was running around thinking of all kinds of moves. The move that was the absolute. She was ready and the bucket fell gracefully with a thud only to give the smart little one a way to run for his life. And run he did. With one swift motion, he ran towards the door that was open all this time, to run into some hole no one even knew about, to escape into the oblivion only he is familiar with, to fade away into the unknown and be forgotten…..until, of course, the next time !

By Prathibha Sara Jacob