An Univited Guest

I’ll be brief.

There’s a creature scurrying around on the third floor of this house (where it just so happens I work) and said creature has just scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t know what it is -- (Chipmunk? Large mouse? Rat? Squirrel? Skunk?) but as I sat at my desk, contemplating this week’s pie dispatch, it skittered across the floor in front of the bookcase.

Eeeeek! said the Queen (not the small rodent) as our eyes locked.

With a flurry of scritchy-scratches, it skittered back from whence it came. One fine, dutiful son dashed upstairs to ensure that his mother hadn’t suffered a fit. The other slammed the door to his bedroom and then wedged a towel beneath it.

I sat paralyzed in my desk chair, although I did manage to tuck my legs up beneath me.

Donning boots, the dutiful son (and the new heir-apparent) began to investigate. He climbed upon a chair and surveyed the room. Nothing visible. He cocked an ear and listened intently. Nothing audible. He waited.

After several minutes of Lamaze breathing I began to relax. Dutiful Son shrugged and hopped down from the chair, landing on the hardwood floor with a bang. And at that instant I caught sight of the rodent, insouciantly perched on a row of books! (Stuart Little, perhaps? Of Mice and Men? Flowers for Algernon?)

I’m sitting downstairs now. The King, alas, is out of town. In these circumstances, a good hot toddy is the next best companion.

Therefore, this week’s pie entry is post-poned. I hope you’ll understand.